Saturday, November 26, 2011

Martha Stewart and Gene Giacomelli from the Univ. of Arizona Discuss Hydroponic Food Growing



Gene Giacomelli from the Univ. of Arizona discusses hydroponics for urban farming with Martha Stewart. Arizona has 300 acres of tomatoes growing under hydroponic conditions. During the segment, Giacomelli demonstrates a couple types of hydroponic systems which can be used in home spaces. One costs $300 and can grow tomatoes, the other is very inexpensive and uses a Styrofoam cooler.

Some advantages of growing greens hydroponically are:
  • Growing lettuce hydroponically has only 10% of the water loss of lettuce raised in the ground.
  • Hydroponically grown lettuce can eliminate transport costs if eaten locally.
  • Production of hydroponic lettuce uses far less land space as it is densely grown.
The Univ. of Arizona's informational pages about hydroponics are found here.