SARDI pathologists (left to right) Dr Trevor Wicks, Barb Hall and Dr Kaye Ferguson with Mr Dominic Cavallaro, an Adelaide Plains horticultural consultant on the 2008 field trip to Almeria, Spain.
A NEW manual and DVD aim to debunk the myths and give commercial horticultural growers a step-by-step analysis of the pros and cons of converting to hydroponics.
Backed by five years of in-depth research, the Converting to Hydroponics manual gives growers options to upgrade their existing structures, rather than spend tens of thousands of dollars on new high-tech greenhouses.
Its other practical advice includes:
- Comparisons between the growth rates, yields and returns from greenhouses converted to hydroponics and crops still grown in soil;
- Examples of existing structure conversions;
- Conversion costs, general management and daily maintenance and monitoring;
- Nutrition and irrigation information;
- Further benefits and limitations, such as disease control and the boundaries of the growing environment in low-medium technology greenhouses.