A Week of Hydroponics and Lots of Rain!

This week in Sust Ag was very exciting because we had 6 guests come to talk to us about their jobs and the methods they use to be sustainable.

On Tuesday, Stan came in to talk to us about hydroponics. Hydroponics is basically growing plants in a water and nutrient solution. It was started by the aztecs and is still used today, especially by people who want to conserve water and land space and want to have direct control of the roots of your plants. One reason hydroponics is a good growing method is because it isolates the plants from soil borne insects, diseases, and animals. Some other benefits of growing hydroponically are you get a higher yield, no runoff of fertilizers, the veggies can potentially have a higher nutrient content and taste better, and you save a lot of water. Unfortunately, growing organically using the hydroponic method is difficult outside especially because you have to constantly adjust the ph and the other nutrient levels. One thing he said that I found really interesting is that you can't use a white or clear bucket to grow plants in because too much light can get in, it can promote algae growth and can promote the growth of diseases. He said with hydroponics all you have to do is "plant and walk away", it's that easy (expect if your trying to do it organically outside.) Hydroponics can't replace soil culture for many reasons but it is still a good option if you want to try it.

On Wednesday we listened to a panel of speakers talk about their various jobs relating to agriculture. They talked a lot about how new government leadership has affected their work, what they do to support sustainability and what they love about their jobs.

Overall it was a super interesting and informative week!

Grace Willens