Plants are typically thought of as life forms that grow in soil.
But the fact is, they live off of nutrients found in the water in soil, and have been proven to do well in a soil-free environment as long as they get their proper nutrition from an aquatically-based carrier.
Lifelong Houston resident Steve Wilson spent years in the bridge construction field. But he always had an interest in greenhouses and the way they worked. Along with his wife, Kathy, Wilson made the move to obtain a commercial-grade high tunnel greenhouse about eight years ago, and now has two set up at his property on Highway 17 about two miles west of Houston.
Last year, Wilson outfitted one of them with a technologically advanced hydroponics system. The place is now like a virtual jungle of edible vegetation – and not a spoonful of dirt is anywhere to be found. The tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and other plants in the building grow in specially designed buckets filled with perlite, a sterile, white, artificial gravel-like material.
A timer system pumps liquid nutrients throughout the entire system several times a day. Lettuce grows in the building in long specialized trays in which the nutri-juice flows 24-7.
“There are about 10 or 12 nutrients we’re using in these systems,” Wilson said. “Each plant requires its own variation of it, and it’s all done scientifically to make sure they get the right mix.”
The building’s humidity and temperature are monitored and controlled electronically.
“We’re trying to totally control the environment,” Wilson said, “and try to make it as perfect for the plants as we possibly can.”
So how do the plants react?
“It has really exceeded my expectations,” Wilson said, “It’s amazing how the plants can grow. But these plants in an ideal environment, and it’s like anything else, the better it is, the better they like it.
“But it’s definitely a learning process. We’ve killed our share of plants, too.”
Before embarking on their soil-free growing endeavor, the Wilsons attended a week-long hydroponics school at FarmTek, a firm based in Dyersville, Iowa, that designs and develops commercial systems.
“They’ve killed many plants figuring out how to do it right,” Wilson said. “They can fix you up for whatever you want to do, whether it’s a 10,000 foot building with nothing but lettuce in it, or something smaller and more diverse.”
Hydroponics systems like Wilson’s fit well within the “green” movement that has swept America over the past few years. The system recycles its own water, creates no waste and basically has zero characteristics detrimental to the environment.
“It doesn’t get any greener than this,” Wilson said. “This house is truly ‘green.’”
To Wilson, setting up the system was like taking another step toward a goal.
“I’ve always been interested in hydroponics because of the growing conditions,” he said. “Every farmer wants to produce the best plant he can, and with this set up you’re controlling everything to the best of your ability. And obviously, it works.”
Wilson, who is director of the Houston Farmers Market operation, is growing several crops outdoors again this year on his property alongside the Big Piney River, but he plans to run the indoor system year round and have fresh produce even in winter.
“We’d like for people to be able to come here at Christmas and get a fresh tomato to eat,” he said. “That would be awesome.”
Click here to view a time-lapse series of photos depicting the evolution of the greenhouse equipped with a hydroponics system at Steve Wilson’s What’s Up Greenhouse near Houston:
http://houston.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=52010909&event=1812316&CategoryID=57447
A subset of hydroculture (the growing of plants in a soilless medium or an aquatic based environment), hydroponics is a method of growing terrestrial plants using mineral nutrient solutions in water. Using hydroponics, plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert medium, such as perlite, gravel, biochar, mineral wool, expanded clay pebbles or coconut husk.
Researchers discovered in the 18th century that plants absorb essential mineral nutrients as inorganic ions in water. In natural conditions, soil acts as a mineral nutrient reservoir but the soil itself is not essential to plant growth. When the mineral nutrients in the soil dissolve in water, plant roots are able to absorb them. When the required mineral nutrients are introduced into a plant’s water supply artificially, soil is no longer required for the plant to thrive. Almost any terrestrial plant will grow with hydroponics.
Hydroponics is also a standard technique in biology research and teaching.
What’s Up Greenhouse owner Steve Wilson is director of the Houston Farmers Market and regularly joins other vendors there to sell his hydroponically grown produce, as well as other fruits and vegetables he grows outdoors.
The market is open Fridays 7 a.m. to noon and Tuesdays 2 to 6 p.m.
To arrange setting up at the market, or for other information about it, call Wilson at 417-254-4027.