gear/container gardening:
Hydroponics (Greek water and labour)
- replaces soil with a nutrient solution.
Hydroponics farmer Sergio Roque Monteiro told IRIN
he learned to farm without soil in Brazil
before moving to Cape Verde in 2000.
Soil is full of contaminants that weaken plant growth.
. if there is no electricity to power his water pump,
hand watering is vital.
The biggest disadvantage is the plants need constant watering
because there is no soil to keep them moist.
If they go without water for a few hours, they die.
But more than the continuous energy
and constant watering needed to run a hydroponics system,
. high start-up costs discourage converts .
Most set-up materials are available for local purchase:
tank, netting, iron or wood and cement.
except for testing the acidity
of the mineral nutrient solution .
4.15: proj.apt`hort/rejuvinate dried plant:
. I had these large potted plants
tried transplanting them in long trouph planters
hoping the roots would follow the water,
but the one that is dried-out now
hadn't put out any roots at all .
-- I found out after moving its dried remains
back to the pot it came from;
there it can soak, and might come back .
. its twin is still doing ok .
. there are now 3 trough pots
for the 3 main sunny shelves in the office .
. trough experiments that didn't make it
will be reused for growing
beans, seeds for sprouts, and garlic .
5.21: gear/urine-recycling as fertilizer:
. how can urine be decomposed for recycling?
I would like some odorless way to reuse the urine,
because mine certainly has a lot of valuable minerals;
esp'ly selenium .
8.13: care/the 7 years of famine:
. wise to save for emergencies,
but routine now is to store canned goods for a year
then reuse so that it requires consumption of canned foods .
. can save energy instead of canning food
then grow food rapidly as needed with grow lights .
11.27: gear/hydroponics/urine recycling:
. urine might kill burmuda grass,
then diluted would help surrounding plants .
. to keep it clean and legal,
urine might work for a hydroponics module .
-- my urine is full of se too!
todo.web:
. hydroponic units locally, and books how to do it .
Vertical farms grow food inside buildings -- not conventional greenhouses,
but multi-storey buildings, quite likely in cities --
hydroponically, in a water-and-nutrient solution,
or perhaps aeroponically, using a mist of nutrient-laden water.
(Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press)
The approach could grow the same crops with as little as
10 per cent of the water used in traditional agriculture,
Despommier argues.
So far it has only been tried on a very small scale.
Paignton Zoo in South Devon, U.K., for example,
is growing produce to feed some of its animals.
But advocates of vertical farming -- notably Dickson Despommier,
a Columbia University professor of public health --
envision towering gardens in the heart of a city.
Despommier, who is working on a book on the idea,
sees vertical farming as part of the answer to
global warming, water shortages and inner-city health problems.
12.17: web.gear/garden/urine composting
mix it 50-50 with water,
and add a capful of seaweed emulsion while you're at it. Use a sprinkling can.
vegetables are grown in drainless containers
ideally with 18 to 20 liters capacity
-- stuffed with deciduous tree leaves or grass clippings
up to 4/5ths of their capacity,
topped by a three to five centimeter layer of good soil,
where seeds are planted, or seedlings are transplanted.
On the wall of the container, five to ten centimeters from the bottom,
a hole is bored for drainage the container thus maintains a water reservoir at the bottom.
Finally, a stick is inserted right down to the bottom,
. urine is the best fertilizer for this system.
We call this liquid organic fertilizer (LOF).
. castings of red worms (Eisenia foetida) contain the P and K
that the LOF lacks .
Further experimentation with the more complete fertilization system is necessary.
In this context, soil pH is a variable that has to be better understood.
We also plan more experimentation with wormfeed
to include substances that could increase the percentage of P and K in the castings.
12.18: bk.gear/garden/what's p and k stand for?
p: phosphate and
k: potassium, potash
