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The first time I ever saw or heard of Hydroponic gardening was in Orlando when we took our kids through one of the rides they had. It was about 1973 and Disney World had a boat ride through this giant greenhouse and there were all these vegetables and flowers growing out of Hydroponic tubes. It was really impressive especially since the banks or floors of this display were sand and there was an oasis symbiosis with a desert like atmosphere.
The second time I hear about it was a year later when Ray, a chemical engineer, who lived full time in Ohio, moved in next to us for summer mountain vacations and he was really into this because at that time no many people were doing this type of gardening. He had the whole set up in Ohio and grew lots of stuff.
Ray explained to me that Hydroponics simply meant growing plants without soil. Food for the plants, called Hydroponic nutrient, hydroponics nutrients, fertilizer for soiless gardening, or plant food, etc. (may be organic), are dissolved in water and fed directly to the roots automatically. Plants form smaller roots and grow in inert grow media (i.e. gravel, sand, water or even air).
He went on to say that Hydroponic vegetables are healthy, vigorous and consistently reliable. Ray loved the fact that the gardening was clean and extremely easy, requiring very little effort except for keeping his eye on the water levels and nutrient balances. It did not take up too much space and he had a system set up in his basement.
Ray said his vegetables grew two times faster and all year round. He went on to say because the root system of the plants was small that it required much less space for his Hydroponic gardens. Plus his biggest “hurrah!” for Hydroponic gardening was no weeds!
Ray said he had a couple of experimental systems such as water/gravel table beds and that his pipe system had water traveling though these which had Hydroponic nutrients and he said that really was the secret of Hydroponic gardening, not the systems themselves. Since Ray was a chemical engineer this was all second nature to him.
Because Ray’s Hydroponic gardens were in his basement he has to use ultra violet light sources.
Today we should really consider this type of gardening. It really isn’t all that new. The Spanish were amazed at seeing the floating gardens of the Incas and the Aztecs.
The floating garden really appeals to me and I think that will be my experiment for this summer. I will build a 2 x 4 ft. wooden box which I will line with 6-mil polyethylene to form a trough to contain the nutrient solution. It will be about 4 inches deep.
Most recipes or formulas for creating these floating gardens call for boxes to be 4 x 8 ft by 4 inches deep, but these will be too much for this 73 year old gardener to try and build as a first experiment.
I will staple the polyethylene to the top of the sides of the frame. I will then get a 2 x 4 ft piece of 1.5 inch thick Styrofoam and drill 3 rows that give the plants 6 inches from the sides of each other and 12 inches apart. I will make sure my 2 x 4” piece of Styrofoam is trimmed just enough to allow it to float within the frame.
Remember that transplants used in this frame should be ones that have been grown to be put into a soil-less media and you can grow them at home in many root ball shapes in a loose media, purchased from your local garden supply store or grown in compressed peat pellets
You can start your plants in plastic cups to get them going and when you put them into your holes in your form you may have to prop them up with tooth picks for awhile.
The next thing I will need is water and a Hydroponic nutrient I have read that I will have to keep a minimum of 4 inches of water and solution in my floating garden all the time. I have found several recipes on the internet and further research tells me to add water-soluble fertilizer, such as 20-20-20 with micronutrients, at a rate of 2 teaspoons of fertilizer for each gallon of water used in the water garden. In addition I should add Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) at a rate of one teaspoon for each gallon of water. One recipe said to use a soft broom to mix the water & fertilizer in the garden or premix all fertilizer in a bucket before adding to water garden
This experiment is going to be out on a potting table in my patio garden and my research shows that light rain will not hurt this unless we get total flooding. The fertilizer should be adjusted depending on the rain fall and the recipe said that the solution in the garden needs to be replaced periodically for optimum production. It also says I can grow two crops of salad greens in the same solution before changing the entire solution and starting with a new batch.
Well, this will be my summer floating garden experiment and I will keep you posted as to the results.
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Author Bio Box: Arlene Wright Correll
 For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/
To see Arlene’s Gardens and to read her gardening diaries or click on Arlene’s Books where you can download or buy her gardening & cook books. Arlene says, “All my royalties from the sale of my books go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and I thank you for visiting my site.”
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