Hydroponic and Organic Gardening

Organic gardening is a form of green gardening that involves the use of water as a medium for planting as opposed to soil. In hydroponics organic gardening, the water is mixed with nutrients and exposed to the roots. This mineral nutrient solution can also be put in a medium for growing the plants. Perhaps one of the most important questions a hydroponics organic farmer will ask himself is what medium to use.

There is a myriad of organic  media to choose from; the hydroponics growing technique will help a farmer decide which medium to use. They all come with advantages and disadvantages. A common medium for hydroponics is using clay – expanded clay for that matter. the clay used for this medium is prepares by first shaping into pellets and then baking them at 2,190 °F (1,200 °C). Expanded clay is pH neutral inert and does not contain any nutrition. It is reusable; this means that it can be used for more than one planting season. However root matter can grow into the caly pellet themselves, compromising fresh plants.

A widely used medium is rock wool or mineral wool. It is made from basalt, molten rock spun into single filament fibers and bound into material that can support capillary action. Since it is made from rock, it is not susceptible to biodegrading. It however has been classified as a possible carcinogen.

Pozolannic lassenite is also used as material for organic farming.  Some farmers use coconut coir colonized with trichoderma bacteria, which stimulates roots to grow and also protects.  Coir’s water to air ratio ensures that it is not overwatered. Its high capacity for cation exchange means that unused nutrients and minerals can be stored and then released to the plants when it is required.

Several volcanic rocks are used as a medium for example pumice: a lightweight and porous rock. Perlite is a fusion of several volcanic rocks that is heated in super high temperatures until they morph into lightweight glass pebbles that are expanded. Perlite holds more water that air, and it is for this reason that some farmers mix it with soil so as to reduce soil density.

Sand and gravel are other media used by organic farmers. Sand is cheap and easy to get, it however does not hold water. Gravel on the other hand is easy to use, cheap, does not become waterlogged and is easy to keep clean.

Weeds are unwanted plants which reduce nutrients and growing space needed by your garden. Before starting your garden plot, it is a good practice to begin weed removal and control 4 weeks before you are ready to plant.

Start by turning the soil with a shovel so that the roots of the old plant growth are exposed. This will disrupt root systems and encourage faster decomposition.

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Compost is one of the best things that you can add to your garden. It allows you to use organic materials that would normally go to landfills. Organic materials make up approximately 24 percent of items send to landfills. It’s very inexpensive and much better than spending money on commercial fertilizers. It helps with soil texture and structure. It also adds nutrients to your garden. The best time to start your compost is in the spring. Read more »

Managing living systems usually goes better when our methods imitate
nature’s. Here’s an example of what happens when we don’t.

People who keep tropical fish in home aquariums are informed that to
avoid numerous fish diseases they must maintain sterile conditions.
Whenever the fish become ill or begin dying, the hobbyist is advised
to put antibiotics or mild antiseptics into the tank, killing off
most forms of microlife. But nature is not sterile. Nature is
healthy.

Like many an apartment dweller, in my twenties I raised tropical
fish and grew house plants just to have some life around. The plants
did fine; I guess I’ve always had a green thumb. But growing tired
of dying fish and bacterial blooms clouding the water, I reasoned
that none of the fish I had seen in nature were diseased and their
water was usually quite clear. Perhaps the problem was that my
aquarium had an overly simplified ecology and my fish were being fed
processed, dead food when in nature the ecology was highly complex
and the fish were eating living things. So I bravely attempted the
most radical thing I could think of; I went to the country, found a
small pond and from it brought home a quart of bottom muck and pond
water that I dumped into my own aquarium. Instead of introducing
countless diseases and wiping out my fish, I actually had introduced
countless living things that began multiplying rapidly. The water
soon became crystal clear. Soon the fish were refusing to eat the
scientifically formulated food flakes I was supplying. The profuse
variety of little critters now living in the tank’s gravel ate it
instead. The fish ate the critters and became perfectly healthy.

When the snails I had introduced with the pond mud became so
numerous that they covered the glass and began to obscure my view,
I’d crush a bunch of them against the wall of the aquarium and the
fish would gorge on fresh snail meat. The angelfish and guppies
especially began to look forward to my snail massacres and would
cluster around my hand when I put it into the tank. On a diet of
living things in a natural ecology even very difficult species began
breeding.

Organic and biological farmers consider modern “scientific” farming
practices to be a similar situation. Instead of imitating nature’s
complex stability, industrial farmers use force, attempting to bend
an unnaturally simplified ecosystem to their will. As a result, most
agricultural districts are losing soil at a non-sustainable rate and
produce food of lowered nutritional content, resulting in decreasing
health for all the life forms eating the production of our farms.
Including us.