How to Grow with Hydroponics. The Magic of Hydroponic Gardening Made Simple
Written: Apr 05 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Clear, happy, witty and charming
Cons: Needs a recommended reading list, as it is only a general primer.
The Bottom Line: Interested in what hydroponics is and how it works? This is the book for you. Warm, friendly and informative.
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| snpmurray's Full Review: Raymond Bridwell - Hydroponic Gardening: The "Magi... |
The simplest possible definition of hydroponics is the act of growing plants in nutrient solution instead of soil. If you are unaware of hydroponics, it has a long history you have not noticed. Some form or other of hydroponics has been practiced for at least the last four hundred years somewhere in the world. Modern hydroponics began its development in the 1930s and the technology has not changed drastically since the seventies, plus or minus a few refinements of machinery and solutions.
Hydroponics is a good way for city persons who are not in possession of a garden to obtain fresh vegetables they grew themselves, fresh from the vine. Likewise hydroponics is beneficial to persons who may live in a climate which is not conducive to growing a very good crop of anything, except perhaps snowmen or cacti.
This book is a complete introduction to the subject for the absolute beginner.
The author Raymond Bridwell has spent his entire lifetime in hydroponics. He lectures at Loma Linda University on the subject, in addition to experimenting himself and practicing what he preaches.
The book begins by explaining the advantages of hydroponics for a variety of people, much as I have above really, but with more variety, and a lot more authority and detail. He lays out here some of the basics upon which the rest of the instruction and illustration in the book is based….the use of gravel, water and nutrient and a controlled environment. This is often but not always a greenhouse, the lowest tech way to work with hydroponics on a scale that will produce sufficient food for a whole family.
The entire book is presented in a very easy to read format. The author is neither trying to blind you with science facts and figures, nor trying to turn you overnight into a hydroponics engineer. Instead this book is an elegant and simple primer. There is enough information here for you to decide if you are interested in the subject and use as a basic reference, but you would most certainly move on from this to other references if you decided to really get into it.
This is not a fault of the book; this is how it sells itself. It has a simple contents, is divided into logical sections that cover the process from start to finish, and is without an index. Clearly, the author doesn’t expect this to be the only book you use. If I had one fault with that it would be that he neglected to make any recommendations for further reading in light of this fact.
From the basics of how the growing is done the author moves onto where it is done…the ideal specs for a good greenhouse. He has advice on what kind to buy, why not to build it yourself, and many other things.
You discover quickly when reading this book that Bridwell is a likeable informal writer, but has some most definite quirks about him. He enjoys telling the tale of how the Angus cows in a field adjacent to his greenhouse are more worthy of affection than one of his ex-girlfriends. He explains how to get the most out of a therapeutic relationship with your plants. That kind of stuff. It is pleasant to read such an un-self conscious individual. Puts a smile on your face. In many cases I think he is right, that you can get a lot more out of the relationship you have with your plants than in fact most people do. I have for example a very good relationship with my trees and miss them when I am away from home. Why not? You can be engaged with your world or not engaged. I like engaged. So Bridwell works well for me.
He is like this throughout the book. He goes to lengths to explain what flowers will work well in your greenhouse. Why would you put flowers in there? This is all about production, right? Not for Bridwell….to quote him
”Working in the greenhouse should be good for the soul, not just for the body!”
After discussing the greenhouse Bridwell goes on to discuss how to stock it. The careful design of your planting areas and planting times can, with hydroponics, provide a family of five with all the fresh fruit and vegetables they can use for the entire year. This seems an almost ludicrous proposal, but such is Bridwell’s claim after a whole lifetime of practicing what he preaches. Through giving us a combination of diagrams and his lecture notes (including a direct transcript that shows he has an excellent and quick sense of humor) Bridwell illustrates how to set things up to stagger the harvests of your crops so that you do not end up with that all too familiar situation of most gardeners, having fifty tons of tomatoes for one month of the year and none at any other time.
I have to say, this section of book, whilst illustrative in a general sense does not carry the education from the general to the specific. Again, as previously noted you could not use the information here enclosed to customize the set up of your own greenhouse to match your personal production preferences.
The book concludes with sections on some more of the mechanics….aeration, environment control and such like. This, and the final section on disease control are all presented as the previously described material, of the same depth, and with the same generalizing stance. All in all, this entire book is a great introduction; intelligent, informed, witty and charming, you could not wish for a better primer.
Recommended:
Yes
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