Hydroponic Gardening on Cruising Sailboat ?

[Alan Wheeler]

Just remember that plants grown hydroponicly do not have the same balance of minerals and vitamins that you will get from plants grown in soil. Although, eating hydroponic greens is still better than eating no greens. Just ensure you get good vegies when you make land again.

[Ram]

hi salva111,
i also grow sprouts, and would love to start a kombucha again, if you have any plan how to get a new "mother"....
but i am really curious on how you grow your wheat grass????/i do grow it on land, and know about the space required,
any advice welcome.Sitar

[GordMay]

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[Xen]

Originally Posted by Alan Wheeler

Just remember that plants grown hydroponicly do not have the same balance of minerals and vitamins that you will get from plants grown in soil. Although, eating hydroponic greens is still better than eating no greens. Just ensure you get good vegies when you make land again.

Where did you get that info? Hydro plants get a nonstop supply of food and nitrates all the yummy stuff plants thrive on. Which is why they grow so fast and produce so much food. Been growing hydro for awhile now everyone that eats my veggies loves them.I think maybe if you don't feed them and just supply water only this may happen somewhat. The plant is programed to have certain attributes and if it has less of those it will be smaller or die.Unless its a GMO then its just straight out poison. Maybe you are just use to seeing plants in the dirt,so it seems that they are not as health as hydroponic plants. Which is the exact opposite,hydroponic provides a pest free enviroment for the plant,since most bugs root down in the dirt.Whats better then hydro is aquaponics where there is fish involved and the fish waste is moved to plant side and cleaned by plant then recycled.good stuff.like a mini ecosystem.

[tager]

This reminds me of that movie bio dome. I really think the best idea is to garden on land near running water. That being said I have a single basil plant on deck.

[barnakiel]

Full size plants not. But we grew sprouts (spelling?) - and they taste great, grow great and are believed to be as good source of elements as veggies and fruit.

I will eat a steak but never miss it at sea. I would love to be able to carry/store enough green stuff to last a full crossing (or, why not, grow own onboard).

barnie

[Christian Van H]

Originally Posted by Vasco

Wheels,
You obviously aren't a cat owner. I'm talking about the four legged
ones. They love to munch grass, I think it helps them barf up fur balls.

Wait...your cat eats weed? How cool is that! Maybe it's just medicinal...

[Astrid]

I have heard tell that Vice Admiral Collingwood, 1748-1810, used to maintain something of a garden in the great cabin of his flagship while at sea during the Napoleonic Wars. Whether he used hydroponic techniques or not, I do not know, but Sir Francis Bacon wrote of experiments in soilless gardening as far back as 1627. There is really no difference in the quality of the plants as a source of food between those grown in soil and those grown in water in which the essential nutrients have been introduced artificially. For a plant growing in soil, water dissolves the mineral nutrients and in absorbing the water, the plant's roots absorb the nutrients. Plants will thrive equally well without soil if the required mineral nutrients are present in suspension; as experiments by Woodward demonstrated in 1699 (and subsequently confirmed and expanded upon by Sachs and Knoop in Germany in the 1860s).

[TrevC]

I think the multiple generators running non-stop, very bright "cabin" lights, and smell might raise the suspicion of neighbours.

[SailPenelope]

Sailing the Farm:

Amazon.com: Sailing the Farm: A Survival Guide to Homesteading on the Ocean (9780898150513): Ken Neumeyer: Books

This book is dated......late 70s or early 80s, I think.......a bit impractical, maybe, but I love it. Includes stuff like how to trail pantyhose to catch enough plankton to eat! Pretty out there, but some good stuff too, such as sprouting. I've done sprouting in Mason jars...easy...can't say I love sprouts, but if nothing else available......

[zopi]

hmm..with just a couple of containers it'd be easy to keep greens coming..leaf lettuce is the easiest..I don't think my wife would let me grow zucchini on a boat though. in the warm waters tomatoes and peppers in miniature cultivars will produce perennially..tobasco plants spring to mind..

[smallyachts]

You may want to read some of Reid Stowe's blog entries. He ate sprouts for over three years while on his 1152 day voyage. He had live plants on board, but they were in soil and did not do well.

[c.spots]

What stopped me from hydroponics was the electricity requirements. Basil, oregano, parsley do well and are easy. Tomatoes are more difficult. My plant thrived, without any fruit until I planted another plant (both cherry tomatoes). In the tropics, you need to be able to water them every day. Add fertilizer once or twice a week, and they can do well, even when root bound. My really good tomato plant blew overboard in a storm. Also, there are messy, and need to be protected from salt spray. It is a good idea to buy seeds locally, but they (and potting soil) are hard to find in the Caribbean.
I just bought a hanging device for tomatoes, and can't wait to try it.
Pasta salad with fresh tomatoes and basil is great at a cruisers potluck.
Sprouts are simple, and it is amazing what flavors you get from the different seeds, but some seeds are not consistent at sprouting. Don't use seeds packaged for planting.
Unfortunately, it will all need to be dumped overboard before arriving in New Zealand and Australia.