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Information
Commercial Hydroponic Production
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Aquaponics
The Most Popular Hydroponic Crops
 The most popular hydroponic crop in the US is tomatoes, with
second fancy lettuce and leaf crops, third cucumbers and fourth
herbs, peppers and flowers. Ironically, there is more hydroponic
produce flown into the US from Holland, Canada and Mexico than
is grown here. As more and more growers are established in the
US, this will change. You can grow hydroponic produce at a lower
cost and offer fresher, better quality.
Productivity of Commercial Systems
The productivity of commercial systems has risen dramatically in
the past few years. Commercial tomato growers who once hoped to
annually pick 20 pounds of tomatoes per plant are now picking as
much as 35-50 pounds per plant per year. In a 12,000 square foot
greenhouse, a tomato grower can grow 4,0000—5,000 pounds of
tomatoes every week! Lettuce growers are picking mature heads of
lettuce in under 5 weeks and, with 20,000 square feet of growing
space, can produce nearly 3,000 heads per week. The cost of
establishing a commercial hydroponic greenhouse operation is
quite reasonable when considering the potential profit and the
intensive volume of high-quality produce that can be grown on a
small lot. The addition of new equipment such as electronic
monitoring systems, nutrient dosing systems, row bed heating,
CO2 generators, insect screening and retractable roof
greenhouses have greatly increased the overall poundage many
growers are harvesting. In addition, new varieties of tomatoes,
peppers, cucumbers and leafy crops that are more disease
resistant and produce higher yields are now available and great
advances in biological pest and disease control have been made.
Commercially, Hydroponics, Aquaculture
and Aquaponics can all be used to produce large quantities of food in an
environmentally friendly way. If you are interested in
agriculture but want to utilize high-tech, profitable means of growing,
read-on.
Hydroponics Information
The most commonly grown crop in commercial hydroponics is tomatoes,
followed by lettuce, herbs, cucumbers and peppers. Worldwide,
hydroponics is used to grow crops in locations where adequate soil and
resources are limited. In the North America, hydroponics is often
combined with controlled environment agriculture to grow premium crops.
Aquaculture Information
Aquaculture (fish farming), is a great way to help
supply the growing demand
for fresh fish without depleting natural resources. There are many
types of aquaculture and many different species cultured.
Aquaponics Information
Although the origins of both hydroponics and aquaculture can be traced to
ancient times, the combination of the two is quite new. Serious
research began in the 1970's and continues today. Currently,
research continues, commercial operations are getting established and
many home gardeners are using this technology to produce year-round fresh
fish and vegetables.
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