HYDROPONICS INFORMATION

Is Hydroponics Cheaper and more viable than regular farming? To discover the truth we must first identify how a plant works.




Plants are living organisms that belong to the plantae kingdom. Botany, the study of plants, has identified over 3 million species of plants, even dough they are quite alike by inside.

All living things are composed by cells, plant cells are pretty different to the animal cells, but they kind of have the same structure.

Plant cells have:

• Chloroplast

• Ribosome

• Vacuole

• Golgi Bodies

• Nucleolus

• Nuclear Membranes

• DNA

• RNA

• Plastids

• Cytoplasm

• Chromatin

• Cell Membranes

• Cell Walls

• Plasmodesma

• Chromoplasts

• Lysosomes

• …etc



Even dough all the cells may be alike, there are many types of cells inside a plant. There are the Meristematic cells, the differentiated cells, the Epidermal and eukaryotic, etc…



We can define The Meristematic cells as the one that are capable of miotic division since they haven’t assumed an adult or differentiated from or function. Daughter cells may lose the ability to divide, so they become differentiated cells. In the other way Differentiated cells develop the specialized functions. They don’t divide any more, but they may grow in size. They are located in the non-growing parts of the plant like lower trunk and mature leaves. Meristematic cells are located in the constantly growing part of a cell, such as the apical meristem, buds, nodes and leaves.







The different functions on a plant can be done by a sole cell without coordination, therefore tissues exist. A tissue is formed when two or more cells, different or alike, work together to perform a specific function. Functional groups of one or more tissues are called systems.

There are 4 kinds of tissue systems: Epidermal tissue System, Periderm tissue System, Ground tissue system and the Vascular tissue System, together they are referred as a Biomass.





Let’s start with the Dermal Tissue System, which covers the outer surface of a plant. The Dermal Tissue is also related to our skin, epidermis, which has a similar function. It’s divided in two types.

• Epidermal: Outer part of the stems.

• Periderm: Replaces the epidermal tissue on the roots as they grow, for protection. Even dough the root segments which have been covered by the Periderm can’t absorb neither water nor nutrients.

• Ground tissue System: Basically does the support, storage and gathers minerals for the photosynthesis.

• Vascular tissue System: Transports all the nutrients and water through the plant.



Plants as themselves are divided again in many structures. Each structure has a different purpose and function, in order to generate energy and keep the plant alive they have to work together.



Roots: pull water and mineral, many are in water or deep soil. They are divided in

• Primary root (taproot)

• Lateral roots (Some may be on the surface, each one has Apical Meristem)

• Root Hairs

Stems: Transport food and water; support the structure, connected by the vascular system.

Its points of growth are the tip (terminal bud; primodium, apical Meristem that develops in new leaves and branches) and the node (where leaves and branches develop on stems).

On water they are used for water storage, the bark on the tree is a protective is a protective layer.

Leaves: they are all about photosynthesis, creating food molecules and absorbing Co2. They are different types of leaves, depending on the family of the plant and the type of plant. Some kinds of leaves are:

Petals: Their main function is to protect the reproductive organs.

Thorns: Protect the plant from predators.

Vine-like leaves

Even dough desertic plants don’t have leaves, because leaves promote water evaporation.

If all these divisions weren’t enough, Scientist divided plants in species. There are many Plant species, but where’re going to talk about just 2: Monocots and Dicots, which are the angiosperm plant bodies.



Monocots include garden flowers and grasses, such as rice, wheat, etc. Monocots are the constant food staple source for almost everyone on earth.

• Flower: its flower parts (petals, pistils…etc) are in threes or its multiples.

• Leaves: Have smooth edges, often narrow with parallel veins.

• Stems: Vascular bundles are scattered throughout stem.

• Roots: Fibrous Root system.

• Seeds: Seed has one Cotyledon (Seed leaf).



Dicots include deciduous trees (the ones that drop their leaves on winter) and garden plants.

• Flower: its flower parts (petals, pistils…etc) are in fours or fives.

• Leaves: Have palmate, hand like, or oval with netlike veins.

• Stems: Vascular bundles are arranged in a ring around the stem.

• Roots: Taproot System.

• Seeds: Seed has 2 Cotyledons (seed leafs).



Both of them are quite alike, but as we mentioned before, there are 5 ways they’re really different, which helps to classify them.





Plants sometimes maybe even more complicated to take care of than babies. Since a plant can’t obtain several stuff that it needs, by itself. Plants need human animal and even bacteria to Care.

Some of the main stuff that a plant needs to grow is:

1. Plenty of Sunlight: For every plant, receiving enough sunlight is crucial. When plant is not receiving the essential amount of sunlight its stem become thinner and it may also begin to lean towards the light source.

2. Water: plants need water to survive. But too much or too little water will cause a plant to die.

3. Adequate Air and Temperature: plant needs to be placed in a well-ventilated area. Place the growing plant where there is almost no wind and the temperature is between 20 and 30 degrees.

4. Pollination: When insects accidentally grab pollen particles from one plant to another they fertilize them. So if they are fertilized they grow bigger and reproduce

5. Rich Soil: "Providing your plant with rich soil will help it receive the nutrients and minerals it needs. The three most vital nutrients that a plant can receive are nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium.

• Nitrogen aids in the plant's growth above ground.

• Phosphorous enhances plant cell division. It also helps in flower and seed production and in the development of a strong root system.

• Potassium improves the plant's ability to fight off disease. It also gives it strong stems."



Plants will always be affected by some environmental and physical factors. These factors may be part of the ecosystem and they may be not.

Factors are classified in two, Abiotic and Biotic.

Biotic and abiotic factors are interrelated. If one factor is changed or removed, it impacts the availability of other resources within the system.

Biotic and abiotic factors combine to create a system or more precisely, an ecosystem. An ecosystem is a community of living and nonliving things considered as a unit.

Biotic Factors: Biotic, meaning of or related to life, are living factors.

Abiotic Factors: Abiotic, meaning not alive is nonliving factors that affect living organisms.

ABIOTIC COMPONENTS BIOTIC COMPONENTS

Sunlight Primary producers

Temperature Herbivores

Precipitation Carnivores

Water or moisture Omnivores

Soil or water chemistry (e.g., P, NH4+) Detritivores











So we can say that energy does flow around the world. Energy has many ways of flowing around us. There’s even a saying “Energy is not created nor Destroyed, It just transforms”

Energy has many was to go from one body to another, nutrients, calories, sun light, these are just examples of how energy can be presented. The ways energy passes from one body to another, is called energy pathway.

Because the body can’t easily store Calories nor Energy (and what is stored gets used up within a few seconds), it is necessary to continually create them during exercise. In general, the two major ways the body converts nutrients to energy are:

• Aerobic metabolism (with oxygen)

• Anaerobic metabolism (without oxygen)

These two pathways can be further divided. Most often it's a combination of energy systems that supply the fuel needed for exercise, with the intensity and duration of the exercise determining which method gets used when.

The transformations of energy in an ecosystem begin first with the input of energy from the sun. So, Sun is the first kind of source for energy.

Energy from the sun is captured by the process of photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide is combined with hydrogen (derived from the splitting of water molecules) to produce carbohydrates.

Virtually all energy available to organisms originates in plants. So as we said, plants are essential for live on earth we may be nothing without them.



Because it is the first step in the production of energy for living things, it is called primary production. Herbivores obtain their energy by consuming plants or plant products, carnivores eat herbivores, and Detritivores consume the droppings and carcasses of us all.



Plants gather their energy from sun and their nutrients from soil minerals and water. The result of both is called Sap. So as we mentioned Soil, water and light are pretty useful for a plant.

As I mentioned before, since plants are only the first step on the Energy and nutrient path, the next ones are the Herbivores and Omnivores (us), and so on… The only problem with this is that energy transfer through the food chain is inefficient.

This means that less energy is available at the herbivore level than at the primary producer level, less yet at the carnivore level, and so on. The result is a pyramid of energy, with important implications for understanding the quantity of life that can be supported.

We all know what a plant is, and how their grown, (dig a hole, put the plant, water it, and just let it grow) but imagine growing plants without soil.

This is called Hydroponics, to grow plants without soil; give the plant the nutrients it needs by the water (nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium). Since soil isn’t going to last forever, people have been developing new ways of making plants grow. One of these options is called Hydroponics.

Hydroponics: The word hydroponics has Greek origins. The two words are "hydro" (water) and "ponic" (working), which meant working water.

Hydroponics is growing plants without soil. Water or air or an inert material is used instead of soil. Water is the source of nutrients for the plant, in order to grow.



Hydroponics is not new, it’s believed that the hanging Babylonian gardens (one of the seven antique world wonders) Mayans and Egyptians used this method too. It was re-discovered at the University of California by Dr. Gericke in the late 1930 after many years.

To make a hydroponic plant grow we can’t put the seed in water the first days. We have to have a Seedling first, that then we will transport to a hydroponic container that will supply the plant from water and nutrients.



A seedling is a middle-grew plant, which at least has 2 leaves and a steam. Even dough Seedling might be also considered in hydroponics as the action of changing the sprouts from the first container to the hydroponic unit.











Hydroponics is the one of the best options to grow plants and food. Even If we didn’t consider the soil pollution by normal farming, we can say that hydroponics are quite Healthier. They are raised on water, clean water filled with nutrients; they don’t have to be applied Pesticides or any other harmful stuff. They just grow and they don’t affect the environment.

Pesticides and fertilizers don’t contaminate just water, but they can make the soil less fertile. After several years, it will become a problem to seek for new places to grow crops. Hydroponics doesn’t use soil and it can be done with little land. This can be a really good response to all the problems that we, have now on the crops.

If we want to apply more benefits to Hydroponics, we can say that they are rarely affected by Climate Change, in contrast to the ones raised by the standard from. Besides the actual food demand is increasing day-by-day. Hydroponics, because of the Constant World changes, can be the future in this category. There are so many problems in the food production such as the shortage of fuel and water.



“Farmers produce only 48 per cent of the meat, dairy, fruit and vegetables that we consume, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Maintaining our current level of food self-reliance in 2025 would require a 30-per-cent increase in agricultural production”, the BBC report says.



Some concerning factors that will be/are affecting the food production are really different, and they don’t have to be all because of the planet crazy Climate Changes. Some of them are listed below.



Oil Spill: According to the U.S.-based Earth Policy Institute, U.S. food production consumes as much energy as all of France. About 80 per cent of that energy is used to move, process, package, sell, and store food after it leaves the farm.

Since an Oil spill will make a difference in the Gas prices, food will also be affected.

The fuel will be a real problem, because the machines and the tractors use this kind of energy, the shortage that is happening or that is going to happen can be a real problem for the treating of the landscape.

Without the help of the machines it is going to be very expensive to buy the vegetable that is growing.



In hydroponics this is not a big problem because the use of fuel is limited and it is not compared to the use of fuel in landscapes.



An oil spill isn’t going to affect Food production just economically, but on Hygiene. Since the oil spill is affecting the east coast of Mexico, it won’t stop there. Unfortunately, for us, it will spread.

The common Hurricanes are one factor, since they gather water from the coast; Water will be contaminated by oil, the result? Millions of crops that are growing in the east area of Mexico will be damage by the toxins.

Oil has cancerigenous substances that will absolutely damage common Health. BBC



Hurricanes: Hurricanes cause Floods, Sickness and death.

The floods are really harmful for the crops, which won’t last long on those conditions.

Water must be clean to be helpful, if water in bad conditions makes us sick, what happens to the plants? Obviously they won’t grow, or they will, but with harmful consequences to the final consumers, with that we mean us!



Drought: Water can also be a problem.

When it comes to water the crops it is going to be a real big problem because the water can be wasted, and in hydroponics the use of the water is very limited. In Hydroponics it’s used an exact amount of water per plant, which is more than the necessary for it to grow healthy.



The effect varies according to vulnerability, for example, subsistence farmers are more likely to migrate during drought because they do not have alternative food sources. So they lost their jobs.



Areas with populations that depend on subsistence farming as a major food source are more vulnerable to drought-triggered famine. Drought is rarely if ever the sole cause of famine; socio-political factors such as extreme widespread poverty play a major role. Rich can only supply from food, not poor.



Drought can also reduce water quality, because lower water flows reduce dilution of pollutants and increase contamination of remaining water sources. Drought may develop into erosion.



Erosion: Approximately 40% of the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded. This means less space to grow our food.



So, if since many, many, many years ago, we did have an answer for today´s demands. If the antique Babylonians, Mayans and the Egyptians did it, why did we never consider it as our first option? We´ll probably never know.

As a summary Hydroponics does have advantages over traditional crops. Some of them as we mentioned before, are:

• No soil is needed.

• The water stays in a system and can be re-used.

• No nutrition pollution is released.

• Occupies less space.

• Won’t be affected by regular climate Changes.

• Can be grew anywhere.

• The pest and diseases are easier to get rid of than soil because of its mobility.

• Extended growing periods allowing greater crop production providing more food.

• Don’t affect Earth or its Ecosystems.

• It’s Cheaper.

Yes! As you read just a line before, Its Cheaper! Hydroponics is a Healthier and easier way to take care of plants, contrasted to the regular ones.

A standard Hydroponic Crop prices table is listed below:

Costs of Production for Processing Tomato, Per Acre

Organic Production Practices, Northeastern United States, 1996

ITEM UNIT PRICE QUANTITY TOTAL

Variable Costs

Fertilizer and Soil Amendments

Composted Manure ton $ 31.00 4.5 $ 139.50

Gypsum ton $ 44.00 0.5 $ 22.00

Fish Powder lb $ 2.07 4 $ 8.28

Kelp Extract lb $ 5.96 1 $ 5.96

Pest Management

Approved organic chemicals acre $ 9.50 1 $ 9.50

Other

Tomato Seed thousand $ 1.93 60 $ 115.80

Labor

Operator hr $ 14.48 10.06 $ 145.67

Regular Hired hr $ 10.13 39 $ 395.07

Irrigation

Overhead Irrigation acre $ 192.00 1 $ 192.00

Repair, Maintenance and Fuel

Machinery and Equipment acre $ 252.79 1 $ 252.79

Harvesting

Harvest Labor acre $ 340.28 1 $ 340.28

Sub-Total $ 1,626.85

Interest on Operating Capitala acre 10% 1 $ 65.38

Total Variable Costs acre 1 $ 1,692.23

Fixed Costs

Machinery and Equipment acre $ 249.54 1 $ 249.54

Land Charge acre $ 100.00 1 $ 100.00

Total Fixed Costs acre 1 $ 349.54

Total Fixed & Variable Costs acre 1 $ 2,041.77

Management Fees a acre 1 $ 135.92

Total Costs acre 1 $ 2,177.70



So as we can see Water isn’t that much compared to a regular crop that would normally use twice as much as this one. Even the profit is really big.

If we haven’t read all this information, we couldn’t take for sure that Hydroponics are Cheaper and a better way to plant. What we have been doing by reading this is called Scientific Method. Even for research we must follow some steps. These steps were established by early Scientists in order to make us easier the information gathering and the Analysis of the hypothesis. Our hypothesis at the beginning was, Is Hydroponics Cheaper and more viable than regular farming?

To decide whether our hypothesis was right or wrong we must apply the Scientific method.

1. OBSERVATION: gather information by having curiosity. (Analyze the plants growing process, why does a hydroponic plant grow without soil?)

2. ASK A QUESTION: it should be a concrete question. It comes by observing something that catches your attention and so you want to find a reason for that to happen. (How can my plant grow faster? Should I put more vitamins or water? What happens if use Hydroponics?)

3. DO BACKROUND RESEARCH: additional information that you look for on your topic and a small overview of some of the important facts. (Search for Hydroponic successful experiments, How were they feed and how constantly? This Essay for example.)

4. HYPOTHESIS: it is a possible explanation for something that already happened. (The plant will grow faster if X material is even more present in the Hydroponic feeding solution)

5. EXPERIMENTATION: to apply your knowledge by using you hypothesis. (We put in the water solution the X material, that we think may help the plant to grow faster)

6. ANALYSE RESULTS: to look for patterns, you can also do a graph. (Did X material worked? How much did the plant grew this month?)

7. FIGURE OUT IF YOUR HYPOTHESIS WAS CORRECT OR INCORRECT. In the case its incorrect you can whether do another hypothesis or modify yours (Ok, X substance worked, so my hypothesis was correct. X substance doesn’t work, so my new hypothesis will be X substance doesn’t affect the plant´s growth speed)

8. RESULT: make conclusions putting them in a report. (X substance works in the development of the plant cause this, this and this)

So making hydroponics doesn’t sounds that difficult, and it even seems to be healthier and easier than normal plants.

Now, let’s try!





Resources.

Audersik, G. Byers. Biology (with Physiology): Life on earth. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. Pages 266-269

Pettebone, David. "Whowhatwhenwherewhy?”. Catalogs.com. Thursday, August 11th 2010 <http://www.catalogs.com/info/garden-yard/what-does-a-plant-need-to-grow.html>.

Anonymous, "The Concept of the Ecosystem". University of Michigan. Thursday, August 11th 2010 <http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/kling/ecosystem/ecosystem.html>.

Peter, Whittington. "What is Meant by Hydroponics?". Do it yourself resource. Thursday, August 11th 2010 <http://www.do-it-yourself-resource.com/what-is-meant-by-hydroponics.html>.

"Organic Production Practices, Northeastern United States ". Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. Thursday, August 11th 2010 <http://aesop.rutgers.edu/~farmmgmt/ne-budgets/organic.html>.

Vancuver Sun. "Oil, climate change threaten food supply: B.C. report". Canada.com. Thursday, August 11th 2010 <http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=ab7a0613-7ca4-4104-896e-5f31a2eda914&k=91721>.

Crosson, Pierre . "Impacts of Climate Change". Climate Issues Brief. Wednesday, August 10th 2010 <http://www.rff.org/rff/Documents/RFF-CCIB-04.pdf>.

Peter, Whittington. "What is Meant by Hydroponics?". Do it yourself resource. Thursday, August 11th 2010 <http://www.do-it-yourself-resource.com/what-is-meant-by-hydroponics.html>.

Diviane, Juliane. "What Do You Need to Grow Hydroponics?". eHow. August 11th 2010 <http://www.ehow.com/video_4767957_do-need-grow-hydroponics_.html>.

Moreno, Patty. "Easy Hydroponic Seed Starting Factory ". Youtube. August 11th 2010 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQL0MLvWwqE>.

Cerna , Apaza. "Costos de producción en los diferentes cultivos de tumbes ". Gestiopolis.com. August 11th 2010 <http://www.gestiopolis.com/recursos/documentos/fulldocs/fin/tumbes.htm>.

FUNGI Team members

Alejandro James Orozco

Alma Elizabeth Hernández Magaña

Esteban Gómez Bolaños

Julia Garza Hernández

Miroslava Aguilar Hernández

Paola Cervantes Castellón