Any Tips for Converting From Convntional Growing to Hydroponically Grown Crops?
I am a farmer in ireland who grows soft fruits and have a desire to convert from convntional agriculture to hydroponics to diversify my crops grown for example soy beans,grapes ,exotic flowers etc.I currently own 12 acres of land and am wondering which is th best means of doing this ie the best method of hydroponics to pursue and is economically viable with or without automation
Hello shane
There are as i’m sure you have found out that there are many hydroponic systems for growing that’s on the market, but for growing on a commercial scale, if you would like to, then there’s two main hydroponic systems, for water loving plants like lettuce, then most farmers would use "deep water culture"basically a shallow pool, as large as you like,filled with highly aerated water, and the plant are held just above the water, on Styrofoam sheets that float.but very expensive on a commercial scale.
For most other plants there’s NFT, "Nutrient film technique" much larger plants and a wider variety can be easily grow, with just a small amount of specialized equipment, and the way it works is by using channels, "like the SQUARE down-pipes on some houses"and have a steady flow of water continually flowing past your plant roots,commercial systems would cost thousands upon thousands, although if your inclined you could easily build your own, and for not that much money, maybe start with a scaled down version, then expand the system when you feel more confident years ago i worked at a plant nursery which also grew tomatoes for the attached shop, and i converted one of the glasshouse to Nutrient film technique, and the local village community were very interested, specially then we did a small leaflet, telling of the benefits.
below is my hobby site, although i can only add pages when i have time, follow the link that’s on this page, and add the RRS feed, so you no when I’ve updated