A STATE-of-the-art computerised system has been installed at Blackmans Point where a new 3000 square metre greenhouse is embracing new technology to grow hydroponic tomatoes. Some 7000 tomato plants were planted recently and are being computer-control fed and watered every hour between 7am and 10pm with each plant getting exactly the right amount or nutrients.

Part-owner Anthony Sarks said the operation was “controlled environment agriculture” which wastes no water and uses up to 75 per cent less water than the open field system and where nutrients are recirculated. “This packaging shed contains the most up-to -date technology in Australia at present,” Mr Sarks said. “We believe this is the agriculture of the future. It is more efficient and environmentally sustainable.”

The new equipment is Australian-made for Australian conditions, but based on Dutch technology. The greenhouse has double-skin plastic walls with roof vents to control circulation. Pipes circulate hot water at ground level and they double as running rails for work trolleys that run up and down the rows of tomatoes. A glass panel in the packing shed wall enables people to see what’s going on in the greenhouse without going in. Mr Sarks said the only function the computer did not complete was picking. The computer control is constantly monitoring and can be adjusted according to needs. “We would like to think that what we are doing here would enco-urage other operations. “Many crops can be grown in a similar way, but not in the same shed as tomatoes.”

Tooling Up for Hydroponics

It’s ancient speculation. Surely, even the earliest humans looked to the stars and wondered if perhaps somewhere “out there” someone was looking back at them. President George W. Bush has recently proposed a new initiative to build a moon base as a precursor to a manned mission to Mars. However, in spite of these lofty goals, numerous obstacles still remain before us. Associate professor of biological and agricultural engineering Ronald Lacey and fellow researchers at Texas A&M are working to help overcome some of those obstacles. “Right now, even when the planets are aligned right, it will take us about 900 days round trip to go to Mars,” said Lacey. “If we want to do these kind of extended, manned space flights then they will have to vastly improve life support systems.”

Astronauts cannot afford to bring enough provisions with them to survive extensive space flights. The substantial amount of money and room required to “pack” for such a trip is simply not feasible, but the answer to this problem may be found all around us. “If you look at life support, it’s air, food and water,” Lacey said. “If we could somehow grow plants on these trips or on the planets we visit then they could supply all these things.” Lacey has developed a low-leak, translucent chamber that allows long-term studies of plant growth under various pressure conditions. It is hoped that the chambers will offer insight into the response of plant life during extended space voyages.

Specifically, if NASA wishes to grow plant life on cold, barren planets, then low-pressure containment chambers will need to be used. The keywords here: low pressure. To eliminate leakage, the chambers will need to operate near the pressure level of the planet they are on, which promises to be a very low atmospheric pressure. “We have actually seen that plants do better under lower pressures,” Lacey said. “We have found that plants produce less ethylene, which allows for better growth, and at lower pressures we found better gas exchange and transpiration rates.”

Lacey’s plant chambers boast exceptional “tightness.” Even under large pressure differences, the plant chambers have minimal leakage, allowing for wide-scale growth testing under numerous pressure levels and gas compositions. The chambers are capable of maintaining pressures as low as 5 percent of atmospheric (14.7 psi) for weeks while exhibiting leak rates as low as 1.5 percent of the volume. The chambers were built to accommodate gas supply, nutrient supply, water drainage, instrumentation, fans and a cooling system. They were designed to support solid plant growth or hydroponic systems. They also ensure that the plants will receive ample light availability – almost the entire surface area allows for photosynthetic radiation.
While the initial motivation for developing the plant chambers was for extended space travel, they could soon become useful to biological research here on Earth. Due to the exceptionally low leak rate and ability to precisely alter the composition of gas in the chamber, environmental concerns such as the effects of global warming and air pollution could be studied more precisely.

Tooling Up for Hydroponics

Northshore High junior Beau Arieux said he knew nothing of aquaponics or hydroponics before enrolling in the school’s agriscience education class two years ago. Now he can tell you in detail how to grow plants without soil — hydroponics — and how fish wastewater can be used in an enclosed system to do the same thing — aquaponics. “To see it done and be a part of the process is a lot of fun,” Arieux said. “You learn so much but most of the work is hands-on. And it’s really common sense on how to do all this.”

Northshore agriscience teachers Paul Payne and Paul Theriot have developed and built a lab — with the help of students — that holds two 1,200-gallon fish tanks that grow hybrid bream. The facility also houses several hydroponic and aquaponic units.

It’s these unique programs that have filled Northshore’s agriscience classes despite the fact that there are few farm or rural students in the subdivisions east of Slidell who attend the suburban school. From the lab, the students learn about the latest techniques in growing plants without soil and how to farm fish, a part of aquaculture.

Tooling Up for Hydroponics

Ken Konschel, 49, of Empangeni in KwaZulu-Natal, has won the Inventor Award from the International Foundation for Science in Sweden for his self-sustaining farm on which fish, vegetables, chicken and worms feed off each other.

A series of pipes connects a 40 000-litre fish tank to a hydroponic farm. Waste from fish is used as liquid fertiliser for the plants, which are grown in water. The roots of the plants, in turn, filter algae and excess fish food from the water. The filtered water is then pumped back into the tank.
Konschel breeds red-breasted tilapia or bream, which feed on lettuce, carrot leaves, lawn cuttings and spinach.

“Nothing goes to waste,” says Konschel, who has spent two years in the US studying the latest technology in fish farming. “The system provides fresh, nutritious fish and organic vegetables, irrespective of seasonal or climatic changes. It also uses very little water.” He also breeds chickens whose waste is used as compost in his vegetable gardens and to feed worms – which in turn are used to feed fish. Konschel says he wants to teach his methods to local people.
The Source

Tooling Up for Hydroponics

NORTH East Water is leading a series of scientific trials that will see hydroponic lettuces grown with recycled water. Trial co-ordinator Ms Brooke Anderson said the project would involve growing 300 plants with three different water sources: class A water which is high-quality recycled water from waste water treatment, class C which is lower quality recycled water, and river water. “We are investigating the microbiological effects of growing the lettuces hydroponically with each of the three sources of water, and aiming to prove that our class A water is a safe and reliable source for the horticulture industry,” Ms Anderson said.

“The West Wodonga wastewater treatment plant produces the class A water in line with strict EPA (Environment Protection Authority) guidelines, and it is 100 per cent safe to use on fruit and vegetables for human consumption.” She said class A water was considered cleaner than river water because it was treated with chlorine. Along with testing the water being used in the tests, the lettuce will be tested for any bacteria or viruses that may have been transmitted to the plants from the water.

The eight-week trial involves North East Water, the Wodonga Institute of TAFE, Melbourne University and Yackandandah hydroponic producer Gnangara Premium Fresh and is funded through the Victorian Governments Water for Growth.

Tooling Up for Hydroponics