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Myths of Hydroponics
By Dr. Lynette Morgan

The truth about soilless food production

High density cropping is possible with hydroponics, giving higher yields per unit of land used.

Can you recognize the myths about hydroponics? All kinds of prejudices about the processes involved in soilless culture have been circulated by misinformation or in some cases, people with an agenda to promote other systems of crop production. These myths are familiar but most of the time, inaccurate. Some of these myths include the idea that hydroponic produce tastes watery or like chemicals. Other myths are that hydroponic growing is too technical, unnatural, or done in an environmentally damaging or genetically-engineered way. Its time to sort fact from fiction. These ideas often outdated and inaccurate keep popping up. To the uninitiated, it may seem as though they had some basis in fact. Its not until coming across good information and experiencing hydroponic growing first hand that many of these fallacies are revealed.

#1

Hydroponics is not natural.

The process of mineral uptake in a plant is exactly the same whether a plant is growing in a soilless system and gets its sustenance from a complete nutrient solution or from the soil out in the field.

In both soil and nutrient solutions the plant food, which is composed of mineral elements, is available to the plant in the same way. Nutrients dissolve into water either the soil water or the nutrient solution and dissociate into ions which can then be taken up by the plant when required. However, in soil, the process by which nutrients become available for plants is more complex organic matter needs to be broken down and mineralized by microbial action before the nutrient ions can be taken up by the roots. Depending on soil moisture, temperature levels, microbe populations and other factors, this can take some considerable time, so nutrients supplied as organic matter are not readily available to the plant as foods. When soil fertilizers are applied by farmers, some of these can dissolve into the soil water and be ready for quick uptake by the plants. In commercial production, many forms of nitrogen are applied to field grown crops in this way. Other fertilizers might be slowerrelease forms of nutrients, so considerable planning is needed to ensure that nutrient sources are applied to soil at the right time, often before planting out, with allowances made for the fact that they wont often be readily available for crop uptake. In hydroponics we largely supply the nutrients required in a readily-available plant form

for immediate uptake. There is no waiting time for mineralization. Plants can be fed on demand with less waste and decisions to change or update the feeding schedule can be made on a day-by-day basis to fine-tune nutrition. Whatever the method of supplying nutrients and fertilizers to a plant, the actual process by which the plant takes up and uses those elements in both hydroponics and soil grown crops is exactly the same: a natural process.

#2

In hydroponics, plants are forced.

If we provide crops with the optimum levels of nutrients, warmth, CO2, moisture, light and oxygen, they will grow to their maximum potential whether grown in soil or in hydroponics. Hydroponics is just a method where its much easier to supply all the crop needs at optimum levels without the complications of soil and the outdoor environment. Its not possible to force feed a plant. If higher levels of nutrients are applied than the plant needs (e.g. a high EC in hydroponics), then the plant will begin to suffer, growth will be restricted and yields will drop. Its nothing
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A high quality, tasty product returns should be well worth the higher capital investment in greenhouse and hydroponic systems.

like the method of over-feeding livestock to make them fatter. The same rules dont apply. Over-fertilization has a negative effect on crops in hydroponics just as it can in soil systems. Its the same with boosting CO2, light or temperature, once a maximum has been reached, supplying more of these inputs doesnt give any further increase in growth or forcing. In fact, plants will start to be damaged and yields reduced. Knowing what conditions create optimal growth is the cornerstone of hydroponics just as it is with soil- grown crops.

on what country you live in and who certifies your system. In the U.S., fully-certified hydroponicorganic growers are in production with crops including herbs and all kinds of vegetables, most in greenhouses and many have excellent yields. Organically-certified hydroponics needs to be a little different from traditional hydroponics in its use of growing media and nutrients, but the system is possible and commercially viable. Modified hydroponic systems can be

fully organic and there are certified growers to prove this- at least in some areas of the world. The problem is that the term organic often has been used a little too liberally many commonly-used hydroponic nutrient components such as calcium nitrate and others are strictly not organic, so some distinction still needs to be made as to whether a soilless system or hydroponic nutrient can be called organic or not. We no longer see a separate division between organics and hydroponics which gives rise to a whole host of hybrid systems incorporating the best of both methodologies. Many new technologies have evolved from this. Nutrient solutions, which in the past were thought only to be effective if they were made purely from chemical fertilizers, can in fact be blended from a range of materials. Growing media for hydroponics that are recommended as inert so they dont negatively influence the carefully blended nutrient, can be made from a range of materials, some of which are organic and some contain nutrients of their own. The presence or addition of microbe mixtures to hydroponics, once thought to be unnecessary and even harmful, is actually the basis of many organic hydroponic systems carrying out vital mineralization of organic nutrients. This meshing of two systems once seen as incompatible is opening up whole new

Hydroponic crops can most certainly be grown without chemical pesticides and many currently are. Hydroponic crops are also considered largely safe, particularly those grown with strict hygiene requirements in greenhouses where the risk of contamination from organic fertilizers, unclean water sources, manures, birds, rodents, and other factors is less of an issue. The grey area comes when we talk about soil, or the lack of it in hydroponic systems. Soil, in many countries, is still considered the cornerstone of organic production. Thats not to say that fully organically-certified soilless or hydroponic growers dont exist, because in some countries, such as the U.S., they certainly do and many are highly successful with this system. However, in many other countries, a soilless system cannot be certified as organic, so it seems whether soilless systems are considered organic or not depends

#3

Hydroponics is far from organic.

Well-grown hydroponic tomato fruit should be well-flavored no mutants here!

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Hydroponic systems, despite their potential, cant compensate for a lack of green thumb skills that growers must possess.

avenues of crop production for hydroponic producers and allowing access to the important organic niche market, one which is growing at a rapid rate. A consumer buying organically-certified tomatoes sold in the U.S. may not realize the fruit may have been grown in the soil as a field crop in Mexico or an organically certified hydroponic greenhouse in California. They may not realize that the quality of that fruit -although organic- may not be consistent. So further marketing potential with high quality hydro-organic fruit is another possibility for growers.

#4

Hydroponics is too technical and complicated to learn and practice.

Simple hydroponic systems are no more complex then growing a potted plant with some liquid fertilizer. In fact with the spectacular rasnge of hydroponic equipment, materials, ready-made nutrients and kit-set systems on the market, hydroponics has never been easier. Many who have dabbled in hobby hydroponics can testify to the fact that hydroponics can be as simple or as complicated and technical as you want. All the hard work, experimentation and speculation about hydroponics feasibility was carried out decades ago by the founding fathers of soilless production. Back then, hydroponics was difficult because of a lack of resources: plastics werent available, neither were ready-made, easy-to-use, guaranteed-

to-work nutrients. There was a lack of information about the subject: no library of books or magazines, no courses to refer to, nor was the Internet available for sharing ideas with growers and experts. Today commercial growers can purchase turn-key hydroponic systems from experienced and knowledgeable companies. Consultants specializing in hydroponics can help with set up and problem solving and universities are offering courses. For those new to hobby hydroponics, a simple system can be set up on the bench top with a few items of plastic ware found in the kitchen cupboard. Many examples of this can be seen in back issues of The Growing Edge. The only essential ingredient is a good, complete, hydroponic nutrient product, which is easily purchased from one of the many helpful hydroponic retailers set up both online and around the country. Most commercial growers in the hydroponic industry dont have university qualifications in soilless production and many dont have a particularly detailed understanding of chemistry either. What they do tend to possess is an ability to access and learn from the correct information and overall good horticultural skills. This Whether grown in soil or hydroponically, crops take up
nutrients in exactly the same way.

is where hydroponics is no different to soil or field cropping knowing how to grow plants and having horticultural skills is vital. A hydroponic system alone does not guarantee success, and it does not compensate for a lack of a green thumb. Most people who have some experience with plants and crop production can easily pick up the basics of hydroponics, but those essential general horticultural skills are the basis of successful operations. Once a grower has mastered some basics of hydroponic production making up a hydroponic nutrient solution from the fertilizer components is no more difficult than following a cake recipe then the rest is 90 percent plant husbandry skills. Here again, similar skills are required by both soil growers and hydroponic producers alike: learning to identify pests and diseases and implement controls; selection of cultivars, crop training, pruning, harvesting and hygiene all play a major role in both systems. After all, there are well-established, simplified hydroponic systems set up in Third World countries run and maintained by people with little formal education who would not agree that hydroponics is too difficult. Check out the Hydro for Hunger and Institute of Simplified Hydroponics Web sites to

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ics and cultivar selection go a long way in improving tomato fruit flavor, there is much a hydroponic grower can do to manipulate these factors. Light, moisture control, EC, potassium, density, even growing media influence tomato flavor quality and this is one plant that can really be pushed as far as stress manipulation goes to improve taste. This same process is much more difficult in soil, because the grower has considerably less control over factors such as soil moisture and nutrient levels.

#7
Organically certified hydroponic growers do exist, blurring the lines between `organic and `hydroponic systems, as these hydro-organic beans demonstrate.

Hydroponic fruit and vegetables are grown in chemicals and have a chemical taste.

only way to produce these year round and maintain continual supply contracts and a regular income. And dont forget to factor in the expense of maintaining and buying new field tractors and equipment as well as the cost of an acre Hydroponics is too expensive of good farmland. and not worth the initial capital As with any business, high capital-investinvestment. ment is a risk. But people always need to eat and there will always be a demand for good Controlled environment hydroponic quality produce supplied by hydroponic production is initially more capital intensive businesses. than outdoor soil cropping. However, capital investment into hydroponics shouldnt be Hydroponic fruit and veggies looked at as a burdensome cost. are grown in water and taste Well-designed and maintained greenhouses and systems should last for many watery. years, decades in most cases. Well-designed greenhouse and hydroponic system should People assume that because plants are give yields and quality increases that would grown in water, they will taste watery. Poorflavored fruit can most certainly be produced simply not be possible in a field situation. Growers should also keep in mind that in soil/field situations as well, but they dont hydroponic operations yield more per unit seem to get the bad rap that hydroponics can of land than field costs of purchasing suitable pick up from a lack of quality. arable land for crop production. High-value Inexperienced or bad growers can produce crops produced year-round bring in more poor quality fruit irrespective of the kind of turnover per unit of land despite the initial production system used. However, hydroponics is one system where we can count on capital cost of the system. In fact, in some areas, hydroponic opera- control over plant nutrition, environment tions have been set-up on land unsuitable for and overall crop production, the factors soil-grown crops, including vacant city lots, that influence quality, flavor, and bioactive urban warehouses, roof tops, and even inside compounds. caves. Arable land prices are less of a concern The key to this is understanding plant physbecause a hydroponic greenhouse can be set iology and what factors affect compositional up anywhere a practical and suitable site is quality and flavor. Tomatoes, for example, are found, regardless of the soil type, condition a fruit where its important to concentrate the sugars via a higher -percentage of dry or fertility. For many commonly grown hydroponic matter with less water accumulation in the crops such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, fruit. As with many fruits, a balanced sugar herbs and others, a greenhouse facility is the to acid ratio is also important. While genet-

see what is being done with hydroponics in these situations. http://www.hydroforhunger. org/program.htm http://www.carbon.org/

#5

In a large number of trained taste panel evaluations which have been carried out on a wide range of hydroponic fruits and vegetables, chemical flavors dont seem to feature. This makes sense because plants grown in hydroponics and in the soil take up mineral ions in exactly the same way. Any differences in flavor are due to factors other than the use of chemical fertilizers. Some may mistake certain naturally occurring bitter flavors or other compounds in certain fruit and vegetables for some sort of chemical taste, but these are just as likely in outdoor field-grown crops, or even more likely due to certain stress factors that the hydroponic grower isnt affected by.

#6

#8
runoff.

Hydroponics pollute the environment with chemical nutrient

These days, hydroponic production has become a lot more focused on waste minimization, both to protect the surrounding environment and to minimize costs to the grower. Drain-to-waste hydroponic systems do still exist, although skilled growers will minimize the amount of leachate. It is possible to run systems at zero runoff or close to it. This myth can actually be true if the hydroponic system is in the hands of a careless operator with no concern for the impact of the growing system on the environment. And admittedly, in the past there have been instances when this occurred. But a hydroponic grower who intentionally dumps his runoff is pouring away a lot of potential nutrients and water, at a serious cost to himself. There is also a worldwide effort by the industry to collect and re-use nutrient leach-

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Hydroponics combined with environmentally controlled greenhouses can be used for out of season production of a huge range of crops, such as these raspberries.

ate, or to build totally closed systems in which no run off is produced. Some countries, such as The Netherlands, have regulations in place to prevent any leachate reaching the soil or contaminating the ground water. Growers in many other areas will also soon be facing these restrictions. Well-designed hydroponic systems can easily allow for the collection and channeling of any nutrient leachate run off. The waste nutrient itself can be a useful byproduct as it still contains plant usable nutrients which can be applied to other soil grown crops, pasture, turf, ornamental
Many of the initial predicted disease problems with NFT and other recirculating problems failed to eventuate.

plants and orchards as a useful source of fertilizer. Growers can also install effective systems for dealing with waste water and nutrient runoff such as sand filters and `scrubber plant wetlands which denutrify the solution and prevent any environmental hazards. Perhaps some of the most interesting advances in hydroponics or greenhouse production in general have been a move towards closed systems with no nutrient run off. These systems use advanced methods of nutrient analysis and adjustment so there is virtually no need for nutrient dumping and replacement. These require a higher degree of skill to run and maintain, but they also represent a large saving in fertilizer costs. This is something which would be very difficult to carry out in a field situation rain and irrigation tend to leach minerals and fertilizers deep into the soil and water table, and resulting run off and contamination of natural water sources is a chronic problem in agriculture. Even very skilled application of fertilizer to soils will not guarantee that fertilizer leaching and run off will not occur, so this is one area where hydroponics, in the future, will have a major advantage. Soil-grown crops also need extensive use of herbicide chemicals for weed control, which poses another cost to growers and risks misuse that could lead to soil and water contamination, spray drift and damage to non target plants.

#9

Hydroponics is prone to disasters caused by power failures, leaks and irrigation blockages.

The majority of hydroponic crops are still produced in some form of growing media, most of which retains sufficient moisture to support the plant between irrigations or if a short power failure occurs. Growers in areas that experience unpredictable power supplies are able to design systems which are not reliant on electricity. Though some hydroponic systems are certainly more susceptible to these than others. NFT and some other solution culture systems- which dont have a moisture retentive media- will suffer if a power cut, leak or blockage prevents the flow of nutrient. Capillary, gravity feed, alternative power and manual systems can all be used for hydroponic production where necessary, and in some areas of the world these are the only types of systems in use. Other growers certainly make use of backup generators, alarm systems and regular maintenance to prevent problems with leaks
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used to sterilize the soil before planting and thus prevent many of the destructive root pathogens from significantly lowering crop yield. Methyl bromide however has been banned and can no longer be used in most strawberry producing regions, so many growers are considering the use of hydroponics as a viable alternative to the problem of Many hydroponic systems these days aim to have very little soil treatment. Starting with a nutrient runoff or wastage which could pollute ground water sterile, good quality growing and the environment. media under hydroponic proand blockages. On the other hand, field crops duction is one way of avoiding the problem are not immune to these sorts of problems of soil sterilization and the chemicals used either. Power cuts can affect pumps and to carry this out. irrigation, and irrigation leaks and blockages also occur in the field. Worse still, floods, droughts, hail and erosion can wreak havoc Hydroponics doesnt produce on a soil-grown crop. high qualities of fruits and veg-

them, while hydroponic nutrient solutions can easily be boosted with use of mineral additives and beneficial trace elements if necessary. There are certainly a number of good hydroponic nutrient products and supplements on the market that can supplement in a wide range of the `beneficial elements.

#12

Hydroponics produces mutant plants, Frankenstein food and genetically-engineered crops.

#10

Hydroponics creates a special risk of widespread root disease outbreaks.

The problem of disease spread is not limited to hydroponics: an uncontrolled and aggressive pathogen can bring down widespread plant losses in soil crops, which spread rapidly from plant to plant across a field. While there have been some cases of root disease outbreak in all types of hydroponic systems, widespread and continual crop losses have not come to pass. Losses due to plant disease are a problem of horticultural production in general and growers, whichever system they use, need to be aware of good sanitation, hygiene and plant protection practices. This myth has been in circulation ever since NFT became a commercial reality, with concerns that any disease pathogen would quickly circulate around the whole system infecting every plant and resulting in widespread crop losses. Many hydroponic systems these days have good measures in place to prevent disease, including solution and water treatment, strict hygiene, early disease recognition and prevention of contamination from potential pathogen sources, something which is impossible to achieve with most soil grown crops. Further more, hydroponics has proven to be an important tool in the production of some crops which are highly susceptible to root rot diseases. Strawberry crops produced in soil have in the past heavily relied on the use of soil fumigants such as methyl bromide, widely

The problem is that an accurate comparison is very difficult to obtain because the nutrient content of any particular sample of fruit or vegetable depends not only on the type of growing media soil or various hydroponic substrates- but also on a number of other important factors. For example, fertilization practices, cultivar, light levels, temperature, density, crop stress, and pest and disease control. Nowadays people argue that `organic or `biodynamic crops are nutritionally better than those grown in conventional horticulture and hydroponics, although there is evidence both for and against this depending on which study you are referring to. When measuring the nutrient content of soil verses hydroponic grown produce, its important to get produce from experienced growers because the quality will vary depending on the growers expertise. Some will produce food of high compositional quality, and others will not. Its a fact that there are certain minerals that are beneficial to human health selenium being one of many found in the plants and other food we eat. In the past hydroponic production has been accused of growing crops deficient in these sorts of beneficial nutrients. But most of these trace minerals while present in soils, are also present in the water supplies and other inputs used in hydroponic systems and end up in the tissue of soilless crops just as they do in soil grown plants. In fact certain soils can become so deficient in these types of elements that they result in crops which dont contain even a trace of

etables with the essential and beneficial nutrients of soil-grown crops.

#11

Hydroponics is just a system of production, albeit a more highly controlled one than field cropping. Any sort of crop or cultivar can be grown using soilless methods. These days many commercial hydroponic greenhouse growers chose to grow hybrid cultivars, just as many soil growers do. And some chose to grow older, open pollinated, heirloom varieties in hydroponics, just as organic and conventional soil growers do as well. A decade or so back, when genetic engineering was in its heyday and the `long shelf life tomato started to hit the markets, there was some misperception that hydroponics was all tied up in producing `mutant fruits, GE `Frankenstein foods and all things `unnatural. Luckily this opinion, for the most part, has not persisted these days, except for the occasional comment heard from consumers that hydroponics has something to do with `mutant tomatoes Given the current demand for organics, natural production methods and regulations to ensure producers arent endangering the public with `mutants (and also the growing demand for heirlooms and yesteryear varieties) these fears of `unnatural crops are diminishing. We also need to keep in mind that these days, hydroponics has come to mean a whole range of different production systems including organic, traditional soilless culture and everything in between. Growers can take from the best crop production techniques and blend them into the hydroponic system that works for them and their customers.
References and sources of information: GMFs (genetically modified foods) Angel Foods or Frankenstein Tucker? Commercial Grower Volume 54, No 3, April 1999, Vegetable Producers Publishing Co. Hydro for Hunger http://www.hydroforhunger. org/program.htm Institute of Simplified Hydroponics http://www. carbon.org/

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