Danny Danko's Open Salon Blog

The History of Hydroponics

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:06:02 -0400

Water-based Agriculture Dates Back Centuries

The History of Hydroponics by Danny Danko

Hydroponic cultivation—the growing of plants without soil—is a science as ancient as the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon and as modern as a future NASA mission to Mars. Over the centuries, the crude agricultural techniques of the Babylonians and Aztecs have been refined into space-age plastic systems in which plants literally defy gravity—growing toward a centrally placed light source like planets revolving around the sun. One day, hydroponics may ultimately provide solutions for massive global problems such as feeding the developing world, combating deforestation, and growing herb in Space. Already this unique collaboration between lab geeks and pot freaks has altered the course of horticultural history, and transformed marijuana from an exotic import of sometimes dubious quality into a billion-dollar homegrown industry bursting at the seams.

The modern history of hydro begins in the 17th century, when Jean van Helmont’s flawed yet hugely significant “Willow Tree Experiment” proved that plants obtain substances from water. Horticultural scientists soon began a struggle aimed at separating roots from dirt and uncovering new ways to provide nutrients to crops grown in non-traditional environments. Minor advancements continued throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, culminating in the experiments of a pair of German scientists, Julius von Sachs and W. Knop, sometimes referred to as “The Fathers of Waterculture,” who discovered that nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) comprise the three main building blocks of plant growth and developed a nutrient formula based on their findings.

In the 1920’s, Dennis Hoagland developed his namesake standard solution, the basis of which is still used in many modern nutrient mixes. Hoagland’s Solution was the first to take into account micronutrients such as magnesium, sulfur and iron that are essential for healthy growth, but only required in minute amounts. Hoagland’s work provided the essential formula needed to grow crops wherever sunlight and weather permitted, thus pushing the boundaries of farming well beyond what had traditionally been considered fertile land.

During World War II, American troops overseas grew vegetables hydroponicaly to ease the burden of transporting perishable food to barren islands in the Pacific Theater and the arid regions of the Middle East. Iwo Jima and Okinawa, rocky and barely inhabitable, were transformed from blood-drenched battlegrounds to nourishing gardens of life. Soldiers protecting vital oil fields in the Arabian Peninsula ate vegetables produced locally in the harshest of desert environments.

The military kept growing hydro long after WWII, as Lt. Col. Marcus E. Cooper, Quartermaster, 1st Cavalry Division reported during the Korean War, “While we were in Kumchon we began to receive our first shipments of fresh vegetables. These were airlifted from the hydroponic farms in Japan. We had a standing priority on fresh foods for the hospital, then for the front-line troops. These vegetables were a real morale-builder.”

The 1960s marked the invention of drip irrigation systems and the nutrient film technique (NFT). Drip systems deliver nutrient solution directly to the roots, drop by drop, and typically use grow rocks (expanded clay pellets) or rockwool—a controversial medium derived from heating rock and spinning the melted fiber into a texture not unlike cotton candy. NFT utilizes a trough for roots through which a thin stream or “film” of nutrient and oxygen-rich water is pumped. The simplicity of these new systems caused many cannabis cultivators to take their first serious look at hydroponics.

Anecdotal evidence from the early 1970s suggests that Hawaiian pot growers were the first to recognize the benefits of soil-less farming, perhaps inspired by the porous lava rocks native to the islands. The volcanic airy texture of these Hawaiian rocks impressed growers so much that the heat-expanded clay pellets used in modern hydroponics seek to imitate lava rocks in both water retention and available oxygen for roots. Soon Californians took notice of these “herban legends” and hydroponic cannabis began to win converts in the marijuana mainstream.

A combination of factors including Nixon’s 1969 crackdown on the Mexican border, Carter’s paraquat spraying, and the advent of powerful HID (High Intensity Discharge) indoor grow lighting made hydroponic marijuana growing increasingly intriguing, attractive and possible. Soon, companies sprang up to service the needs of those growing with the increasingly more complicated hydro systems.

In the 70’s, the largest supplier of specialized chemical nutrients, General Hydroponics, was born in California. Their iconic pink, green, and brown three-part liquid plant food quickly became the standard for hydroponic growers and their meteoric success spawned many imitators. Speaking of meteoric success, NASA joined forces with GH and sent plants and nutrients to the International Space Station to study plant growth outside the earth’s atmosphere and how best to supply food and oxygen for future colonization missions in space. The labs of General Hydroponics continue to make improvements in all aspects of plant science.

By the 1980’s, new sources of knowledge on hydro arrived: At the Volcani Institute in Ein Gedi, Dr. Hillel Soffer, an Israeli scientist, developed the aero-hydroponic method, helping to transform the desert into an oasis of bounty. The Epcot Center at Disneyworld introduced Living With the Land, a futuristic ride through hydroponic “gardens of tomorrow”. And HIGH TIMES magazine began to detail simple hydroponic systems, introducing thousands to a whole new way to grow buds. Info traveled in a pre-internet black market of ideas: seeds, clones, and growing information were bartered at informal trading posts on Grateful Dead tour and assorted festivals. Hydroponics proved to be increasingly appealing to urban pot growers concerned with disposal of spent soil, and equally excited both “green thumbs” and those more technologically minded.

In the 90’s, hydro came of age, while those at the forefront continued to make advances in soil-free growing, including aeroponics and aquaponics. In aeroponics, a fine mist of nutrient solution is constantly sprayed onto roots for extremely vigorous growth. Aquaponics combines fish farming (aquaculture) and hydroponics by growing fish in a reservoir, which in turn feed the plants with their excretions. Advancements in environmental controller technology during the Clinton decade also made it much easier to manipulate indoor grow-room temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide levels—taking hydroponics to a whole new level of efficiency.

Today, systems such as the Omega and Bonsai rotate 360 degrees around vertically placed lights, while others crowd together small, squat, popsicle-stick-sized pot plants together in a “sea of green” style. Another popular new hydroponic method, Deep Water Culture (DWC) uses individual containers for each plant with air pumps that saturate the roots with oxygen. Getting more oxygen in deeper water has a dramatic effect on taproot length and plant size.

The best testament to the influence of hydroponics is that the term “hydro” has become slang for great buds—a generic way to refer to the highest quality marijuana (i.e. “Pass the ‘dro”). Meanwhile, hydroponic magazines such as Growing Edge and Maximum Yield eschew any connection to marijuana altogether, hoping instead to focus on the many other benefits of soil-less growing. The affiliation between cannabis and hydroponics, however, may prove hard to shake. Companies such as Advanced Nutrients, founded in Canada in 1996 under the name Canadian Soilless, blatantly advertise their plant foods and supplements as being formulated and tested specifically for cannabis.

Increasingly, consumers and growers have been clamoring for organic hydro alternatives, and nutrient companies have taken notice. Coco fiber, made from the husks of coconuts, can replace toxic rockwool as a growing medium. Aside from claims that organically grown pot tastes and smokes better, there are also concerns about the wanton disposal of chemical nutrients into the water supply. Unscrupulous growers pump these toxic salts down sinks and toilets aggravating an already escalating ecological problem brought about by massive factory farms and big-business agriculture. Organic hydroponics seeks to combine the technology of waterculture with the simplicity and environmental benefits of traditional dirt farming.

The future of soil-less agriculture will take into account these concerns to further refine nutrients and simplify techniques. The benefits of hydroponics are obvious; fewer pests, quicker and more vigorous growth and less heavy labor. As the systems become cheaper and easier to operate, many more people will turn to hydroponics for their basic needs. One thing is for certain, whether growing in outer space or in the smallest of spaces, hydro is a great way to grow.

Hydroponics Timeline

600 BC
Located in what is now Iraq, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, are thought to be the first example of active soil-less growing.

1100 AD
Aztec Indians create floating gardens, known as chinampas, using layers of mud and vegetation to suspend crops over fresh water lakes in Central America.

1275-1292
Marco Polo writes of “floating gardens” he discovers in China.

1492
Reannaissance man Leonardo da Vinci discovers that plants absorb mineral nutrients but his findings remain unpublished in his notebooks.

1640’s
Belgian Jean Baptista van Helmont proves that plants obtain substances from water in his famous willow tree experiment.

1699
John Woodward, a fellow of the Royal Society of England, discovers that plants derive minerals from soil mixed into water solutions.

1792
English Scientist Joseph Priestly shows that plants absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen.

1856-1865
Two German scientists, Julius von Sachs and W. Knop, standardize a nutrient solution making it possible to grow in water only with no medium holding roots.

1920
Dennis R. Hoagland develops the “Hoagland’s Solution” creating a nutrient formula that is still the basis of what is used today.

1920’s and 30’s
Dr. William F. Gericke at the University of California creates the term “hydroponics” to refer to growing plants in water without soil. The combination of the Greek words “hydro” for water and “ponos” for labor literally means “water-working”

1940’s
In the Pacific theater of World War II, US troops create their own food hydroponically on barren islands, including Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Hydroponics returns to Iraq as American forces stationed to protect oil fields in Habbaniya use large growing facilities for fresh vegetables. At Purdue, Robert and Alice Withrow alternately flood and drain plant roots held in gravel with nutrient solution creating what is now known as the Ebb and Flow system.

1952
Over 8,000,000 lbs. of fresh produce are grown for military demand according to the US Army’s special hydroponics branch.

1960-65
The Nutrient Film Technique (Alan Cooper/UK) and drip irrigation systems (Cornell University) are invented.

1969
Nixon’s crackdown along the Mexican border (Operation Intercept) has the unintended effect of jump-starting a burgeoning American and Canadian industry for homegrown marijuana.

1970
Italian Dr. Franco Massantini pioneers the aeroponic method in which roots are suspended in a mist spray. Dutch researchers use rockwool slabs to secure plants in ebb & flow and drip systems.

1982
In the July issue of High Times (#83) “Do it Yourself Hydroponics” presents the first do-it-yourself units for growing marijuana in water. Disneyworld’s EPCOT Center opens The Land pavilion with a ride through hydroponically grown “gardens of tomorrow.”

1986-1988
Israeli Dr. Hillel Soffer, senior researcher at the VoIcani Institute at Ein Gedi, develops the aero-hydroponic method in which partially submerged roots are sprayed with an oxygen-rich nutrient solution.

1989
On October 26, known to cultivators as “Black Thursday,” the DEA launches Operation Green Merchant, an all-out attack on growers and suppliers of hydroponic systems (much to the surprise of orchid fanciers who were also swept up in the raids). While the arrests and harassment drive the industry further underground, it unintentionally spawns further advancements in grow-room security and efficiency.

1995
In the May issue of High Times (#237) “The Great Hydro vs. Bio Debate” features Arjan of the Greenhouse, Wernard from Positronics and Kyle Kushman discussing the merits and limitations between growing organically in soil or in water with chemical nutrients.

1996
In the Netherlands Canna introduces Canna Coco, a medium for roots made from coconut husk fibers, a renewable and organic alternative to rockwool.

1998
In the October issue of High Times (#278) cultivation expert Jorge Cervantes unveils hydro-organic growing as an alternative to using chemical nutrient salts in “Hydro-Organic: The Natural Approach to Hydroponics.”

1999
In the August issue of High Times (#288) Kushman writes the 1st Annual Hydro Report, beginning a tradition of highlighting the best hydro systems and related products.

Stoners Throw A Different Kind of Tea Party: Please Tax Pot

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:04:24 -0400

What would America’s 25 million regular marijuana consumers do with $14 billion? How about pay taxes – gladly.

America's Cannabis Consumers Want to Stimulate the Economy

That’s the message the Executive Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) delivered this morning, on tax day, during a press conference on the steps of the General Post Office in Midtown Manhattan, along with an oversized $14 billion check made out to the US Treasury Department.

The check total is a conservative estimate of what American taxpayers spend every year to maintain marijuana prohibition. According to the report "The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition in the United States," Americans spend some $6 billion annually on marijuana-related law enforcement. Taxing and regulating the production and sale of cannabis like alcohol products would eliminate these costs, while raising an additional $8 billion in new tax revenue each year, according to the report, which was endorsed by Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman and over 500 other accredited economists.

Supporters of a “tax and regulate” approach to marijuana will gather at the General Post Office (441 Eighth Ave) again today at 4:20 PM to formally present the check.

Fox News interviews Allen St. Pierre

Allen with the 14 billion dollar check

QUOTES:

"On a day when so many Americans lament having to pay state and federal income taxes, we're representing America's millions of otherwise law-abiding cannabis consumers, who're ready, willing, and able to contribute this huge sum to our struggling economy, while providing truly 'green' jobs and allowing police to focus on more important priorities. All we ask in exchange for our $14 billion is the right to enjoy pot responsibly and in peace.” – Allen St. Pierre, NORML's National Director

“I would like to ask all Americans to stop for a moment on tax day and ask themselves if this $14 billion could be better spent than on an endless, pointless, counterproductive ‘war’ against a largely harmless plant. We’re eager to start a rational, reasonable debate about changing the marijuana laws, because that’s a debate we know we’ll win.” – David Bienenstock, author of “The Official High Times Pot Smoker’s Handbook”

“Marijuana is unquestionably America's number one cash crop. At a time when millions of Americans are out of work, we need to legitimize this multi-billion dollar per year industry and help families get back on their feet, instead of arresting over 800,000 of our own citizens every year for possessing a plant far less harmful than alcohol.” – Danny Danko, Senior Cultivation Editor, High Times Magazine

Danny Danko: "Shame on You President Obama"

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:03:51 -0400

I'm disappointed in President Obama for the first time.

This recent commentary on marijuana legalization is a disgrace.

Dear, Mr. President,

I'm so sick of this "Wink-wink", "Munchie jokes", "Aren't those silly potheads funny?" level of discourse. We expected more from you.

I didn't expect you to say you're all for it, but how about a nuanced discussion? This was the perfect forum and format to raise some serious questions (as you've done in the past).

This is one of the reasons, I, as a member of the "online community" you so cavalierly dismiss, sent you money, rallied my friends and family and generally supported your campaign. Please don't make a fool out of me. I already have to hear it from the Ron Paul/Dennis Kucinich contingent, but this will be simply too much to bear.

Instead of an intelligent response to an obviously popular option, we get this smug, arrogant and flippant remark guaranteed to piss off a portion of your supporting constituency, but also guaranteed to get a cheap laugh from a bunch of imbeciles (including your fawning press corps).

Why are all these press conferences so buddy-buddy? What happened to the intelligent man who knew how to ask and answer tough questions? Have we really been reduced to banal stand-up comedy from the leader of the free world?

None of this seems all that funny to me: In Mexico and Colombia, thousands are being tortured and killed every year. Here in the US, children are taken away from their families. Transplant patients are denied life-saving surgery. Loyal dogs are shot dead with no questions asked, sometimes in botched raids at the wrong location. Non-violent prisoners languish away in jails with real criminals. All this over a harmless flower that's been used as medicine for millennia. And yet still, all we get from you are jokes? For shame.

Well, Mr. President, I put forth to you that this issue, one that myself and many of my colleagues have dedicated their lives to, is not a joke. Will legalization help save the economy? That remains to be seen. Should it be an option on the table? You, yourself have said so many times.

Hopefully, Mr. Obama, there will be yet another outpouring of emails, letters and commentary to refute your premise and return the level of discourse to an intelligent and well-researched discussion.

Then, Mr. President, perhaps the joke will be on you.

Sincerely, Danny Danko

High Time to Start Growing Pot

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:03:21 -0400

Source: Danny Danko Blog on Open Salon Spring is the time to plant those seeds and begin the magical process of growing outdoor pot plants that will be "knee high in July" and result in heavy harvests come Autumn. By Danny Danko, Senior Cultivation Editor, High Times Magazine Recent events have placed marijuana use squarely into the public eye and never has the time been better suited to a real discussion of what legalization would entail and how we're …More

High Time to Start Growing Pot

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:03:43 -0400

Spring is the time to plant those seeds and begin the magical process of growing outdoor pot plants that will be "knee high in July" and result in heavy harvests come Autumn.

By Danny Danko, Senior Cultivation Editor, High Times Magazine

Recent events have placed marijuana use squarely into the public eye and never has the time been better suited to a real discussion of what legalization would entail and how we're gonna get there. This isn't the place for that however. This blog post will assume you already consider pot to be legal in your mind (or your state) and now need to grow some out for yourself.

Whether you're trying to save money, learn a trade or control the quality of your cannabis (or all of the above), growing your own comes with a few challenges and getting those seeds popped properly and at the right time is one of them.

This guide is specifically for the outdoor gardener with some space in their backyard or on a remote deck or rooftop. Outdoor pot plants will thrive when treated properly but will also die quickly if neglected. They need to go out strong and stay strong in order to fully acheive their potential.

Seeds should be planted in cups or trays of moist soil mix on a sunny, not drafty, windowsill. It doesn't hurt to put some clear plastic wrap over them until you see the seedling popping out of the top. Clones (cutting rooted from female mother plants) will save you time but can be hard to come by. Anyone can order seeds through the many online resources (Google it Holmes - I ain't doing all the work for you).

Once sprouted, the seedlings need at least 12 hours of direct light to thrive. If you don't get enough sun, you must supplement with some fluorescent lighting or low-wattage growlight (125 to 250-watt Metal Halide High-Pressure Sodium HPS lights work well for this).

After the threat of frost or crappy weather has subsided, the plants are ready to go outside. First you must transplant them into larger containers. Water them in and acclimate them slowly to the outdoors - a few hours at a time for a few days, then add more hours each day until they can stay out for the duration.

They're going to grow out vegetatively through the summer. This means the plant will continue growing new shoots and leaves. As it grows it will need more and more water and nutrients to feed it so adjust accordingly. I always recommend using a little less than recommended unless I see signs of deficiencies.

As summer turns to fall, the loss of daylight will trigger the plants to begin flowering. If you're growing from seeds, this is the time you will determine the sex of your plants and discard the males, keeping only the females through the rest of the flowering process. But that's a whole different blog...

In the meantime, check out my High Times Microsite at: Danny Danko's Get Growing Now. There's plenty of info there to get started, including six of my favorite beginner-oriented articles from past issues of HIGH TIMES as well as my favorite pot growing videos on youtube. Above all, stay safe and enjoy the process. Get growing!