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Interest Grows in Hydroponics (Leader Times) |
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The Hydroponic Garden--A Guide to Hydroponics
Hydroponics allows us to grow the plants, fruits and vegetables of our choice--even in limited space--without using soil. It's an amazing way to produce perfect specimens and offers TONS of advantages that traditional gardening can't come close to touching!
Author: Renatta Signorini
June 25, 2008
Randy and Leona Slama started growing their own lettuce after their daughter had a skin reaction to store-bought and organic varieties.
The red oak leaf and romaine lettuce the Slamas grow in their Shay, Kittanning Township, greenhouse is done hydroponically -- in a nutrient-infused water solution -- making it safe from potential contaminants such as insects and animals.
"It's very controlled," Randy Slama said. "You don't need pesticides, you don't need herbicides, there's no weeds."
Like many others in Armstrong County, the Slamas' home garden supplies the family with fresh-grown produce. But there are important measures local gardeners should take to protect their produce while it is growing outside.
Randy and Leona Slama started growing their own lettuce after their daughter had a skin reaction to store-bought and organic varieties.
The red oak leaf and romaine lettuce the Slamas grow in their Shay, Kittanning Township, greenhouse is done hydroponically -- in a nutrient-infused water solution -- making it safe from potential contaminants such as insects and animals.
"It's very controlled," Randy Slama said. "You don't need pesticides, you don't need herbicides, there's no weeds."
Like many others in Armstrong County, the Slamas' home garden supplies the family with fresh-grown produce. But there are important measures local gardeners should take to protect their produce while it is growing outside.
With an outbreak of tainted commercially-grown tomatoes affecting the nation, some may opt to grow their own produce, said Ginger Steimer, master gardener coordinator at the county's Penn State Cooperative Extension. To keep zucchini, peppers and other vegetables safe, gardeners should protect the crops from animals whose droppings or saliva could contaminate the produce, she said.
Quality water should be used in a garden that is kept neat and free from dead leaves, she said. Steimer advised home gardeners to plant according to preference and need.
The Slamas' soil-free lettuce begins as a seed placed in rock wool, Leona Slama said. Two weeks later the seed and rock wool are transported into large wooden stands, each containing 50 gallons of water mixed with nutrients.
Each lettuce head is held in place through holes in a cover on the beds. The roots snake throughout the nutrient water, she said, pulling one of the heads out of the solution.
With very little maintenance, about 28 to 50 days later the lettuce is ready for consumption. Even a neighbor allergic to lettuce has been able to eat the Slama's produce, Leona Slama said.
The Slamas, master gardeners, began growing lettuce hydroponically about a year and a half ago.
Leona Slama likes it because she knows the lettuce is fresh, safe from animals and insects and hasn't traveled the country before landing in a salad, she said.
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