Hydroponic Vegetable Farm
and Education Center
Hydroponic Growing
What is hydroponics?
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Hydroponics is a way to grow plants without traditional soil, using a mineral nutrient solution. Hydroponics is often used to avoid soils that may be contaminated with metals or pathogens, and to make sure that plants get all the nutrients required to thrive. Instead of soil, we use a soilless growing media. Soilless growing media anchors the roots, absorbs and transmit water, oxygen and nutrients, but does not contain any plant nutrients to start with. This allows us to feed the plants exactly what they need using a complete nutrient solution (a recipe of dissolved minerals that contains all 16 essential plant nutrients.) The majority of hydroponic growing is done in a greenhouse so that we can not only control the root zone, but also the air temperature and humidity. By controlling both the root zone and aerial environment, we can optimize plant growth and grow year-round.
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There are many different types of soilless media including traditional rockwool, coconut coir, peat moss, bark, perlite, and clay pellets. At Veggie Joy Farms, we use rockwool when we seed our vining crops and then transplant them into coconut coir to grow all year. For our lettuce and leafy greens, we use a type of floral foam called Oasis Media.
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Is hydroponics organic?
Traditional hydroponics is not considered an organic way of growing because we are not using traditional soil and our nutrients are minerals mined from the ground and do not come from organic sources. However, there are some farmers that grow in organic media such as peat moss and coconut coir and also use liquid fertilizer made from organic substances. These such systems can be certified as organic in the U.S. At Veggie Joy Farms, we use mineral-based fertilizers so we are not growing organically. However, we do use an organic pest management approach (see section on pest management for details.)
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Are your products non-GMO?
Yes. All of our seeds are non-GMO. In fact, we grow many heirloom varieties.
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Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)
We use a Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) system to grow our lettuce and leafy greens. This system has channels that look like modified rain gutters with holes in the top for the plants to sit in. Seedlings with roots are placed into the holes and sit with the roots hitting the bottom of the channel. An irrigation tube at the top end of the channel feeds nutrient water constantly into the channel. The channel is sloped so the water flows down the channel into the collection trough an back to the main nutrient tank, to be recirculated.
Top-drip Coconut Coir Slab System
Tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers are grown in 3 foot long coconut coir slabs wrapped in plastic. Nutrient water is fed to the plants through spaghetti tubing connected to an emitter that controls the rate of water flow. The irrigation system connects with a timer that tells the pump when to turn on and off. Generally, the plants get nutrient water for 3 minutes, every half hour or so, during daylight hours. Any excess nutrient water drains through slits in the bag, is captured and pumped back to the main nutrient tank to be recirculated.