Welcome to iGrow News, Your Source for the World of Indoor Vertical Farming
Growing Crops Vertically To Feed The Growing Indian Population
Dr. Dickson Despommier, Father of Vertical Farming and professor emeritus Columbia University, says, “If we could engineer the vertical farming approach to food production, then no crops would ever fail due to severe weather events (floods, droughts, hurricanes, etc.).”
Agrihouse India Ltd set up the country’s first aeroponic laboratory at the University of Agricultural Sciences Dharwad in 2016. Dr. Dickson Despommier, Father of Vertical Farming and professor emeritus Columbia University, says, “If we could engineer the vertical farming approach to food production, then no crops would ever fail due to severe weather events (floods, droughts, hurricanes, etc.).”
Currently, there are many vertical farms in the US, Europe, Japan and China, while some of the most robust ones are underway in the Middle East. Despommier says: “If vertical farming in urban centres becomes the norm, one anticipated long-term benefit would be the gradual repair of many of the world’s damaged ecosystems.”
Despommier, in his research article for Agrihouse India International Pvt Ltd, says that there is good reason to believe that a significant amount of energy to run a vertical farm can come from organic waste such as methane. He also states that vertical farms will be engineered to take in contaminated water and restore it to near-drinking water using bioremediation and other technologies yet to be fully developed. The byproducts of burning methane ― CO2, heat and water ― can be added into the closed loop atmosphere of the vertical farm for fostering optimal plant growth. “Any water source that emerges from the vertical farm should be drinkable, thus completely recycling it back into the community that brought it to the farm to begin with.”
Stoner has been the principal scientist for developing a high-performance aeroponic system for NASA for the orbital space shuttle and also earth. NASA endorsed that Stoner’s aeroponic system could reduce the use of water by 98 percent, fertilizer by 60 percent and pesticides by 100 percent. The system can be used for growing anything from leafy greens to strawberries and cucumbers to root crops. Stoner’s technology is widely used in commercial farms in the US, Canada, Vietnam and Europe.
Setting up of vertical farms in India will help mend damaged ecology, create food security and generate employment. Most importantly, it will save India’s farmers from resorting to extreme steps due to unpredictable climatic ravages. Let us all join in praying ‘Annadaata Sukhi Bhava’.
Read the complete article at Hindu Business Line
6 Nov 2020
Tech Startup iFarm Raises U.S. $4 Million to Expand Do-It-Yourself Urban Farms
Most urban farming companies do one of two things: grow and sell their own food or manufacture technology to assist experienced farmers, such as LED lights and robots that can monitor and harvest produce
The Finnish technology startup iFarm recently raised US$4 million to build vertical farms for more customers across Europe and the Middle East. Using these funds, iFarm aims to help more entrepreneurs and businesses set up their own urban farms—at any time, in any place.
iFarm, founded in 2017, develops autonomous farming systems to grow greens, berries, and edible flowers indoors. It sells smaller, individual growing modules, as well as vertical farms for larger-scale production.
Most urban farming companies do one of two things: grow and sell their own food or manufacture technology to assist experienced farmers, such as LED lights and robots that can monitor and harvest produce.
iFarm falls into a third, less common category. Rather than standalone technology, the company sells entire urban farming systems with built-in robotics. These systems enable customers to start farms with little to no knowledge of agriculture.
iFarm’s growing module, iFarm Cropper, is designed for grocery stores, restaurants, or homes. Their vertical farms are intended for larger spaces, like warehouses. These systems are equipped with drones and artificial intelligence that spot diseases and track plant growth. They can also be controlled by an app, iFarm Growtune, that automatically plants seeds and adjusts lighting and humidity.
Kirill Zelenski, the Managing Director of Europe at iFarm, tells Food Tank that the company’s name is reminiscent of the iPhone. With an iPhone, he says, “you don’t need to know anything… You just need to know what you want to do, and it will do it itself. Same with our farms.” He explains that a customer simply has to push a button to grow arugula, and the system knows what to do.
Urban farming companies boast several ecological, economic, and health benefits. iFarm’s technology, for instance, uses 90 percent less water and 75 percent less fertilizer compared to conventional farms, and no pesticides.
Controlled climates inside urban farms reduce the risk of air and water pollution, while allowing for more reliable yields. iFarm reports that 100 percent of their seeds sprout.
Indoor farms can also exist anywhere. The urban farming company Square Roots, for example, grows greens in the heart of Brooklyn. This flexibility cuts down on land use—which is increasingly sparse—and improves access to fresh food in urban areas.
iFarm’s founder, Alex Lyskovsky, decided to start the company for exactly that reason: his hometown in Siberia lacked access to fresh food. Now, thanks to iFarm, says Zelenski, “Even sitting in Finland, I can grow—for example—tomatoes like they would be grown in Sicily.”
Zelenski imagines a world where proximity to farmland no longer dictates where people reside. “Our idea is that it will change the world and how people are living. Because of the possibility to build farms in every house, you can live wherever,” Zelenski tells Food Tank.
Zelinski believes that autonomous farming companies—particularly those that sell already-programmed systems—have the potential to radically reshape the industry. “Modern farmers,” as he calls them, won’t necessarily need to know how to farm.
However, there are downsides. Zelenski notes that iFarm’s drones reduce the need for labor by 800 hours per month, which boosts efficiency and saves farm owners money—but could also threaten job security for farm workers.
iFarm isn’t the only company selling urban farms. Manhattan-based Farm.One offers everything from single-plant hydroponic units to entire vertical farming setups. InFarm, based in Berlin, installs its modular setups in grocery stores. And companies like Agrilution, Rise Gardens, and Aspara sell in-home hydroponic systems.
As for iFarm, the company plans to put half of its recent funding towards scaling up in Europe and the Middle East, 30 percent into research and development, and the remaining 20 percent into internal management and hiring.
The company plans to leave a big mark on the agriculture industry. “We think our technology will change not just [farmers’] work, it will change the world totally,” Zelenski tells Food Tank. “Our idea totally disrupts the industry.”
October 30, 2020
INDIA: Farm To Fork, The Hi-Tech Way
The lockdown has created a new food chain for both the urban farming community growing produce on home terraces and agriculturists on conventional farms
Hyderabad-based Simply Fresh has commissioned India’s largest high-tech ‘plant factory’, spread across 140 acres.
November 1, 2020
Lead photo: Greens from Simply_Fresh
The lockdown has created a new food chain for both the urban farming community growing produce on home terraces and agriculturists on conventional farms. Artificial Intelligence and new machinery are making it efficient and progressive. For example, an IIT Madras app offers a seed-to-plate supply chain. NeerX Technolabs’s low-cost sensors are even used by ISRO and IARI to replace expensive imported remote sensors.
Cloud cues
From red tape bureaucracy to ignorance, prevents data across categories. Cloud Cues, a project led by IIT Mandi, brings data on a single platform to be distributed according to need. “Small-scale farmers benefit by sharing resources such as weather prediction, irrigation, soil nutrition, seed selection, disease and pest control, surveillance and market access and credit.
Crop protocols being explained to a
farmer by AB InBev
Water saver
Bengaluru-based Gourmet Garden focuses on improving water and nutrient use in sustainable farming sensor-based technology. It automatically assesses nutrition delicacy and auto-fertilises soil thereby reducing water use by over 90 percent. It can be controlled through a mobile phone or computer. “All plants will get uniform nutrition,” says Arjun Balaji and Vishal Narayanswamy, Co-founders, Gourmet Garden, a company that deals with hydroponics.
Artificial intelligence
Hyderabad-based Simply Fresh has commissioned India’s largest high-tech ‘plant factory’, spread across 140 acres. “We use AI-based precision farming, climate e-engineering, and hydroponics. From growing to processing, it’s cheaper than expensive US operations,” says Sachin Darbarwar, CEO. The company has developed proprietary software for farm management.
Supply chain solution
Smart Barley: AB InBev, the world’s leading brewer, works with KisanHub, an agri-food supply chain company, to empower farmers to manage their supply chain, identify and resolve risks, make large-scale supply planning decisions and improve sustainability.
Machine learning
Agrojay platform: The horticulture app implemented in Nashik, Maharashra, is used by more than 22,500 people for online consultation for predictions, crop patterns, and sales to highly rated traders via AI and Machine Learning.
Pure Harvest Smart Farms, How To Grow Local In The Middle East ?
In the UAE where the climate is arid and very hot most of the time of the year, growing local and fresh vegetables can be a challenge or even impossible
03.11.20
Pure Harvest Smart Farms is a tech company that tries to disrupt the agricultural market in the UAE by tackling the problem of food security.
In the UAE where the climate is arid and very hot most of the time of the year, growing local and fresh vegetables can be a challenge or even impossible. There are imports from other countries to secure fresh vegetable supply year-round, but due to the air freight, the products aren’t fresh and are expensive. An issue that Pure Harvest farm tries to address by bringing the best of agriculture technology to develop fresh and locally grown tomatoes in the UAE. Today the company has raised $100 million to expand its production, and start growing in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. We met Sky Kurtz, its CEO, and Co-Founder.
What is controlled environment agriculture and why is it so important in the UAE today?
Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) is the strategy taken by Pure Harvest to tackle the issue of food security. This means we engage in CEA with hybrid growing solutions that provide precise climate and environmental controls to deliver quality fresh produce. Pure Harvest’s CEA ensures increased productivity and reduced waste (including water, energy, time, and transport). The UAE is the perfect starting point for us to expand our agritech solutions into other import-reliant regions. There is a huge amount of sun energy waiting to be harnessed!
In which aspects is Pure Harvest disrupting the industry compared to other traditional greenhouses?
The UAE’s arid climate is the right laboratory for the conditions needed for this kind of project and as a result, Pure Harvest is now entering the world stage as a tech-agricultural business tackling the problem of food security. Some other vertical farming countries in the world such as the United States, Holland, France are looking at similar solutions but don’t have the right conditions or a laboratory. The gap between traditional greenhouse countries and import countries has been bridged, this is particularly relevant given the risk of long term import reliance exposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
What kind of technologies do you use to grow fresh vegetables in the hostile climate of the UAE?
Pure Harvest integrates world-leading Dutch greenhouse growing technologies together with our proprietary climate management systems. Pure Harvest seeks to leverage innovative semi-closed growing technology (with overpressure climate control and mechanical cooling) in order to pioneer year-round production of affordable, premium quality fresh produce.
What kind of crops do you grow in your greenhouses today?
We are currently growing 26 varieties of tomatoes and 6 varieties of strawberries. We are creating new markets, not just displacing existing commercial import markets. There are over 400 commercial varieties of tomato, and Pure Harvest is proud to grow six that have never before been seen. We’re aiming to be able to produce anything which already grows under a Mediterranean climate in any variety.
Last April, you secured a multi-stage investment commitment valued at over USD 100 million with Wafra Investment company. Which kind of developments do you expect for the company?
This year, the company entered into a first-of-its-kind retailer-integration partnership with The Sultan Centre (TSC) in Kuwait, creating a ‘farm center’ that will include edutainment, a retail farmers’ market, and an integrated café. We are completely committed to supporting public initiatives focused on improved food security, water conservation, skilled job creation, and economic diversification. Through constant engagement with governments, schools, and research institutions, we believe that together, we can lead the Middle East into the next generation of sustainable agriculture.
SEE ALSO A French-Tunisian startup changes the future of sustainable agriculture with insect proteins
3 November 2020
80 Acres Farms Raises Funding Round Led by Barclays to Accelerate Growth in Automated Vertical Farming Technolog
80 Acres Farms addresses both sustainability and food security through growing food differently with vertical farming technology and reducing water usage by 97% on less than 1% of the land, with 300x the yield
HAMILTON, Ohio - November 2, 2020 Newswire.com
80 Acres Farms, the sustainable solution for fresh, pesticide-free food, announced that it added Barclays as a strategic investor in the business, joining Virgo Investments, Orange Wings Capital, QuietStar Capital, and other family office investors.
80 Acres Farms is a 2019 fellow from the Unreasonable Impact Americas program and award winner recognized for their work addressing the global pandemic's effects. 80 Acres Farms addresses both sustainability and food security through growing food differently with vertical farming technology and reducing water usage by 97% on less than 1% of the land, with 300x the yield.
Mike Zelkind, CEO of 80 Acres Farms, said: "There has been an explosion in demand for fresh, locally grown, nutritious food, and this investment round enables us to continue to meet that demand at the right unit economics. We look forward to developing our relationship with Barclays and their global network through our shared passion for enhancing sustainability in this industry."
Andrew Challis, Co-Head of Principal Investments at Barclays, said: "80 Acres Farms can shorten the vulnerable, carbon-intensive supply chain and secure retailers and consumers with consistent, safe, fresh, sustainably grown food. This is an exciting investment proposition for Barclays as it supports our clients' and consumers' transition to a low-carbon economy and underpins our ambition to take a leading role in tackling climate change."
80 Acres Farms operates eight indoor farms in the US, including a new state of the art facility in Hamilton, Ohio - built by an affiliated company, Infinite Acres - that will deliver 10 million servings in its first year. You can find 80 Acres' product of just-picked salads, tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, and microgreens at Kroger, Whole Foods, The Fresh Market, Dorothy Lane Markets, Jungle Jim's Markets, and key National Foodservice Distributors including Sysco and US Foods.
About 80 Acres Farms
80 Acres Farms is a vertical farming leader providing customers with the freshest and most nutritious fruits and vegetables at affordable prices. Utilizing world-class technology and analytics, the Company offers customers a wide variety of pesticide-free food with a longer shelf life that exceeds the highest food safety standards
Lead photo: 80 Acres Farms'. Fully-Automated vertical farm located in Hamilton, OH.
For further information, please contact us at:
rebecca.haders@eafarms.com / +1 513-910-9089
About Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital initiative
As part of its broader commitments, Barclays will invest £175m of its own capital, led by the Principal Investments team, in fast-growing, innovative, environmentally-focused companies whose values are aligned with those of Barclays and which target the goals and timelines of the Paris Agreement. Investments will be strategic to Barclays, its clients, and the communities it serves, with clear scalable propositions that deliver both environmental benefits and economic returns.
For further information, please contact us at:
Investment Enquiries: PITeamInbox@barclays.com
Media Enquiries: emily.stead2@barclays.com / +44 (0) 7796 706166
Related Images
80-acres-farms-newest-location.jpg
80 Acres Farms Newest Location
80 Acres Farms'. Fully-Automated vertical farm located in Hamilton, OH
Related Links
Ground-Breaking Companies Join the 10th Unreasonable Impact Program
80 Acres adds Walmart, Dole execs to leadership team as it gears up for growth
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/67308
VIDEO: Wallenius Marine Develops World's Largest Wind-Powered Vessel To Slash Shipping Emissions
Developed in collaboration with Sweden's KTH Royal Institute of Technology and naval research institute SSPA, the Oceanbird project hopes to mitigate the environmental impact of maritime freight transport, which accounts for all but 10 percent of trade in the whole world
Swedish shipping company Wallenius Marine is developing a ship called Oceanbird, which could transport 7,000 cars and trucks across the Atlantic propelled only by the wind.
The concept, which is essentially an outsized sailboat, would be twice as high as the largest comparable vessel due to the five 80-meter-tall sails that protrude from its hull.
These purportedly would make it the world's largest wind-powered vessel, capable of traveling across the ocean to the US at a speed of 10 knots and with a total journey time of 12 days.
Wallenius Marine claims that Oceanbird will be the world's largest wind-powered vessel
According to Wallenius Marine, this is only four days longer than a carrier powered by fossil fuel while emitting 90 percent less CO2 in the process.
Developed in collaboration with Sweden's KTH Royal Institute of Technology and naval research institute SSPA, the Oceanbird project hopes to mitigate the environmental impact of maritime freight transport, which accounts for all but 10 percent of trade in the whole world.
In 2018 alone, the shipping industry emitted 937 million tonnes of CO2, which is more than all of Germany. If it were a country, the sector would be the sixth-largest emitter in the world, just behind Japan.
Related story
Rolls-Royce touts remote-controlled cargo ship as "future of the maritime industry"
"We only have one planet and it's important that we take responsibility and ensure that this planet will be a good place to live for future generations," said Wallenius Marine's COO Per Tunell.
"Shipping plays a very important role in today's society but it's also a large contributor to harmful emissions and that cannot continue, so we need to act."
In order to try and rival the speed of an engine-powered ship, the Oceanbird would make use of wingsails rather than traditional fabric sails. These resemble solid fins made of steel and various composites, much like the wings of an airplane.
The ship is propelled forwards by five wingsails
"Airplane wings are asymmetrical in profile because they should only produce a lift upwards," explained the ship's naval architect Carl-Johan Söder.
"But our wings are symmetrical because we should be able to produce lift regardless of if you have wind coming in from the port tack [left side] or the starboard tack [right side of the ship]. The wings can rotate 360 degrees so you can optimize the angle depending on the wind direction relative to the ship."
They are also telescopic, meaning they could be retracted to 60 meters in order to pass under bridges and mitigate turbulence caused by strong winds.
It could transport 7,000 vehicles
When the sails are at their tallest and propped up on the ship's hull, they would reach up to 105 meters above the waterline. In comparison, a regular sailboat reaches only up to 30 to 35 meters into the air.
"No part of our sail is lower than 30 metres so we are using a piece of the atmospheric boundary layer above the ocean, where basically people have not been before," said Jakob Kuttenkeuler, a professor in naval architecture at KTH.
"Airplanes are above and boats are below. So we've put quite a lot of effort into measuring the atmospheric boundary layer."
Wallenius Marine hopes to build a fully functioning Oceanbird by 2024
Wallenius Marine attached sensors to its existing vessels in order to measure how the wind direction and velocity changes at such heights, in order to optimize both the wingsails as well as the fins at the bottom of the hull.
These can be moved against the direction of the wind, in order to prevent the boat from drifting off course.
For emergencies and maneuvering in and out of ports, the ship would also be equipped with an auxiliary motor, which Wallenius Marine claim runs on clean energy.
Unlike the wings of an airplane, the wingsails are symmetrical
At the moment, the ship is still in the prototyping stage, with a seven-meter tall model set to be trialed in Stockholm's harbor to gather data and optimize its performance and aerodynamics.
But the company says it could be taking orders from 2021 with the aim to deliver the first, complete vessel by the end of 2024.
The sails reach up to 80 meters high
Ireland's B9 Shipping and French start-up Neoline have developed similar designs for cargo ships, which make use of tall fabric sails to harness wind power.
Neoline is already planning to establish a new shipping route between Saint-Nazaire in western France and the East Coast of the US by 2022 and has signed a development deal with Renault to look at using its ships to transport the manufacturer's cars.
Another Swedish company, X Shore, has recently released an electric boat for private passenger travel in the hopes of bringing emission-free maritime travel to a broader market.
Read more:
Design Sustainable design Transport New Boats Technology Ships
VIDEO: Vertical Farming To Prevent Food Loss In A Disaster
Matt Barnard, co-founder, and chief executive officer of Plenty, Inc. discusses the company's series D funding round on "Bloomberg Technology."
October 17th, 2020
Indoor vertical farming startup Plenty Inc. is working to deliver year-round produce from its controlled, resilient farms to avoid food loss during disastrous flooding, droughts, or fires.
Matt Barnard, co-founder, and chief executive officer of Plenty, Inc. discusses the company's series D funding round on "Bloomberg Technology." (Source: Bloomberg)
Register For ERASMUS + ECVET PONICS VET LAUNCH - Friday, October 16th
Erasmus plus helps the CEA industry grow with free online vocational training courses in hydroponics for the technician level profile
ERASMUS DAYS PUBLIC LAUNCH
October 16th, 2020
Register for ERASMUS+ ECVET PONICS VET
LAUNCH:
Erasmus plus helps the CEA industry grow with free online vocational training courses in hydroponics for the technician level profile
PONICS VET:
Hydroponics Technician is an Erasmus + project. It aims to service agriculture communities and future growers from outside the industry. It provides essential basic training and an introduction into practices and the use of technology in the soilless growing of plants. Hydroponic systems have a proven track record in resource efficiency and resilience in the age of climate change. It also provides an attractive solution for existing farm operations that are not economical anymore and create new income streams for growers and would-be farmers.
The PONICS VET training services an innovative professional profile, the hydroponics technician, and delivers credentials for such a profile in a commercial context. The course will introduce system definitions, various technical insights, and important proficiencies in practical growing, including pest control, food safety, and certification information. Also included are case studies and ample supporting material. The micro-credential rules are drawn from the ECVET (the European credit system for VET) methodology, which will allow recognition of applied learning outcomes in the EU and beyond.
As the development of workforce pathways in times of CoVid19 and for the agriculture, communities has become a critical demand, FTS and its industry-based membership was selected as a critical partner in the development and deployment of PONICS VET project. Stay tuned for further modules and languages.“Workforce development in Agriculture has been underserviced in new and innovative agriculture practices and needs to be the main focus by the industry as well as the policymaker, PONICS VET is a great start for the Controlled Environment Agriculture sector as there currently no accredited vocational training courses online outside of the NL/BE greenhouse cluster. “ ~ FarmTech Society
HOW TO JOIN THIS EVENT:
Registration Page
INTERESTED IN JOINING THE COURSE:
Link to FREE ONLINE COURSE (Guest)
About FTSFarmTech Society (FTS) ASBL is an international non-profit association that unites and supports the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) industry, seeking to strengthen the sector through the development and implementation of resilient and future-proof methods and technologies for indoor growing. A prime focus area of the FTS is education, by developing training and education courses and creating credentials for graduates facilitating certification that meets industry needs. Secondly, the FTS engages with lawmakers in order to help promote policies and regulations that foster innovation and propel businesses in CEA. Thirdly, the FTS supports the establishment of standards to help the industry grow and innovate. Lastly, the FTS also provides an international network for the CEA industry.
Project Partners:
1 Latvia University of Lifesciences and Technology (Lativia)
2 Eurocrea Merchant Srl (Italy)
3 IDEC (Greece)
4 BIC Innobridge (Bulgaria)
5 FarmTech Society ASBL (Belgium)
6 zemniekusaeima (Lativa)
Why Soil And Not Hydroponics, And Vice Versa
Hydroponics, in a nutshell, is a method of growing plants without soil
I have decided that is high time we tackle this topic as my next article because in fact is a pretty hot topic of conversation. Especially in Berlin, where we have incredible startups like infarm, who specialize in hydroponic production in urban areas, supplying restaurants, supermarkets, and much more, and therefore cutting down on the food miles as in most places their setup is installed in-house.
Also, I’m finding that friends left right and center are getting themselves home hydroponic kits to grow exciting salad varieties. So we’ve often find ourselves talking about why we use soil instead of hydroponics, and so we wanted to give a bit of an overview of the pros and cons of soil versus hydroponics.
So then let’s go back to basics, what is hydroponics? Hydroponics, in a nutshell, is a method of growing plants without soil, where you use mineral nutrient mixes in a water solution (hence the word ‘hydro’). Generally, the plants are grown with their roots exposed, whereby the water and nutrient mix is introduced by either the roots sitting within the mixture, being sprayed or in some cases having partial drying and partial immersion. In other cases where plants require support to their root systems perlite, rock wool and gravel can be used. The nutrient solutions utilized can be those produced by the multiple companies that have begun specializing in this, or you can mix up your own (with access to a lab-type stock of elements), by-products of aquaculture farms, fish waste, etc. can also be used. Generally, hydroponic systems that most homeowners utilize for home gardening are a fully controllable unit including lighting. Therefore enabling growers to control and produce a very efficient plant in the best conditions that you choose.
Economic investment
This all might sound ideal to some, but actually, there are a few things to consider here. Firstly the economic investment required in the beginning is rather substantial. These systems are not always cheap. Or let me put it this way, if you want good lighting which are in the right ‘spectrum’ and are not going to give you leggy unhealthy plants, you want a good system that has been produced by a trustworthy company. And whilst these sure exist, say Ikea even does great systems their not cheap, it adds up financially. Whilst in comparison when you’re doing home balcony soil based gardening you can do so without investing tons of money in the beginning but build it up slowly, all you need is some seeds and soil and you can recycle egg cartons to your hearts delight for seedling trays and bang you’re on your way in springtime!
Energy reliance/plant compounds
Now another thing to be concerned about in terms of hydroponics is that its energy reliant. So if you’re in a place where the electricity tends to cut out, or you don’t fancy using unnecessary energy but conserving then this is really something to consider. If your lights go out, your plants will die. Sadly that’s just the reality, it’s a very fine-tuned system and you can get great productivity out of it, but at the same time, these plants produced in such systems are not as resilient as those grown in natural conditions. And that brings us to the next major point to consider. Natural conditions tend to enable plants to develop a buffer capacity against changes in temperature, lack of water, etc. They toughen up and produce all kinds of amazing secondary metabolite plant compounds that help protect them from the stress. And guess what- science is just discovering how healthy some of these compounds are for us, humans! Secondary metabolites called ‘glucosinolates’ in the broccoli family have been found to have anti-carcinogenic properties! So plants toughening up to growing conditions can be a good thing for them and for us.
Maintenance / disease
Now whilst there is a whole hype in controlling ‘lighting’ recipes that LED’s can now create for plants, and some home growers are tweaking their tomato plants for example to increase flavonoid secondary compounds. This is realistically a bit more on the advanced side. And essentially hydroponics can be even harder for the novice gardener because the plants are not very resilient or forgiving. They are fragile beauty queens that have never had a stress in their life and really throw a temper tantrum when things go a bit unusually out of schedule. This importantly enough brings us to another point, that hydroponic systems are very controlled clean and uncontaminated. This usually means then that if one plant gets a disease, a virus or is afflicted by something you can pretty much count on all the other plants being afflicted or struck down by the same thing within days. All plants are grown in the same water mixture and this just causes disease and contamination to spread extremely fast. So you have to really be quick on the draw in identifying a malady or symptom when it crops up.
Organic?
Now another aspect if you were not aware of it, an interesting fact, organic produce will not be certified so if grown using hydroponics. Why you might ask? Because one of the underlying most important rules for organic certification is that organic produce in grown in soil. There has been a huge push to get this removed as there have been increasingly more sustainable organic fertilizers and nutrient mixes being made for hydroponics that were not available a few years ago. But I must say that I think it might be an important gold standard to keep in play. Soil is so important, and actually is also such a reserve of all kinds of micro life and activity that when cared for and given back to in exchange for the harvests and bounties you are getting out of your balcony or garden, can become enriched and magical. There is a whole micro magical world of fungi and organisms that aid in the breakdown and transport of nutrients from the air into the soil and to your plant’s roots that are just mind-boggling. So when you create a healthy balanced soil you are in for a win-win situation of constant giving in exchange for a bit of compost and humus content every year. It’s pretty satisfying I must say!
Big companies?
Also back onto the topic of minerals and fertilizers, this is not so far off from the monoculture system many of us are trying to not support by, in fact, growing our own and sidestep the big agri-companies. Hydroponics sadly is fertilizer based, and one very important aspect to consider even when using organic biofertilizers is where and how is this product produced? It’s very often the result of mining activities in a developing country where workers are not living in healthy socially justifiable conditions. Additionally, a lot of ‘producers’ of chemicals required for the creating of these mixtures are big pharmaceutical companies. And essentially I still have a hard time justifying such high externalities when liquid manures and composts can be created so easily at home in even space limited flats. Additionally, the production of hydroponics growing facilities and systems is very energy-intensive to ‘build’ or manufacture. And so if you have access to a windowsill or balcony with sunlight or even semi sunlight I would be more in favor of encouraging gardeners to branch out and explore that area first. I especially cannot wait in spring for those first warm days to go and begin organizing and sowing and get growing. There’s nothing better than fresh air and sunlight and actual dirt under nails in my opinion but that’s just me. Also, let’s not forget how much the insects and bees thank us for the plants and flowers that are provided to them from our outdoor growing activities.
Cons of hydroponics
Now I know I’ve banged on about the cons of hydroponics a bit and I going to try and redeem myself here a bit. Because trust me living in Berlin and being an urban gardener by profession, the idea of growing things indoors in winter really is starting to get under my skin. So for me, this is where the plus can come in. If you have no balcony or sunny windowsills then these systems can be incredible. In fact, I’ve even visited fantastic bars that grow all their medicinal plants indoor year long using beautifully handmade hydroponic shelving systems. So I have been secretly scouting out a section in our flat for a little homemade DIY winter growing because let’s be honest, this green thumb gets super itchy and would love to have some things to play within the winter. I also really like the idea of homegrown winter veg and salads during the winter and being able to see the results of lighting and nutrients first hand, and sadly my flat is incredibly dark year-round with not an inch of sunlight all day. Now my only constraint is all the points I’ve mentioned beforehand, especially as I am blessed enough to have an urban garden here in Berlin that I share with friends. But you know where I think the pay of is going to come? In the summer because fantasizing about all the amazing seedlings I could start of early with a hydroponics system here in the flat. So I guess to finish off- to each their own. But for me personally? Nothing beats being outdoors with dirt under my nails!
Lead photo by Emile-Victor Portenart on Unsplash
Natasha Weddepohl
From market gardening to urban permaculture projects, Natasha has been involved in a multitude of projects linked with food growing and sustainability, for over 12 years. Originally from South Africa, she has gained her experience in sustainable food production through hands-on work worldwide. She is currently based in Berlin, assisting a few projects, whilst completing an MSc in Horticultural Science.