2011

Prin

ted

and

publ

ishe

d by

D

epar

tmen

t of A

gric

ultu

re, F

ores

try a

nd F

ishe

ries

Obt

aina

ble

from

R

esou

rce

Cen

tre

Dire

ctor

ate

Agr

icul

tura

l Inf

orm

atio

n S

ervi

ces

P

rivat

e B

ag X

144

P

RE

TOR

IA

0001

agric

ultu

re,

fore

stry

& fi

sher

ies

Dep

artm

ent:

Agric

ultu

re, F

ores

try a

nd F

ishe

ries

REPU

BLIC

OF

SOUT

H AF

RICA

Fur

ther

info

rmat

ion

can

be o

btai

ned

from

:

Dire

ctor

ate

Pla

nt P

rodu

ctio

nP

rivat

e B

ag X

250

PR

ET

OR

IA 0

001

Tel

: +

27 1

2 31

9 60

72F

ax:

+27

12

319

6372

Em

ail:

DP

P@

daff.

gov.

za

Hyd

ropo

nic

H

ydro

poni

c

vege

tabl

e ve

geta

ble

prod

ucti

onpr

oduc

tion

Ack

now

ledg

emen

t P

ictu

res

are

used

with

the

kin

d pe

rmis

sion

of

the

Agr

icul

tura

l

Res

earc

h C

ounc

il-V

OP

I and

are

gra

tefu

lly a

ckno

wle

dged

.

Ref

eren

ceH

ydro

poni

cs in

Sou

th A

fric

a, d

ate

acce

ssed

, 01

Oct

ober

200

9.

http

://w

ww

.info

hub.

co.z

a/hy

drop

onic

s.ht

m

• It

is a

mor

e co

mpl

icat

ed a

nd i

nvol

ved

proc

ess

than

dirt

farm

ing.

Type

of c

rops

whi

ch c

an b

e gr

own

in a

hy

drop

onic

sys

tem

Tom

atoe

s, p

eppe

rs, c

ucum

bers

, spi

nach

, let

tuce

, he

rbs

and

othe

r hi

gh-v

alue

cro

ps.

Type

s of

hyd

ropo

nic

syst

ems

• O

pen

bag:

pla

nts

are

grow

n in

con

tain

ers

and

nutr

ient

sol

utio

n is

sup

plie

d to

pla

nts

by m

eans

of

a d

rippe

r

• C

lose

d ba

g or

gra

vel fl

ow

: the

nut

rient

sol

utio

n is

re

circ

ulat

ed a

nd t

he r

oots

of

the

plan

ts s

tand

in

a th

in fi

lm o

f nut

rient

sol

utio

n al

l the

tim

e. G

rave

l or

san

d is

use

d m

ost o

ften

as g

row

th m

ediu

m.

Type

of c

over

s us

ed in

gre

enho

uses

• S

hade

net

ting

(fl a

t ro

of,

pitc

h ro

of a

nd t

unne

l ty

pe)

• P

last

ic s

heet

ing

or tu

nnel

s

• G

row

ing

time

is o

ften

less

ened

• T

rans

plan

t sho

ck is

red

uced

Gen

eral

dis

adva

ntag

es

• H

igh

cost

(i.e

. ini

tial c

apita

l cos

t, co

st to

run

)

• H

igh

mai

nten

ance

(i.e

. con

stan

t sup

ervi

sion

, pH

te

stin

g, li

ght a

djus

tmen

ts, s

uppo

rt)

• R

equi

res

spec

ialis

ed

know

ledg

e an

d eq

uip-

men

t.

Intr

oduc

tion

Hyd

rop

on

ics

is a

te

chn

olo

gy

for

gro

win

g p

lan

ts

in n

utri

ent

solu

tions

(w

ater

-con

tain

ing

fert

ilise

rs)

with

or

with

out t

he u

se o

f an

artif

icia

l gro

win

g m

e-di

um (

sand

, gra

vel,

verm

icul

ite, r

ockw

ool,

perli

te,

pe

atm

oss

, a

nd

sa

wd

ust

) to

pro

vid

e m

ech

an

ica

l su

ppor

t. Li

quid

hyd

ropo

nic

syst

ems

have

no

othe

r su

ppor

ting

med

ium

for

the

plan

t roo

ts a

nd a

ggre

-ga

te s

yste

ms

have

a s

olid

med

ium

of s

uppo

rt.

Pros

and

con

s of

hyd

ropo

nic

syst

ems

Gen

eral

adv

anta

ges

• H

ydro

poni

cs

allo

ws

for

the

poss

ibili

ty

of

the

grow

th o

f cr

ops

outs

ide

of t

heir

indi

geno

us c

li-m

ate.

• B

ette

r co

ntro

l of

env

ironm

enta

l fa

ctor

s, i

.e.

for

indo

ors

or g

reen

hous

es:

light

ing,

tem

pera

ture

, hu

mid

ity,

com

posi

tion

of t

he a

tmos

pher

e, f

re-

quen

cy o

f fe

edin

g an

d irr

igat

ion

can

be c

ontr

ol-

led.

• C

rop

rota

tion

is u

nnec

essa

ry b

ecau

se t

here

is

no d

eple

tion

of n

utrie

nts

beca

use

ther

e is

no

soil.

• G

row

ing

is n

ot r

egul

ated

by

seas

onal

cha

nges

. T

he s

yste

m a

llow

s fo

r con

tinua

l gro

wth

thro

ugh-

out t

he y

ear.

• T

here

is li

ttle

to n

o ris

k of

wee

ds o

r pa

rasi

tes

in

cont

rolle

d sy

stem

s.

• H

igh-

qual

ity v

eget

able

s ar

e pr

oduc

ed

• W

ater

is u

sed

effi c

ient

ly

• H

ighe

r yi

elds

are

obt

aine

d

• S

igni

fi can

t red

uctio

n in

spa

ce r

equi

rem

ents