Hydroponic Sea Oats - How They Help the Florida Coastline
Sea oats, vital for preventing coastal erosion, have been
raised in Allentown, Florida, which is more than thirty miles from the nearest
beach and without a grain of sand. These
sea oats are being grown hydroponically with their roots dangling in the
nutrient-rich water. This method is
applauded for saving energy. The sea
oats have been grown in nurseries and transplanted to beaches, where they trap
sand and help restore the dunes and have done so for over three decades. Hydroponic sea oats need less space and water
and require fewer chemicals while generating no pesticide runoff. The process saves the energy it would normally
take to make the chemicals and pesticides.
With this process, there is also no need for tractors, which require a
lot of fuel.
Hydroponics date back over 5,000 years when the Egyptians
made paper from papyrus grown in water.
Thousands of hydroponic tomato growers went out of business in the
1950s, as they were unable to compete with low prices for conventionally grown
varieties. By growing sea oats, the
ecologically friendly cultivation method employs few resources and reaps
tremendous results. Hydroponics is
revolutionizing the way environmental managers repopulate Florida's critical natural resources.
In the natural environment, one of every 10,000 sea oat
seeds will germinate. When grown using
hydroponics, one out of every 10 seeds will develop for transplantation to the
beach as a mature plant. Hydroponics is
often defined as the cultivation of plants in water. Research has since determined that many
different aggregates or media will support plant growth so the definition of
hydroponics has been broadened to read the cultivation of plants without
soil. Growers all over the world are
using hydroponic techniques due to the lack of a large water supply or fertile
farmland. Home gardeners have used
hydroponics on a smaller scale to grow fresh vegetables year round and to grow
plants in smaller spaces. Greenhouses
and nurseries grown their plants in a soil-less peat or bark based growing
mix. The nutrients are then applied to
the growing mix through the water supply.
This is also a type of hydroponics.
Hydroponics is a technology for growing plants in nutrient
solutions with or without the use of an artificial medium to provide mechanical
support. Hydroponic systems are further
categorized as open or closed. The
definition of hydroponics has been confined to liquid systems only, which
changes statistical data and leads to the underestimation of the extent of the
technology and its economic implications.
All hydroponic systems in temperate regions of the world are enclosed in
greenhouse-type structures to provide temperature control, reduce evaporative
water loss, and to reduce disease and pest infestations.
Hydroponics is a relatively new technology and has evolved
rapidly since its inception over 70 years ago.
It is a versatile technology and is appropriate for both developing
countries and high tech space stations.
Hydroponic technology can efficiently generate food crops from barren
desert sand and desalinated ocean water.
The economic prospects for controlled environmental agriculture and
hydroponics may improve if governmental bodies determined there are politically
desirable effects of hydroponics and those merits subsidizing for the good of
the public. The benefits of this may
include the conservation of water in regions in which it is scarce or food
production in hostile environments.
Another desirable social effect could be the provision of
income producing employment for disadvantaged segments of the population
entrapped in economically depressed regions.
Hydroponics has fast become a technical reality. Such production systems are producing
horticultural crops where field grown fresh vegetables and ornamentals are
unavailable for most of the year. The
development and use of controlled environment agriculture and hydroponics have
enhanced the economic well being of many communities throughout the world.
