Raising Plants Hydroponically

This issue's column comes from a slightly different perspective, as producing plants hydroponically is a practice that hasn't yet caught on with many farmers. Yet, it could certainly fit very easily into any number of farming operations.

- Hope Ellis-Ashburn

Defining Hydroponics

“Hydroponic production is the range of production in soilless environments,” says Natalie Bumgarner, associate professor and residential and consumer horticulture extension specialist with the University of Tennessee Extension Service.

“People have many different nuances as they describe those,” she says. “Sometimes, hydroponic will be without a solid growing media such as a nutrient film technique [NFT] or a channel system like those used for growing lettuce. Many of the hydroponic systems for cucumbers and tomatoes and the larger crops are growing in peat or perlite or a coconut coir but they are being fed by either a continuous or an intermittent nutrient solution. I tend to categorize all soilless systems as hydroponics.”

While no longer plentiful, family farms dating back multiple generations still populate the scenic valley that I call home.

From my farm, it's easy to think of a member of our farming community whose unique expertise lends itself well to the column topics I seek to cover. In each issue, I'll spotlight farming operations whose practices aren't only applicable across the country but that you can take and make use of for your own farm.

- Hope Ellis-Ashburn

Useful Applications

Growing plants hydroponically can be useful for small and large farmers alike. “It allows you to closely control the physical and nutrient properties of what you are delivering to the plants,” Bumgarner says. “On a small scale, this could be done in an area where there isn’t high-quality soil or in urban situations.

Most of the time, it’s paired with a greenhouse-type system where you’re closely controlling the temperature, humidity, light and the physical and chemical properties at the root zone. “It allows you to increase the speed and reliability of production,” she says.

Choosing & Growing Crops