Against Labeling

Here's a poem I wrote about it! Also, no matter what pseudo-scientific rubbish you type, I literally will not care. If you have something legitimate, however, please do comment! (Teo is the beginning of the genus for corn, by the way. Also, "women in white" stands for scientists, because guess what?--women are terribly underrepresented in science, so I figured I'd leave men out for a change.)   

Here in these rows,

A peculiar plant grows,

Not from one, but two,

Its creation is new.

Spawned from lab,

From women in white,

Growing like all other with light.

It came from teo,

And Leo and more,

It feeds the world,

Yet people deplore,

It’s birth from science’s light,

Methinks they ain’t so bright

After all the millions it feeds,

Are the ones with basic needs.

But I s’pose my posture ain’t true,

Because obviously Monsanto I blew.

Though I disagree with vultures-business,

I must be the conspirator’s mistress.

Even if GMO is a phrase for show,

If it’s GMO they want to know.

Labeling will reduce the little guy’s dough,

Everyone knows people outside the hive are a shmo.

Even if nature produces more mutation,

That fact is but a permutation,

In the narrative of big organic.

Formed from legitimate concern,

It would destroy CERN,

If thought it might burn.

But it is they who burn,

Through fields of rice—

Quoting it isn’t nice,

Hunger is its price,

Greenpeace don’t mind.

From this we find

A new evil,

One powered by drivel.

A battle fought with fear,

To never disclose strife that’s near.

Constant nipping the heels of the light,

The science foes envelop us in the night.

Shrouded by the sounds of panic,

Pitchforks at the gates of a ramen tower,

Antivaccinators and salesmen grow in power,

Consuming the rabble at the coffee tower,

The cry of slime and grime grows louder.

What have we done?

To become what we've become?

Did our communicator die too soon?

A silent age never for science to bloom?

The fear is all too true,

Apprehension of what’s next:

Earth is square and flat, too,

The sky is declared not blue.

Only a hot day will produce dew,

And creationist textbooks looked through.

The night isn’t dark a full moon isn’t bright—

Eating special silver is quite all right.

The key to health is bleach stew,

And needles don’t abet the flu.

That is the future we see with our mind,

Life-saving teo we cannot find,

on hill nor field.

I will not yield.

Truth will rise, arise,

And lift yourself from your disguise.

Greed is your ultimate game,

When you give teo a bad name.

Buy the farms from the ones who give life,

After running them aground,

Who cares of the future strife?

Everyone can pay the price.

No, we will continue to splice,

Genes to prevent famine.

We will not yield

Our fields of golden grains,

Nor our thinking brains.

We vote no to label,

We’re not going to be another state

Written into the anti-science play-bill. 

(Look stuff up if you need to get these kind of obscure references. Trust me, it's worth it.)

"Aquaponics Without a Pump"

Oh dear Morgan Freedman here we go again.  Once again the people who didn't read the damned "manual" are trying to "think outside the box and damned be to your scientific reasoning!" Recently this pushed a now ELEVEN PAGE LONG discussion on it, the last six of which has been me futilely arguing with basically one guy--then making snarky comments because it's fun. I actually want to see what you come up with, by the way. It's an engineering problem that's damn near impossible, but I believe in people with way too much spare time. Also other people are adding to the discussion. Weird. All that aside, here's the opening statement of the thread:

"I'm throwing this out there for discussion, spawned by a recent blog, but something on my mind since first being interested in AP.  NO PUMPS. Can it happen, and how?
Why? Well, 'cause if we didn't need pumps or electricity we probably wouldn't use them, and AP might truly join the ranks as a sustainable food production method, and applicable to feeding the poor, saving the world, yada yada...and at the heart of it all, I'm cheap and lazy. I find personal victory in reaching the end goal faster, smarter, easier, cheaper than "how it normally done".
The only thing that comes to mind is a wicking bed of some sort. And I need to consult my book of wild ideas before I open my mouth.
Now I won't be a stickler about including some pumps using waste energy, or some low-tech mechanics, or human power, but try to avoid solar PV and windmill electricity (not that they are not excellent, but they are being done and discussed elsewhere).
link to blog: http://community.theaquaponicsource.com/profiles/blogs/a-no-pump-sy...

Pics, sketches, links, etc are always nice. Happy brainstorming" --Jon Par 

Uh... sure? Well, aquaponics isn't necessarily defined by the use of a pump, so sure. It is generally accepted that it should be recirculating--which really, really does necessitate a pump, but for the sake of discussion let's pretend I didn't say that. (AUTHORS NOTE: Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sherrif" started playing right as I wrote that.Coincidence? I think not.) Anyway, let's consider our options:

1. "What the hell is this drivel?" That's not an option. 
2. "No seriously..." if you're not going to brainstorm nicely, then please go. 
3. "But.." NOW. Don't worry, I won't break the laws of thermodynamics. 
4. "Mechanically push water using animal/human/air/steam power" Ooh! Sounds interesting. One possible ways is to hook your bicycle to an Archimedes' Screw--as suggested by the troll currently known as  KlaHaYa Gardens. Theoretically that sounds cool. The problem? That's a lot of freaking biking. Are you paying someone to do it for you? Child labor during the summer? Staying at home? Well, I have sad news, from a purely thermodynamics perspective--HOLY HELL THAT'S A TERRIBLE DEAL! You cannot possibly regain even .1% of that energy from the system. You probably won't need a gym membership anymore, but it won't save enough money if you're constantly eating. Plus, who's going to bike at three in the morning? Not me. Well, alright, what if we decide to torture the fish a little by giving them low circulation. NO! THAT IS SO FUCKING UNETHICAL, NO, I WON'T LET YOU! NO, NO FUCKING WAY! Well, that escalated quickly. Anyway, we can't shaft the fish. Heh, pun. So, what if you use steam instead? Uh, how are you creating all that steam? Solar water heater in Arizona? Perfect. You engineer something with a lower failure rate than a standard pump, I'm wisely shying away from that challenge. Next! 
5. What if you, like, put it on a see-saw, bro? No, that seriously hurts the fish. There is no way you can efficiently run this, if done correctly. Using steam/hydraulics would work, but I am constraining you to moving the sump tank around--the fish tank is staying level goddamnit! NEXT! 
6. Fuck it. Let's just do permaculture. This is my favorite, possibly because I suggested it, and more likely because it's the one that actually makes any freaking sense to me. I'm too lazy to reiterate, so here's me quoting myself for the first and last time: 

"Anyway, tinfoil hats aside, permaculture may hold the answer to this question. I remember reading a book by a Aus. Permaculturalist who built a giant pond, and put some trout in it. The pond was in her modest yard, and wasn't that enormous, either. Through diffusion, or osmosis, whatever, it would water some water-intensive trees, most of them tropical. Then, she had semi-aquatic plants for filtration. This is a traditional pond set-up, with some added temperate tree benefit. 

The way to improve on this is to remember that the Chinese already figured this out (or the Aztecs, whichever design you want). When we first learned about hydroponics or aquaponics we get the "ancients are all knowing" or "ancient technology is analogous" bit from websites (or at least I did). The Chinese used a available source of water to irrigate crops in the Southern part where this normally took place. This would create a pond for growing rice (a rice paddy). Some guy figured if you put carp in it you could get two crops out of one. So, they did. The practice spread throughout Southeast Asia.  So, you could think about re-engineering rice paddies with other crops. This practice is, still, very common. 

The Aztec method, however, is more familiar and simpler. Make a floating raft bed. What they did was ingenious. Banished by the dominant civilization to the swampy islands of Lake Texcoco (now Mexico City) they had to find a good food system. So, they gathered reeds by the shore and put the lake bottom onto it. Then, they put it out onto Lake Texcoco. So, you could just replicate this with Styrofoam, or reeds, and use net pots (yogurt cups) in your own backyard. Now, this isn't aquaponics. This is pond culture. You should always keep the stocking densities low, and I suggest using the dual root zone method with the plant, to keep nutrients at a good level.

Another idea is, well, similar to the one above, except it is a smaller, contained system. The now gone New Alchemy Institute had various ideas about greenhouse pond culture. Most of the experiments failed. But, the idea is like the one above, but aquaponics sized. The way I would think it would work is if there is a polyculture to break down solids, and a large surface area to tank volume ratio. I could see catfish and shrimp, or the like, eating from the same waster streams. Basically, you feed the catfish, and the shrimp (but less) and the shrimp will subsist mostly on algae and catfish "by-products". This could be further broken down by bacterial action, and the occasional clean every so often, to prevent solids coating on the roots. 

Anyway, I hope this discussion comes to a theoretical conclusion and a test, or just a test. I love empirical data. I hope to see some!"

 Wow, I sounded so annoying one year ago, seriously. Oh, anyway, back to what I was supposedly talking about. You should do this because I really want to see someone do that. Okay, maybe a different reason, um, nope. So, uh, see any good documentaries lately? Oh, wait, this isn't aquaponics. NEXT!
     
        7. That's all that's reasonably been suggested.
Well, I suppose we should just use a freaking pump and if we want to have a minimal impact, let's use micro-generated electricity for it. There, problem solved. Problem solved. PROBLEM SOLVED! Alternates will be accepted once proven. Good luck!

Soil Vs. Hydroponics (Nutrition Edition)

First things first: your produce will NOT taste like "water" if hydroponically grown. Taste is affected by a myriad of factors, not the least include whether it was grown in one particular substrate or another (assuming a few chemicals are controlled for). We should also discuss what "soil" means. Soil is weathered rock and organic "stuff." Organic stuff can include humus, living things, twigs, dead roots, excrement--basically anything from a living thing, including itself. Dirt, however, is just weathered rock. This does mean that aquaponic growbeds are soil, but that simply shows that the definition of "soil" is too broad for our purposes. So, we should just arbitrarily exclude hydroponics.

As to the nutritional value of certain soils there are huge differences. Soils can be low in certain nutrients, have low accessibility to them, and/or the opposite for distinct nutrients. One soil may be loaded with accessible Iron (Fe) but has a pH of 7.4--around where Fe becomes largely "unusable." Therefore, the plant--which is programmed by evolution (naturally or artificially) to spread its genes--will have to make choices about reproduction. Anyone who has talked to a pregnant, or formally pregnant, (which is everyone) should know that making offspring is incredibly taxing on resources--for members of the Kingdom Plantae as well as every other kingdom. So, a deficiency in nutrients which produces say, fruits, will result in a choice being made by the plant--produce more low-quality fruits, or fewer high quality fruits. Most flowering plants will choose to lower the quality of the fruits rather than risk something not eating it. For many garden plants, we made that strategy. Because what does a subsistence-farmer want more of?--calories or "nutrition." If you said "calories", you are likely correct. Better to be missing something in your diet than dead. 

Coincidentally, if the nutrient value is high, but skewed, this effect will show up as well--for a different reason. If nitrate (NO3-) is too high in a soil/solution, then vegetative growth will not yield to flowering growth easily. As you can see, nutrient availability is a determining factor in nutritional value. In hydroponics, it is exactly the same. Without certain chemical in the soil, certain crops do not have the "correct" taste--as is the case with wine-grapes and the snobbery thereof. While hydroponics cannot replicate those chemicals if their precise formula is unknown to science, hydroponics can replicate all the nutrients necessary for individual plants to thrive, and has been able to since the 1930s.

"But wait" you say, "doesn't the soil have a wholesome, organic, natural wonderfulness of mother-earth." Uh...no. No, it does not. There is nothing different about the NO3- present in a solution of water in-between sand particles of soil than NO3- present in a solution of water in between sand particles in a hydroponic growing medium. That's the wonderful thing about physics, chemistry, and science in general: parallelism. That means that the physical forces governing one thing is the same everywhere else. If a person can tailor build their hydroponic systems nutrient solution to a specific plant, then it is likely to be more nutritional--though it is possible to do that with soil, just harder. Also, and this is a particular pet-peeve of mine, just because something is somehow "natural" it does not mean it is somehow better. You know what's naturally occurring in plants? CYANIDE. Narcotics are derived, mostly, from one plant--opium. Since when did heroin become good for you because it is natural? Uh...never... Anyway, where were we, oh right, hydroponics. The truth is, I cannot make a judgement on its nutritional quality because it is completely, and totally dependent on the situation.

What I can do is tell you which is better for the environment and is probably much healthier for you: hydroponics. Hydroponics uses significantly less pesticides, and zero herbicides--because there are no weeds. None. Pesticides are a suspected cause of Colony Collapse Disorder which threatens the entire food supply supported by bees--so basically everything. In fact, when hydroponic farms do use pesticides, it is limited and largely inside the greenhouse due to a local parasite (aphid, etc.), so it does not contaminate the bees! In fact, many greenhouses are using parasitic insects instead of pesticides. Score one point for the environment! Oh, and many of those pesticides are being shown to harm human health in minute or, historically, significant ways! The clear winner here is hydroponics.

Native Berries (Part 3)

   In this series we will explore the native berries of the Pacific Northwest.

Oregon Grape: the most identifiable and misunderstood fruit of all. It looks like this: 

If you live in the Northwest (not Kim Kardashian's baby--I mean eww, in the metaphorical sense) you've seen this before. You may have identified this before as Oregon Grape, but I can assure that the vast majority has never eaten its blue fruit. Why?--because people have been claiming that this wonderful edible is, in fact, poisonous. This is due to the fact that there are spikes on its leaves. This is because anything with spikes is obviously poisonous. 

Especially Blackberries

Anyway, the Oregon Grapes are for the most part, not ready yet. Although I've had a few of them over the past few weeks, only now have they been at least mostly ripe (I'm weird). That being said, the fruit is, in general, harder to tell if it is fully ripe to the untrained eye. So, try to taste a few. Unsurprisingly, the bluest ones are ripest. As for picking it, they form in clusters and are relatively stable, so  no special consideration required. The height of these plants will range widely, from 1ft to 20ft, etc. and naturally grow upright. These berries are extremely easy to find and pick. 

As for its quality of fruit--i.e. taste and durability--it is excellent, but would be a bit sour for some people's taste. Many people make pies, jams, out of this berry and one book called Northwest Foraging suggests a Salal-Oregon Grape glaze--sort of like a sweet and sour sauce. So far, I have not tried any of these--though I plan to. However, the campfire method proposed in the first series of these posts is probably the best way to go--especially if you're, you know, camping. 

Although Oregon Grape is a native fruit, I still encourage you to take as much as you need, because it is rarely eaten. You might as well get you kilocalories from something that was about to rot then support a horribly energy-intensive farming system. Truth be told, they may be even better than the 5lb flat of blueberries you can buy at Costco--and definitely cheaper. Even still, the berries, due to their bad reputation, are almost literally everywhere. You can find them off the side of the road if you want to. Personally, I think these berries would be a great snack when bicycling, because mild-sour plus warm/hot water equals good! 

Alright, Get Foraging!--BlackberriesAreForPicking 

*As a side note: the nutritional information is not listed by any reputable source. Therefore, I did not make any claims as to its nutritional value, nor did I blindly say it was "healthy". Although I am certain it is at the very least not unhealthy, I cannot prove that. Unlike other blogs about organic gardening or foraging I will not make unwarranted claims about anything (unless I'm specifically being facetious--which only happens "occasionally"). In any case, do not be afraid to eat it, for it's edible, and highly delicious. That's really all that matters anyway. *

Hydroponic System Plans

(This is a repost from my political blog. I created this one because I was dumping a lot of material better suited for this area of interest.)

Today is another continuation in a series of posts about the most important agricultural system invented since the green revolution. The so called blue revolution as it's called incorporates organic and soilless techniques mixed with changing diets and consumption patterns. Many of these changes require work for the average consumer. However it is imperative for this shift to occur. Many people are part of this "revolution" in the growing urban farming movements and the general interests in all things "green".

One such technology that you can easily incorporate into your lives is simple hydroponics. Simple hydroponics usually is comprised of passive technologies. This can be as simple as a cup filled with medium (perlite, coconut hull, gravel etc.) and another cup to mix nutrients. Or it can be as complicated as making your own nutrients with worm castings. I personally recommend, with my 2 years of mistakes, using a grow tray (rectangular trench a few inches deep, rectangular pie pan or plastic ones found in a hydroponic shop) set up. More on this later.

This was not my first system ( in fact it was recently built) so if you want to go a different route here are the ones I have tried. My first system was a hydrofarm, my second a deep water culture tub (homemade), I built another one a few months later, then I built some simple seed starters made out of clay pots and hydroton/perlite medium. I soon after built my latest system which I will describe how to build now.

Materials: 2L bottle, medium, and grow tray. Nothing more is needed. 2L bottle can be recycled when you buy juice etc., medium can be bought at a garden store, hydroponic store etc. and a grow tray can be a used pie pan or a plastic grow tray bought at a hydroponic store for $2.

1. Gather materials
2. Fill grow tray with bottom medium, make sure to spread it out first. Make sure this medium is absorbent, I used pumice found at my local supermarket. This ensured oxygen was readily available and water was kept
3. Fill 2L bottle
4. Carefully place 2L bottle inside medium at a non-invasive location so that it reaches the bottom
5. Once certain that water is no longer flowing through the bottle place hydroton (brand name--it's just clay pebbles in a firing process) on top of the of the bottom medium so that it covers it
6. If not already done place in a ideal location ( near the sun)
7. Plant, enjoy, repeat*

Remember to fill the bottle once it runs out of water and do nutrients to the requirements of the plants listed on your nutrients or by looking at the plants.

Now if you want to build a deep water culture system you need only a rubbermaid tub, an aquarium airstone (what produces the bubbles in an aquarium) and medium.

Materials, rubbermaid tub, I used a 18 gallon one; knife; net cup (yogurt cup with holes); airstone; air pump; vinyl tubing; medium.

1. Gather Materials
2. Outline the smaller side of the net cup with a sharpie
3. Use the knife to make small incisions in the plastic top
4. Slowly and carefully use the knife to go across the surface of the circle
5. Make the cut so that it's close to round
6. Insert the net cup to make sure it's done correctly (it should fit right in)
7. Hook up your airstone with your air pump with vinyl tubing
8. Put airstone in the middle of the tub
9. Fill the net cup with medium that wicks
10. Fill the tub with water
11. Place net cups in the hole
12. Plant, enjoy, repeat

*Quick update: the bottle method works fine, but the system, in general, can really only be used for herbs. Although, last year, I managed to get a few (5) soybeans from it. All in all, it is a pretty cheep form of hydroponics and it is a welcome addition to my garden.

Media in Aquaponics

Correctly choosing your medium/media (media is the plural form of medium) is perhaps the greatest challenge any aquapon* can face in the making of an aquaponic system. The medium will determine your success, among some other factors. Too much carbonate buffer, and the pH is too high, too low, and your pH will wildly fluctuate. In fact, the single largest cause for failure in an aquaponic system is the choice of a high carbonate medium. There are two, productive, things you can do, 1) stop growing plants and filter the water with a mechanical filter or 2) replace your medium. Both of these are incredibly expensive--on the order of hundreds of dollars (USD) for a recommended sized system (1000L for the fish tank and equal volume for the growbed). This will depend on other factors, but it is generally that expensive. This is a problem that can easily avoided, however.

Firstly, though, let's understand some of the water chemistry happening in an aquaponic system. The pH of a system is recommended at 6-7. This differs from the recommended pH for a hydroponic system (5.5-6) because aquaponics is a living system. In aquaponics, the pH must be a compromise between fish, plants, and bacteria. Bacteria and fish prefer slightly basic conditions, while plants prefer more acidic conditions. Nitrates, Nitrites, Ammonia/Ammonium are also present. These are measured in a unit called Parts Per Million or PPM, which is equivalent to mg/L. Nitrates are taken by plants as usable Nitrogen for proteins, so a sign of a healthy system (well-balanced) is a Nitrate level of around, but over, 0mg/L, but Nitrates can safely rise to well over 500mg/L for tilapia species.   However, ammonia, ammonium, and nitrites should never rise beyond around 5mg/L for the sake of the fish. Even then, it's a crisis in your bacteria colony. 

The pH, however, will be what is dealt with most directly in a choice of medium. A high carbonate medium, limestone and marble, will raise your system's pH to a level that "locks out" iron for plant use. The cause for this stability in pH (at a high pH) is something called a "buffer". A buffer is a conjugate acid base pair, such as H2CO3 and HCO3-. The first is Carbonic Acid--the acid responsible for ocean acidification as CO2 levels rise in the atmosphere. Carbonic Acid is in a equilibrium with the bicarbonate ion. This means the levels don't change between them, even as the reaction is happening (the rates of reaction between them are the same). Carbonic Acid is produced by fish breathing out CO2 through their gills. This CO2 gets dissolved and turns into Carbonic Acid. When you add excess CO3 or HCO3 in your medium, you are causing the reaction to deplete the reserves of hydronium ions (H3O-) which is responsible (along with OH-) for changes in pH. Therefore, it will take a lot of H+ (produced by your bacteria) to get rid of all that base. In the meantime, your pH will be nearly stable--over 7 for this substance. 

This is, in fact, the reason why most systems that end up failing fail. There's nothing you can do about it other than the options above. However, there is a way to prevent this from happening to you, and it's simple! You could pay for a high-quality, inert, medium such as clay pebbles, expanded shale, etc.; or you can do the "fizz-test". First pointed out to me by TCLynx on the Aquaponics Community , it's a way of determining whether the gravel you are buying has carbonates in it--pour a cheep, weak acid on it. Usually, acetic-acid (vinegar) is used, because it's cheep and can be found anywhere. I personally think HCl would be more fun, but to each their own. If it, well, fizzes, then DON'T buy it. If it stays inert, feel free to order it--gravel is usually cheaper than other mediums.

In my opinion, gravel and water is the best media combination. One gravel bed and a few deep water culture grow-beds. But, that truly is a point of prejudice, not scientific fact.

Happy Gardening!--Blackberries are for Picking

*meaning someone who practices aquaponics

Native Berries Part 2

                                                          In this series we will explore the native berries of the Pacific Northwest.

Salal Berries, pronounced with a silent "l" at the end, are a ubiquitous berry in the Pacific Northwest. Ranging the entire part of the cool, wet coast, this berry is a great plant to know. Considering the berry is native to the Pacific Northwest,  it should be encouraged to flourish by us not taking gallons of it, right? Wrong. I said ubiquitous for a reason. This plant is spread in much the same way a blackberries (birds eating them and have the seeds flow through their waste) and, likewise, it grows very quickly! So, while you should keep in mind your consumption for say a native blackberry, Salals can be eaten as much as you want, and there will be enough left for posterity.

Salal Berries look like this: 

(Notice the leaf shape for winter/spring identification. In the spring it will have white, bell-ish flowers.)

The berries are those black orbs in the middle of the picture. The branch is red, some branches more red than other branches. I think it indicates new growth, but I am not sure. In any case, the branches, that have berries, will have a reddish tint, at the very least. 

The berries themselves are quite delicate. To avoid a mashed, unsatisfying berry, I suggest pinching above the berry and twisting it off. The "procedure" for picking a perfect blackberry--which was meant to be slightly hyperbolic and fake-pretentious--is actually applicable here if you don't want to get frustrated with picking these berries. The unsatisfying nature of Salal's consistency is not the only reason why it is not terribly popular. The other: taste. Salal berries are neither the sweetest, nor the sourest berry out there. However, when compared to some store-bought blueberries, I find them much more agreeable. Of course, I would choose blackberries, any kind, over Salal, but its taste I do enjoy. If you are not picky, then this berry, when picked correctly, is incredibly rewarding while biking or walking around a park, wetland, green-belt, etc.  Plus, there are some recipes for Salal jam out there, and it should make a good base berry in pies. 

The usual site I go to for nutritional information (http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list) does not have information on Salal berries, but while searching I found many other wild products tested there. So, I would just consider this berry a good energy boost that's, probably, fairly healthy. So, when it comes to native berries, Salals are the plant found everywhere, that no one knows about, which are also fairly tasty. I call that a win. 

Happy Foraging!--Blackberries Are for Picking

Compilation of Photos

This won't be a informative post, but gardening season is around the corner, and nothing gets me more exited about spring than looking at past gardens. These are pictures that somehow turned out decent, despite the fact I'm a horrible photographer.

This is from a passive hydroponic system.

Native Blackberries 

Elephant Garlic

Yes, that is an actual rabbit. It was taken at my favorite blackberry patch.

Hand-watered hydroponic system.

Plums I foraged

Happy Gardening!--Blackberries Are For Picking

Passive Hydroponics

 Passive Hydroponics requires the least effort of any other hydroponic technique. It is, simply, hydroponics without the use of electricity. The implications for this technique are seen throughout the world. In rural areas of the world with little access to water, the water-saving capabilities of hydroponics has increased crop yield, and improved the lives of millions. Since lack of electricity and water go hand in hand, the most common technique used is some variation on Passive hydroponics. In India, for example, cotton is a readily available material, so it is used in this sub-technique: wick type.

Yes, that was an awful segue; anyway the first, and simplest type of passive hydroponics, is “wick type”. A wick, like a candle wick brings liquid from a lower position to a higher position. This works using the process known as capillary-action. Though this piece of physics is fascinating, just like all natural processes, it is beyond the scope of the blog to discuss it. So, Bing* it. The systems have a nutrient reservoir below the medium, and a wick, such as one made of cloth, wicks the aqueous solution up to the plant roots. I have made this type, but I was not very successful—or really at all.

            The second type of Passive Hydroponics is known as a reservoir system or Deep Water Culture—often shortened as DWC. This system I have also done, with varied success. 

This is one example of success. The lettuce turned out very bitter, because of how the lighting—or lack thereof—made it grow, and it was grown in summer. This was grown inside. I attempted to make another system, but while cutting the top, I cut through the bottom—if you can’t imagine how that’s possible, then you obviously have more common sense than me. (I cut it the top with a sharp knife using the container, which was going to hold water, as a platform.)  The system shown actually uses a bit of electricity other than the electricity needed for the light. I, wisely, broke the rule about not using electricity by adding an aeration stone. Perturbing the water dissolves O₂ in the water—which the plants need for respiration. The roots go down into the water, to extract nutrients from the solution. In this case, it had enough diatomic-oxygen present to sustain respiration. In a system true to the point of passive hydroponics, the nutrient solution would gradually be used, while the upper roots specialize in extracting O₂. So, it is entirely possible to make this kind of system for outside use, but most results show that an aeration stone drastically improves yield.

            The third major type of passive hydroponics is the self-watering-container concept. Water resides in a local reservoir, hidden from light, and a significant portion of the container contains media. This media must wick water. These types of media include: perlite; coconut coir; peat moss; pumice; and, to a certain extent, lava rock/Basalt (I’ve worked with it before).

I have a lot of experience with all these forms. The one thing that is most important is the choice of media. The media will make or break your system. What you need is a water-retentive media. Depending on your want of manual labor, the media can be shortchanged for cost, to a certain extent. If you have enough time to water every system, every day or so, then go ahead. However, I’d rather water about once a week—or once. These systems can be created. In fact, I am currently designing two low–maintenance systems. Coupled with a pH buffer, the work is very minimal.

The best types of systems for this are some kind of compromise between #2 and #3. These systems are not terribly complicated to construct either. The tools and materials for one such system—very successful—are as follows:

1. Media—I choose LECA/Hydroton or perlite for this system
2. 5 gallon bucket
3. A hand-operated screw driver
4. A larger container
5. A trash bag

The process for constructing this is also very short:

1. Puncture holes 5 gallon bucket with a screw driver
2. Fill the bucket with media
3. Fill the larger container with water
4. Put a supporting piece of plastic, wood, etc. on the larger container
5. If using a trash bag, rip the trash bag to allow the 5 gallon bucket to go through it
6. Place the bucket, filled with media, into the water
7. If needed, stabilize the bucket with tape.
8. Make sure the metal part of the bucket is not in contact with the water
9. Plant

After construction, it should look like this: 

Another, even simpler system was “developed” at the same time, last year.

Materials:

1. Media—I (unwisely) chose basalt for this last year. I’m doing perlite this year.
2. 5 gallon bucket
3. Trash bag

Procedure:

1. Fill the bucket with 1/3 water
2. Put the trash bag in the bucket
3. Put the ends around the bucket so that the trash bag envelopes the bucket
4. Make sure the trash bag is tucked around the bottom of the bucket
5. Poke holes in the trash bag with anything—even your finger will work
6. Fill with media

It should look like this: 

(You’ll notice the hydroponic system did worse. It did initially, but after I stopped being stupid and watered above the media/root line, the hydroponic tomato plant produced more tomatoes. The reason for why the plant didn't grow well without water above the root line was that it did not finish growing roots into the reservoir. Once it did, I did not have to water it for weeks in the heat of august. I’ll just call it a learning experience.)

Anyway, the results I had are not exactly reliable, because one data-source does not make a trend. However, scientific research has been done on the subject. (http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/hawaii/downloads/Three_Non-circulating_Hydroponic_Methods_for_Growing_lettuce.pdf) In this study, the concept of commercial passive hydroponics was tested. It can be summarized as: " you can use passive hydroponics in a commercial setting, but there's no real benefit other than easier assembly and no electrical input." I still suggest you read it. One very useful read is  http://www.diy-hydroponics.com/passive-hydroponics-systems.html . Good luck gardening! --Blackberries Are For Picking 

*I live in the Pacific Northwest, I'd be a "traitor" to not respect the MSFT overlords. 

Soil Vs. Hydroponics (Water Edition)

This is a series of alternative and traditional gardening.

Here in the Pacific Northwest we have challenging soil, which should be periodically amended and limed. The easy ways of gardening simply don’t work here. However, without spending too much money, you could build soil out of cellulose found in the house (junk mail, newspapers, phonebooks, etc.) which adds a significant amount of C in the form of hydrocarbons. Also, kitchen scraps, either composted orvermi-composted, which adds N, and some K (potassium)—especially banana peels. Therefore what are left are the vital minerals of plant growth, and you simply need to lime the soil at the end of the year.

However, if you think about the water required in traditional gardens, you’re spending a lot of money, not to mention the environmental impact after a bad snow-pack. So, what is there to remedy this situation? Well, a few things.

1. A true rain garden. A true rain garden is one that does not require watering, and depending on the plant, it could either succeed or fail based on some weather patterns is summer. This is doable, but you’ll need to get rid of your tomatoes, basil plants, greens (until the fall), any water sensitive plant, etc. The benefits of such a garden are the use and knowledge of local plants and local strains. “We” here at “blackberries are for picking” talk about local plants often—most of them “we” like to eat. Our favorite plants can be found in nature. Some of “our” favorite greens come from local places, like the invasive dandelion green, or the local “miners lettuce”. Anyways, you can always alter the topography of the land you have (urban gardening will be discussed later) to better suit some non-native plant’s needs.

2. Amend the soil with compost and other water retaining material. Compost can hold water effectively, although it’s not the best at it. Other water retainers include, peat moss, perlite, vermiculite, hydroton (as a soil cover), coconut coir, and other materials. This is a quick fix and should be integrated with a true rain garden if given the chance. This is a bit more expensive than not dealing with water intensive plants altogether, but more satisfying.

3. Add a bog. This may sound a bit on the strange side, but having runoff go to help water intensive plants is a good idea. The major downside is if mosquitos decide to make it a breeding ground. So, I’d encourage this away from the home, if possible. A trench may suffice in certain conditions.

4. Stop using soil. What if I told you that you could have a system that used 70% less water ⁽¹⁾ than you were using before? Would you believe me? Well, hydroponics does just that, due to the reusing of water. You may know hydroponics through the local news channels, which I might add, are not afraid to smear, or make up, something for ratings. This should not be news, or a good pun. The local news stations actually go out of their way to equate cannabis growing with hydroponics. Hydroponics is not for cannabis. Hydroponics has been around since 1699, when some introverted rich guy* named John Woodward invented it to find what plants needed to survive. Hydroponics is simply: the culture of plants, with added nutrients, in a soilless medium. Since hydroponics is in a contained system, the water can stick around or be recycled. This allows for more efficient use of water. The only loss of water is rare evaporation and transpiration. Therefore, the need to water every day is not present. The only time water is egregiously lost is when you dump out the nutrients, when they get out of balance. (See aquaponics/organic hydroponics for a better solution.) Furthermore, all the plants you enjoy, you can also enjoy in hydroponics.

All sorts of reasons exist for using hydroponics, from higher yield ⁽¹⁾ to a smaller footprint. In the case of water usage, hydroponics wins.

*If you think about it, this is where most scientific progress happens—some introverted person exploring what they think is cool.