ABC News produced a nice video about a new restaurant in NYC that grows all the produce hydroponically on it’s own roof. The systems are weird, but I love the idea! The more stories like this on the national news, the better!

Right now this particular project is ranked 44 out of 276. To increase their chances of winning, all you need to do is visit this link, take 20 seconds to register, and then vote with a click of your mouse.

We would like to build a hydroponics and aquaculture farm to employ some that have been affected by the Gulf oil spill. While employed, they’ll also learn the new trade of growing with hydroponics and aquaculture, as well as receiving the fresh produce for their families and others. We are located in a small, rural area close to the Apalachicola Bay oyster beds. The people in this area have struggled and worked hard for years. Making their living from the Gulf is all they’ve ever known as it has been passed down for generations. Now that it may be gone for decades, it’s essential that they learn a new trade to pass down to their children. This opportunity will have a great impact on many for years to come. Our plans are to grow seafood for consumption until they can be safely released back into the Gulf.

How will the 250K be Used?

$ 100,000 Hydroponic greenhouse & Aquaculture farm
$ 75,000 Hydroponic & Aquaculture system
$ 75,000 Employee wages

Red has a great post up about his composting setup. His Bokashi can even compost meat!

I am stoked to share this video from the MAKE YouTube Channel! Becky Stern set up a RainForest 318 on her rooftop in Brooklyn, NY. The video explains step-by-step how she set up her GH system, potted up her plants, and maintains a thriving garden. Plus there’s a post with more details over on her blog. She’s killing it with a great looking hydroponic herb garden.

Our sales rep Randall sent these awesome shots of the General Hydroponics SnapStands in action. He found them in Charleston, South Carolina at GreenSpirit Hydrogardens. They look so great all loaded up with big lush plants!

The crowns are situated in 2” neoprene inserts, which support heavy upright growth, while keeping moisture at bay.  This is a great way to prevent crown rot.  These systems have been fed FloraSeries, at ½ strength Label recommendations since their 2^ndweek.  An often overlooked option for feeding, is the “Basic Applications Table” found on any FloraSeries Label.  The numbers are in order of Grow, Micro, Bloom with the recommendations made  in ratios of tsp/gal.  Each number corresponds to a different part of the Flora Series trio(Grow, Micro, Bloom) by giving the number of teaspoons per gallon, for any phase of growth.   For example, the 3-2-1 recommendation for “Growth” provides 3 tsp Grow, 2 tsp Micro and 1 tsp Bloom per gallon.  It is a great idea, to start things with the 1/2 strength label recommendations, to see how your plants are able to be fed.

Recently, the switch was made to ½ strength 1-2-3 (Bloom Recommendation), to bolster heavy fruit production.  We have used NO additives.  They seem to enjoy a pH of around 5.8; we fed them at a higher pH (6.3-6.4) for a few weeks, before switching to the lower pH based on results.

We have been enjoying them here in the GH kitchen for about a week now, and we have a few thoughts.  The higher phosphorus content seems to make them ripen quicker, while allowing for a heavier water weight and pushing for the more distinct Strawberry sweetness.  The earliest berries, which were harvested from the systems while they were running ½ strength 3-2-1, seemed to have less water weight, but were a tad bitter and lacking in sweetness.  Happy Growing!

This is a nice little piece with easy steps to keep greens lasting longer. I know that when we are overflowing with chard from the garden or CSA box, I often have more than I can eat in one meal. I like the idea of wrapping damp greens in pillowcases because I hate buying and using paper towels, and they always get too soggy anyways.

Instructable user Tim Anderson created a wicking system for growing fruit trees in containers. It’s portable, and clever!

Youtube user Migpics created a great video featuring the green beans sprouting in his hydro system. Its totally captivating.

Salon.com has a nice piece up about the potential to turn the remnants of Detroit into an urban agriculture mecca. The opportunity to reinvent an entire city is something we should not let pass by. Sustainable urban agriculture is exactly what the US needs more of. The photo of the Detroit corn field came from projecturbanos.

More about the fall and rise of Detroit on the Grow GH Blog

This video from CNN takes a quick look at farms-in-a-bag that are bringing fresh greens into the urban areas of Kenya. The prototype is simple: a sack full of compost and dirt that can hold 60 seedlings and provide nutritious food in 40 days. The efforts are made by COOPI, an NGO dedicated to reversing the effects of poverty.

Click on the above chart to view a larger version.

If you are getting seeds going, there’s no better tool for keeping young plants warm and cozy during late winter than a seedling heat mat. I use one under each tray of Rapid Rooters that I start, and I don’t think my baby plants would live without one. I did some research and found this great table illustrating the preferred temperature for optimum germination of different crops. I found the chart on Tom Clothier’s Garden Walk and Talk. It’s a website with a massive database of gardening knowledge that’s really quality data.

Urban Hydroponics Growers Union is amazing. Each blogger on their site is an experienced grower, and Charles, aka Chuckie Dan, has even been seen around the GrowGH blog! This video showing their strawberry setup is effing awesome. They share their tricks for troubleshooting the Aeroflow and also show the transplanting process. Can’t wait to see the harvest.

GHE is pleased to introduce you to a bioponic (organic hydroponic) tomato production on Saint Barthélémie. Saint Bart is a little island in the Antilles which is famous for its stars and well-heeled tourists from all over the world. I am sharing these photos so you can dream about beautiful plants and sunshine.

Only a small quantity of vegetables is grown there and even less of tomatoes which were always imported. The problems are the lack of arable ground and the cost of water which is only available after desalination. This is why Mr Hervé Meunier, who is concerned about quality and ecology, has chosen to work with GHE technology (drip system using recycled water) and GHE certified organic nutrients “BioSevia”. Since then he has also been creating living décors with our system and also green walls. It’s a beautiful example of “bringing nature and technology together”.

There’s always something interesting growing at Gen Hydro, and so I wasn’t too surprised to wander into the office kitchen and find these oyster mushrooms on the counter. It’s an inoculated substrate and all it needs to throw off one or two rounds of delicious ’shrooms is moisture.

This is the second round that has bloomed off this little plate, and they look great. The first set is drying up nicely. I generally eat them fresh, but drying them is a simple way to preserve their amazing flavor. Anyone else cultivating mushrooms in their kitchen?

Even more mushroom posts on the GrowGH Blog:

Glow in the Dark Mushrooms

Time Lapse Video of Mushrooms Growing

Mycorrhizal Monday

Mycoremediation

Candy Cap Syrup from Corvallis Hydroponics and Organics