Hydroponic Vegetable Production in Florida - Manatee County ...

Hydroponic Vegetable Production in Florida 4Rockwool production techniques are similar toperlite lay-flat bags, with drip irrigation through therockwool slabs, two rows draining to a centralcollection trough, and gravity feeding of the effluentto a collection tank. The solution can be sterilized andre-circulated or flow through and used for anotherpurpose, such as providing water and nutrients for anadjacent float system.Vertical SystemsVertical hydroponic systems produce crops inupright or vertical rows, a method that cansignificantly increase plant populations. The mostcommon vertical systems include stacked pots(Figure 6), stacked and sloped PVC pipes, andhanging vertical bags. The potential for increasedyield in vertical systems is sometimes offset by thenon-uniformity of product due to competition forlight and space.The vertical systems are popular for producingstrawberries, leafy greens, edible flowers andfresh-cut herbs. More recently, vertical-productiontechniques have also been developed for tomato.Figure 5. Floating raft hydroponic systems in Sanford, FL,2007.Floating Raft SystemsFloating raft hydroponic systems and verticalsystems (see below) are popular, new hydroponicsystems that were not even reported in 1991. Thefloating systems utilize the floating-raft or matsystem, in which Styrofoam rafts with holes drilled inthem are floated on nutrient-rich water (Sweat et al.,2003). This system works well with short-season,shallow-rooted crops -- such as lettuce, basil, andwatercress, which grow well under high-moistureconditions in the root zone. High-tech versions of thissystem can be expensive to build and operate, butlow-tech versions have been tested and are in use onsmall farms in Florida (Figure 5).Figure 6. Verti-Gro ® stacked pots (A) planted withnasturtium (B) in a vertical hydroponic system in Live Oak,FL, 2001.Web sites of some currently available verticalsystems are identified below.Hydro-Stacker -- http://www.hydrostacker.com/Green Tower --http://www.greenworldpath.com/hydroponiccontainers-accessories/green-tower-gro/prod_92.htmlTower Garden --http://www.futuregrowing.com/Towergarden.htmVerti-Gro -- http://vertigro.com/Media-filled TroughThe media-filled trough is a hydroponic systemgaining in popularity due to the potential for addingmedia that can be certified organic (Figure 7). These