Did you know that all the Disney World restaurants get produce, flowers, and fruit from their own hydroponic gardens? This can produce huge perfect produce without the high costs of land, pests, long growing cycles, seasonal weather, and toxic chemicals. It beats the heck out of the certification regulations of organic farming.

Their ground breaking hydroponic research includes farming without soil or water! That just leaves air baby..and the government can't put a meter on that.

Here's a link to some of the Orlando greenhouse
http://www.simply-hydroponics.com/96/hydro...mouse-pumpkins/

I would love to hear from anyone who has experience with hydroponic gardening. Especially from the die hard cheapskates out there. I have done a lot of research online and found great substitutes for the more expensive pieces but when it comes to hooking up a pump, timer, or knowing which lights I should use, I'm frustrated by my lack of knowledge. Asking the vendor is like giving him a blank check.

Going off grid or half cocked..I forget which

Judy

Cool! I'm no gardener, but I keep trying. I read about straw bale gardening and tried it out this year. It's like hydroponic raised gardening. http://thegardenersrake.com/raised-bed-gar...1#comment-19445

Dill didn't like it so much, but parsley and sage were very happy with it.

Sorry, that's all I know. I know there are some great gardeners here that will probably be able to help more. I'm looking forward to reading more. Thanks for sharing this information and question.

God bless you.
Love, ysiY,
Gina

Well I'd never have thunk it. Thanks

Yeah Prop..I'm getting waaaaay off grid these days

I have a garden but it is all rich delta soil. Grows most garden plants well. This area grows corn, cotton and soy beans. I have never tried hydroponic gardening before. I bet there is a web site that can help you.

That's why Disney's meals are so expensive ! Can't figure out the $15 hot dog though

Type "hydroponic starter kit" into your search bar. There are some simple set ups, and some more elaborate. I would try one of those first and see how you like it.

I just looked at this thread and thought it was about:
Hypochondriac Gardening. lol!

Ebb and flow systems I believe to be the best type of hydro systems. Cheapskate methods? Ebb and flow pretty much just requires a pump and two different containers. But all of your nutrients have to be water soluble, because the water will be going in then coming back out again all the time. It's about the most cost effective way to do hydro. Just shop around for supplies. Look online at different systems, look at detailed pictures, and then improvise what you see in the pictures with stuff from the Home Depot (or the landfill in my case A LOT cheaper, free even). The pump can be had at pet smart (aquarium pump) or home depot (pond pump). But hydro never really peaked my interest, that was mushrooms. Sterilization, inoculation, incubation, except when I got to "contamination". But I digress. I may be able to give more details if your are REALLY interested in ebb and flow or mushrooms for that matter. MMMMM.......buttons holy crimini those are good.

-D.J.

Dear Judy,
Thank you for the womderful link. I was looking a link to one of my gardening shows gardensmart.com or victorygarden.com both pbs shows, but can not find the episode I needed. They did one show on a guy here in Milwaukee that has a fantastic set up for a community victory garden. It is indoors due to our northern climate. It is like the vertical garden link from your link you posted. Three levels. Bottom level was an old horse water tank, long oval filled with water and your choice of fish. They were raising lake trout. 2. level has shade tollerant plants - squash, kale, ect, top layer has sun loving herbs and vegies. the pump, which can be a simple sump pump from you hardware store, just a recirculating utility pump will do, keeps the water flowing from the tank, allows it to drain through both levels of plants back into the tank, and recycles all the time.

The key is lots of substraigt, gravel, sand, some charcol and lava rock to filter the water before it goes back into fish tank..this gravel layer is under each shelf or tray the plants are growing on.

It was working very well for them, if you have the room for this big of a set up, indoors.

some plants can live in just water, but not with out adding a lot of fertilizer for veggies. epiphites are cool, they can hang around in the sun anywhere with no soil or water - but they are not editable. LOL

Depends on how much space and sunlight you have, then you can figure out the best system and look for ways to reduce costs. Great idea. Good post.

Best of luck and God Bless on this one.
Kim