MESS (Micro Environment Subsistence System)/Hydroponics

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MESS (Micro Environment Subsistence System)

• Hydroponics
• Overview of plant needs
• Vegetable Yield

HYDROPONICS[edit | edit source]

In repeated texts hydroponics is reported to be cheaper and more efficient than soil gardening. It provides a means to provide optimum root conditions and avoid soil pathogens. Without root resources limits plants can grow to their optimum given heat, light, and CO2 limits. Hydroponics via aquaculture is the simplest to set up. The author has not done experiments in hydroponics to determine if it requires less or more water than a soil-based garden. In general there must be some means to support the roots. In general the solution must be pumped to/from the plants and the source of the nutrients, whether the fish tank, the black water tank, or ???? Typically there must be some medium for the roots to adhere to that holds enough moisture between nutrient floodings. Mediums that may work for you are gravel, smooth river rock, sand, marbles, etc., looking for something that holds moisture on its surface, while providing adequate air-space for the roots.

Check your library for books with further details on physical materials and layout.

As mentioned elsewhere regarding worm castings, to extract the nutrients from a compost for use in a nutrient solution think of a tea bag. Fill a sack with compost and put it in warm water for about a week, put your compost in a watertight can, etc. The nutrients seep out into the water. Filter (i.e. thru more soil, sand, etc.) to leave the solids behind for use elsewhere. NOTE: Many trace elements essential for plants may not dissolve in the water from natural sources. The needs to obtain and "insert" these elements in a more artificial "chelated" form is an inherent "problem" of hydroponics, vs soil where natural organisms handle all the balancing.

CONSTRUCTION[edit | edit source]

Think in terms of a "rooftop garden", which then of course can be located on virtually any surface exposed to sunlight. A lightweight, controlled environment where the growing conditions for plants are optimized.

For your growing area, envision you use planting beds 4' x 8', with 16" wide paths all around for ease of access. Using this method, for every 32 ft. sq. planted, your garden will cover about 5' x 10', therefore 1,000 ft. sq. of planting area would require nearly 1,600 ft. sq. of surface. Framing the area allows extra topsoil or compost to be added in to create a thicker growing area, raises the growing surface above night chilled air, and reduces the need to bend. Consider each 4' x 8' bed as a large self-watering planter.

WATER-TIGHT BASE MEMBRANE[edit | edit source]

Maintain some absolute minimum bottom moisture, avoiding enough to "drown" roots, with excess draining to storage / reprocessing. Maintain a reservoir by such method as you can to keep this bottom moisture in place. A small number of W/N roots can exist in the water, but depth should be no further than 15 cm due to the limited amount of dissolved oxygen. When the water level drops in a plants growing medium where roots are growing in the water, these water tolerant roots change into O roots, a process taking only 2-4 days. However, this is not reversible. If water returns to the original depth such that the changed roots are now flooded, the plants wilt within a few hours and do not recover. You need to create a medium with such large air spaces that no matter how much water is around, the roots will still find plenty of air, but dense enough that water can move up by capillary action and keep the medium moist.

WICK MATERIAL[edit | edit source]

A durable, non-toxic, non-rotting material capable of wicking water up, 2" to 3" thick, which also serves as an air-gap.

Expanded volcanic rock, Perlite (Danger to worms), it's principal value is aeration, as it does not hold water & nutrients as well as vermiculite. It has a pH of 7.0 to 7.5. It can cause fluoride burn on the tips of some foliage plants.

Vermiculate is expanded mica. (Danger to worms) It will hold large quantities of air, water, and nutrients, with a pH of 6.5 to 7.2. It comes in four particle sizes, use larger sizes, at least 2 or 3. Fiberglass w/rock. (Danger to worms)

FILTER SCREEN / MAT[edit | edit source]

For high-tech fiberglass screen or woven mat. Low tech sticks, twigs, stems (needs to be monitored/replaced). This holds growing medium above wick/air gap.

ENCLOSURE[edit | edit source]

Whether vapor-tight canvas, adobe, stainless steel, or concrete, walls are necessary to exclude hungry critters, and avoid drying or damaging winds. A typical greenhouse has transparent walls to allow in more light. Is the engineering challenge and expense of walls of glass worth it, or even warranted? Consider you put into an otherwise open field your 1,000 sq. ft. garden. Your plants have access to all of the direct and indirect light from all angles that might fall on that 1,000 sq. ft.

Put an eight foot high solid opaque wall around your garden, and you plants are in shade at the bottom of a well. Line your wall though with highly reflective material and you plants are essentially back to receiving all of the light that would otherwise fall on their footprint. Place at the top of the structure a light selective surface (discussed earlier) and you could if desired have a virtually air-tight structure.

TYPICAL SOIL[edit | edit source]

Soil is the loose mineral and organic material which provides nutrients, moisture, and anchorage for land plants. The mineral aspect starts as rock, which is physically broken in to smaller particles by mechanical weathering, wind, water, freeze/thaw, and life once it is established. Particles size ranges are:

Sand - 0.05 to 2.00 mm Silt - 0.002 to 0.05 mm Clay - < 0.002 mm

CATION EXCHANGE CAPACITY[edit | edit source]

The smaller the particles, the greater the surface area for any given mass. Clay size particles have so much additional surface area that the permanent negative electrical charge of the surface electrons becomes a significant consideration, and they readily attach to molecules other than the parent rock. This electrical charge difference is referred to as the Cation Exchange Capacity (CAC). The higher the CAC, the more easily these particles make nutrients available to roots and soil life, including water. Zeolite means the stone that boils. I've read that a zeolite crystal the size of a pinhead, when devoid of water, will have an internal surface area equivalent to a bedspread. This porous structure provides significant cation exchange capacities when added to the growing medium.

CEC of Soil Textures, showing the relative amount of nutrients the soil can hold in a useful manner.

Sand 3 to 5 Sandy loam 10 to 20 Loam 15 to 20 Silt loam 15 to 25 Clay loam 20 to 50 Organic soil 50 to 100

Soil organic matter (90% carbohydrate), as it decomposes, makes the nutrients available to the crops. It increases water holding capacity, aeration, and buffers soil pH.

SOIL PH[edit | edit source]

Soil pH is a chemical term "potential of Hydrogen" which is a measure of acidity (lower) or alkalinity (higher) of a solution or substance, numerically a reading of 7 is a neutral solution. As you move in either direction away from 7, the scale is logarithmic, that is a pH reading of 8.5 is ten times more alkaline than a reading of 7.5.

Any atom with a number of electrons that do not "match" the protons in the nucleus is an "ion". The "pH" of a solution is a count of the number of ions. In a glass of water there is generally one hydrogen ion in every 10 million water molecules. The pH of water is set at 7 (7 zeros in the count). Stomach acid has one hydrogen ion for every one hundred molecules, or a pH of about 2. (two zeros) The ions work to tear apart the molecules of food.

Soil pH depends of course on the elemental and molecular composition of the basic soil. Most of Arizona for example contains high amounts of the mineral calcium carbonate (free lime), which keeps the soil pH at around 7.5 to 8. Nearly all ofthe carclim carbonate would have to be neutralized with a strong acid to begin to drop the pH appreciably.

Remember, 98% of plant nutrition absorption is from minerals dissolved in soil water. The effect of soil pH varies with the mineral, presence of other minerals, and soil type.

In alkaline conditions micronutrients such as iron, zinc, copper and manganese become chemically bound and may precipitate out of solution. In acid conditions calcium, phosphorous and magnesium may become chemically bound and precipitate, while manganese and aluminum can dissolve to toxic levels.

SOIL WATER RETENTION[edit | edit source]

Of water applied to a soil of primarily one size of particles, the water held will generally be around: Fine sand - 2.0% Sandy loam - 8.5 % Silt loam - 10.9% Clay - 13.5% Soil physically typically consists of:

45% - Mineral material (sand, silt, clay) 1 - 5% - Organic matter (plant & animal remains) 2 - 3% - Micro-ogranisms 25% - Soil atmosphere 25% - Soil moisture

WATER CONSERVATION[edit | edit source]

Exchange of water molecules into the air occurs only if there is a vapor pressure difference between the evaporating surface and the air, i.e. evaporation is nil when the relative humidity of the air is 100%. A change of state from liquid to vapor, and therefore necessitates a source of latent heat. To evaporate 1 gram of water requires 540 calorie of heat at 100 degree Celsius and 600 calorie at 0 degree Celsius.

Evaporation rate is affected by wind speed, 1 mm of the water surface the upward movement of vapor is by individual molecules -- "molecular diffusion", but above this surface boundary layer turbulent air motion -- "eddy diffusion" is responsible.

It is reported that even three or four stones around a tree in the desert make a difference between survival and non-survival. If you put a pile of stones in the desert, it is often moist below them.

• Salinity depresses the evaporation rate. Sea water has 2-3% less evaporation rate than fresh water.
• Evapotranspiration is a combination of evaporation from the free water surface such as oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, and ponds; and transpiration from plants, vegetation, soil and grounds.
• Transpiration -- water loss from plants takes place when the vapor pressure in the air is less than that in the leaf cells. 95% of the daily water loss occurs during the daytime, water vapors transpired through small pores, or "stomato", in the leaves, which open in response to stimulation by light. The internal (stomatol) resistance of a single leaf to diffusion is an important control on transpiration, and it is dependant on the size and distribution of the stomato. External resistance of the air to molecular diffusion arises through frictional drag of air over the leaf (larger leaves have lower transpiration rates) and the interference between diffusing molecules of water vapor.
• What factors control the net loss of water (or net evaporation) in the atmosphere:
• Temperature: increase the temperature, increase the activity of water molecules and loss the water molecules, therefore, affect the net rate of evaporation. Temperature of the water, and the temperature of the evaporating surface. It takes great amount of input energy to change from liquid to gas. Temperature (evaporation) is a function of latitude, season, time of day, and cloudiness.
• Relative humidity of the air: hot air can hold great deal more water vapor than cold air. Measure the water vapor content in the atmosphere expressed in percentage. What % of the water vapor has been saturated in the air. The higher the relative humidity, the slower the evaporation rate. Sometimes, this refers to the vapor pressure deficit - which is the difference in vapor pressure between the water surface and the atmosphere.
• Wind velocity: The higher the wind velocity, the more the mix of the air, and the better the chance for evaporation rate. Stability of the air or the stillness of the air is also affect evaporation rate.
• Above all, the temperature of surface is the most important factor affecting evaporation. The warm surface area gets largest evaporation. Arctic and Antarctic, or mid-latitude in the winter, evaporation gets very low. Sea has open water surface, tropical and subtropical areas, evaporation is high.
• Availability of moisture: The moisture supply in the soil is limited, plants have difficulty in extracting water, and AE rate falls short of PE (Potential Evaporation) which is the moisture transfer from a vegetated surface is referred to as PE, and when the moisture supply in the soil is unlimited. The evaporation equivalent of the available net radiation.

To contemplate a perhaps complex approach to preserving your garden water, enclose the garden in essentially a water vapor tight structure. (For starters, think greenhouse.)

Although greenhouse glazing often gets credit-blame for interior heating by preventing radiation of the infrared from the heated greenhouse contents, tests show that even when the glazing is made of materials transparent to infrared, the greenhouse still warms. Even in greenhouses with infrared blocking glazing, night sky radiation still cools.

It appears that the glazing, whatever the material, provides a great deal more toward warming merely by preventing convection currents than does blocking ground level infrared radiation.

If the larger factor is convection currents and physical transfer of heat, then in areas such as the author's, where the purpose is avoiding water loss to open air flow, look to gmize entry of un-desired light frequency, and avoid within the greenouse dark colored heavy mass objects, that would create a miniature "heat island" within the greenhouse.

Use night-sky radiation to cool a thermal storage area, perhaps a large container of phase-change material. Use the atmospheric condensers discussed in the Appropriate Technology appendix to dry garden air, then re-heat it before exhausting it. OPTIMIZED GROWING MEDIUM A shallow bed of compost, worm castings, etc. 3" to 6". If you are taking a rooftop approach, weight can be critical. Weight estimates from ECHO for a 4' x 8' bed are:

ECHO tells us a garden can be planted in fresh organic material if one does not have compost, grass clippings, food scraps, etc. as an example. Whenever possible, cover new such beds with an inch or more of compost before planting. So far compost appears to be the ideal medium. Transplanting holes may be filled with manure, and consider watering with manure tea. Transplanting from sprouting trays helps keep growing medium "in use".

Shallow rooftop type beds may require annual reworking, or after each crop, as the depth of the bed drops as the material turns to compost, but the trade-off is the quality of the medium, which is essentially pure compost, a near "ideal" medium. To rework the bed, temporarily remove the compost and put the new organic material in the empty bed, then put the compost remains back on top.

There is an element of artistry involved in creating a medium that hold sufficient air and water. In my containers I've been using a column of perile surrounded by the compost, with the perlite extending to the water mat, but the compost held away by rocks and a fiberglass mat. A key in all being at least 3 inches of soil above the water level.

Whether commercial mats of capillary material, fiberglass or other non-biological materials, or biodegradable items, the purpose is to provide a means of wicking water in a bed.

Compost tea, worm casting tea, even the runoff from water thru (first solar pasterurized) humanure can serve as an organic "hydroponic" solution. One approach involves is construction of a "wall" from cut and stacked tires, filled with inert material such as gravel. The professor's article is written around graywater, but I see no physical impediment to use of these other solutions.

In a "solid" growing medium, plant roots may only make contact with 1/10% to 3/10% of the particles in the soil. (Still, with our present open-loop system, how many crops does it take for most of the nutrients to be taken away?)

ROOTING DEPTH[edit | edit source]

Your particular crop selection obviously affects the details of your food production facility. In open field conditions, plant feeder root depths will typically be:

COMPOSTING[edit | edit source]

Breakdown of complex biological materials. Non-edibile crop residue, food scraps, humanure, etc., need to be broken down into simplier substances for plants to easily access the needed components. This can be done in a variety of ways. Composting in containers that maintain appropriate humidity & temperature for the decay organisms. The finer the items are shred, the greater the surface area and the easier the organisms can proceed. These organisms, while breaking own you scraps, also use them for food.

Rotten Odor - Probbly excess moisture (anaerobic conditions). Turn the pile, or add dry, porous material, such as sawdust, wood chips, or straw. It could also be compaction (again anaerobic conditions)

Ammonia Odor - Excess moisture or perhaps too much nitrogen (lack of carbon). Turn the pile, add high carbon material, such as sawdust, wood chips, or straw.

• Low Pile Temperature - Pile too small, make pile bigger or insulate sides. Insufficient moisture, add water while turning pile. Poor aeration, turn pile. Lack of nitrogen, mix in nitrogen sources such as grass clippings or manure. Cold weather, increase pile size, or insulate pile with an extra layer of material such as straw.
• High Pile Temperature (greater than 140 degrees Fahrenheit) - Pile too large, reduce pile size. Insufficient ventilation, turn pile. Pests, rats, raccoons, insects, presence of meat scraps or fatty food waste, remove meat and fatty foods from pile, or cover with a layer of soil or sawdust, or build an animal-proof compost bin, or turn the pile to increase temperature Among the larger "helpers" are earthworms. Be sure to select the type which best tolerates your conditions. Most worm composting books I've read recommend Lumbricus rubellus, or red wiggler. It can't take my heat though as well as Eudrilus eugeniae, the African night crawler, which is a surface feeder.

Earthworms prefer a soil with a neutral pH, or slightly alkaline. They need to stay moist, and out of sunlight. They CAN NOT live in rock wool, vermiculite or perlite as on the scale of the worm the products are like shards of broken glass. All earthworms thrive on manure, and consume their body weight in food every day. In the wild earthworms may be malnurished. In your compost bin you may find up to 100,000 earthworms per cubic meter (3,000 earthworms/cubic foot) as commercial growers report. If each worm weighs around a gram, and produces casts of around it's body weight daily, one such bin could produce 100 kg of compost daily.

Earthworms can absorb and carry disease. If you have any doubt as to safety of anything to be added to your compost pile, consider solar sterilization of the item first. You may lose some nutrients, but you avoid contaminating your pile and worms. Earthworm casts are not only considered a fertilizer, but you may find they are so rich in nutrients (see table 1) that hydroponics solutions can be made from soaking their casts. (DeKorne, 1978; Hydro Greenhouse Corp, 1983). Like most animals earthworms accumulate toxins in their bodies, which would be concentrated in any creature fed the worms. Perhaps therefore early generations should be recycled to outside of your food web.

Source: Lunt, H. A. and G. M. Jacobson, The Chemical Composition of Earthworm Casts. Soaking earthworm casts is a means to produce an "organic" hydroponic solution. Soak an equal volume of earthworm casts and water. You may need additional nitrogen. Earthworms are your miniature engineers, opening the soil to allow air and water to flow.

FLIES[edit | edit source]

A perhaps strange sounding approach from THE SURVIVOR Vol. 1. Do you include chickens, fish, etc. in your food plans? Do you need a high protein food source for them? Capture a few flies, and odds are one or more of them will be a female. Envision them in a screened in, escape proof container, with rotting food, sterilized sewage, etc. The SURVIVOR suggests four inch deep plastic trays, in the bottom part of each tray a hole with a patch of rubber with a slit in it through which a nozzle would be inserted. The same kind of slit rubber patch would be over holes in the screen adjacent to each tray. As the maggots ate they would rise to the top to pupate. Pump the new slurry in from the bottom. At one end hang electrified wires to zap the flies, who fall into a removable drawer below, or onto your fish tank or chicken food bin.

MICROSYMBIONTS[edit | edit source]

These can be bacteria or fungi that "infect" the host plant root. As implied by the word symbiont, instead of a debiliating infection there is a two-way benefit. The plant sugar flow to its roots feeds the infecting organism, while the symbiont aids the plant in uptake of water or nutrients from the soil, or in some cases the "fixing" of nitrogen from the air. There are three types of organisms that may form this valuable symbiosis.

Mycorrhiza are a fungus that can essentially provide an extended root system for the plant, and protection for the plant. The fungai extend their threads into a large volume of soil where they explore and extract nutrients from the soil beyond the reach of the plant roots. Some fungi produce hormones that stimulate greater root development.

Rhizobia bacteria may cause some leguminosae (think bean) plant roots to form nitrogen-fixing root nodules. The bacteria/plant relationship can be very type-specific, where the legume will form nodules only when infected with a specific rhizobium. Others will form nodules with a range of rhizobia. For your intended crops, and potential surrounding "native" transplant donor sites, pre-research relationships. Rhizobium nodules for transplant should be collected from young roots. The interior of a healthy N2-fixing rhizobium nodules is usually pink, red or brown.

Frankia bacteria also perform nitrogen fixation. These bacteria form their own web, similar to fungus, and independent nitrogen fixing vesicles. And as with rhizobia, can be either broad of plant specific. The interior of a healthy frankia nodules is usually whitish or yellowish.

If you are starting with a sterile medium, you may be able to "transplant" microsymbionts from previous planting sites, or sites in nature where similar plants are doing particularly well. Either approach has risks of course of also transplanting pathogens. The danger can be reduced by collecting only desired "infected" roots and nodules.

The difference between with/without a symbioant, or the right one, can be significant. Wood production in selected trees inoculated with a superior strain can be more than 100% above the naturally inoculated control.

MACROSYMBIONTS[edit | edit source]

Companion planting. There are combinations of plants that grow better (and worse) next to each other than they do next to a plant the same type. There are numerous materials on the subject. This approach also allows use of a wider range of soil depth, as roots from the different plants seek different nutrients, at different times, and different depths.

Vegies Beneficial Antagonistic Asparagus parsley, tomato, basil onions, potato Basil Most plants Rue Beans Beet, borage, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, cucumber, corn, marigold, squash, strawberry, tomato

• Reduces the number of corn armyworms
• Nitrogen-fixing chives, fennel, garlic

leek Beet cabbage, kohlrabi,dwarf beans,onions, Runner Beans ... Broad Beans Potato, lettuce Fennel Broccoli bean, celery, chamomile, dill, mint, nasturtium, onion, potato, sage, rosemary

• Reduces striped cucumber beetles lettuce, strawberry,

tomato Brussels Sprout bean, celery, dill, hyssop, mint nasturtium, potato, sage, , thyme rosemary, strawberry

Cabbage bean, beet, chamomile, dill, hyssop, mint, nasturtium, onion potato, sage, rosemary

• Surround cabbages with white-flowering plants to prevent cabbage moth damage. grape,strawberry,

tomato, thyme Carrot bean, chives, leek, onion, pea, lettuce sage, scorzonera, tomato, wormwood

• Deters onion flies dill, rosemary, radish

Cauliflower bean, beet, celery, chamomile, dill, hyssop, mint, onion oregano, sage, radish potato Celeriac bean, cabbage, leek, onion, tomato ... Celery bean, cabbage, leek, onion, tomato

• Deters cabbage butterflies parsnip, potato

Corn Artichoke, parsnip,bean, cabbage, cucumber, early potato, lupin, melon, pea, pumpkin, squash ... Cucumber bean, broccoli,carrots, celery, Chinese cabbage, lettuce, pea, radish, tomato rue, sage Eggplant beans,potatopea, tarragon, thyme ... Horseradish potato ... Kohlrabi beet, onion bean, cucumber, pepper, tomato Leeks carrots, celeriac, celery

• Deters carrot flies, strawberries broad bean, broccoli

Lettuce beet, cabbage, carrots clover, pea, radish, strawberry Beet, beans, parsley, parsnip Melon corn, peanut, sunflower ... Onion beet, cabbage, carrot, chamomile, corn, lettuce, potato, strawberry,, tomato

• Deters Colorado beetle and carrot flies bean, pea, cucumber, dill, tomato, pumpkin, squash

Pea carrot, corn, cucumber eggplant, lettuce, radish, spinach, tomato, turnip onions, garlic, shallots Pepper basil, carrot, lovage, marjoram, onion, oregano fennel, kohlrabi Potato Broad bean, cabbage, cauliflower, corn, lettuce, onions, peas, petunia, marigold, radish

• Deters Mexican bean beetle
• Indian hemp helps protect against late blight - this plant is illegal in some countries - check local regulations apple, pumpkin,

tomato, sunflowers Pumpkin bean, corn, mint, nasturtium, radish, marjoram potato Radish bean, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, lettuce, melon, parsley, tomato

• Deters many cucmber beetle,root flies,vine borers, and many other pests grape, hyssop, squash,

Spinach cabbage, celery, eggplant, onion pea, strawberry, fruit trees ... Squash bean, corn, mint, nasturtium radish ... Summer Squash bean, corn,, mint, nasturtium radish potato Tomato asparagus, basil, beans, cabbage,, onion, parsley, pea, sage

• Deters loopers, flea beetles, and whiteflies on cabbage carrot, cauliflower, chives, fennel, potato

Turnip pea ... Zucchini bean, corn, marjoram, mint, nasturtium, radish potato

Flowers as Companions Alyssum Reseeds frequently, gradually breaks up & adds to the organic level of the soil (*esp. white alyssum) Amaranth Pigweed *Attracts ground beetles Alfalfa lucerne reduces corn wireworms Chrysanthemum reduces nematodes Coneflower Rudbeckia Castor Bean controls mosquitoes and nematodes Lupins Good companion for roses

• Nitrogen fixer

Marigolds Calendula*Deters asparagus beetes, tomato hornworms

Marigolds Tagetes

• reduce the number of nematodes in soil
• attract hoverflies (aphid predators)
• Deters Mexican bean beetles
• Reduces cabbage pests
• Good companion for roses

Poppies Suppress weeds (and every other plant) Petunias Repel a number of pests, including Mexican bean beetle, potato bug, and squash bug Wallflower Aids growth of orchard plants

Herbs Anise bean, coriander Deters aphids, fleas, reduces cabbage worms Basil bean, cabbage, tomato

• Controls a variety of pests

Borage strawberry, tomato

• Attracts bees, reduces Japanese beetles on potatoes, and deters tomato hornworms Caraway pea

Catnip *Deters ants, aphids, Colardo beetles, darkling beetles, flea beetles, Japanese beetles, squash bugs, weevils. Chamomile cucumber, mint, radish, roses

Chervil carrot, radish Chive *Cures blackspot on roses, deters Japanese beetles, discourages insects from climbing fruit trees, inhibits growth of apple scab Clover deters cabbage root flies Coriander deters Colorado beetles Dandelion Repels Colorado beetles Dead nettle Good companion for fruit trees; Deters potato bud Dill Repels aphids and spider mites Elderberry General insect repellant Eucalyptus general insect repellant Fennel deters aphids Garlic Good companion for fruit trees; general insect repellant, deters Japanese beetles, aphids Horseradish Good companion for fruit trees; deters Colorado beetles Hyssop Good companion for grapes; repels white-cabbage butterfly, flea beetles, insect larvae Lavender cotton Santolinadeters corn wireworms Lemon Balm Attracts bees and helps pollination Milkweed Deters aphids Mustard reduces aphids Nasturtium Give off ethylene gas which helps in early ripening of fruit (though too many may inhibit growth) Reduces aphids, cabbage worms, Colorado beetles; deters wooly aphids, squash bugs and whiteflies. Keep away from broccoli, brussel sprouts, potato, radish, squash. Parsley roses, asparagus

Ragweed Reduces flea beetles Rue Deters beetles and fleas Rosemary Deters bean beetles, white cabbage moths, carrot flies, and many other insects Sage Deters cabbage worms, white cabbage moths, and root maggots Savory Deters Mexican bean beetles Southernwood Deters cabbage moths, carrot flies, aphids Tansy Deters many insects including ants, aphids, cabbage worms, Colorado beetles, Japanese beetles, squash bugs Planted in a ring around fruit trees, helps repel fruit fly Thyme Deters cabbage loopers, cabbage worms, whiteflies Wormwood General insecticide; deters mice and other rodents, slugs & snails. Repels carrot fly "Nature is often hidden; sometimes overcome; seldom extinguished."

LOCATION[edit | edit source]

Determine the facts, and plan. Determine the true orientation of your property, and the available light exposure positions of the sun throughout the year. Are you planning a roof top garden, or one with light collection / reflection at a height above ground level? Calculate and plan for the appropriate level.

INTERNAL LAYOUT[edit | edit source]

Plan your garden on paper. Calculate quantity of crops, needed area, light exposure, etc. Remember to group plants according to their nutrient needs. Heavy feeders. Asparagus, beet, broccoli *, brussels sprouts, cabbage *, cantaloupe *, cauliflower, celery, colard, corn-sweek *, eggplant *, endive, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, okra, parsely, pepper, potato, pumpkin, radish, rhubarb, spinach, squash-summer *, strawberry, sunflower, tomato *, watermelon *. Plan for subsequent crops in rotation, minimizing re-planting of the same or related crops in the same family in the same spot Place perennial crops where they are minimally disturbed. Put tall and trellised crops on the north side to avoid shading shorter plants. (* indicates fertilize at least twice)

Light feeders. Carrot, garlic, leek, mustard greens, onion, parsnip, rutabaga, shallot, sweet potato, swiss chard, alfalfa, be4ans, clover, peas, peanut, soybean. Easily survive transplant. Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, lettuce, chinese cabbage, sweet potato slips, onion, tomatoes, pepper. Require care in transplant. Beets, carrots, celery, chard, melon (2 true leaves), squash (2 true leaves) NOT usually transplantable. Beans, corn, cucumbers, peas, okra. CROP SELECTION.

Worldwide, around twenty plants constitute the bulk of plants grown for human food. There are however over 20,000 species of edible plants in the world. Look at your lawn. While you can't readily digest mature grass, you can process it into leaf protein, or eat young leaves and shoots.

But there are better options for food crops than a lawn, which would take far too large of an area to obtain sufficient calories and nutrition for a person, as compared to the area which could be fertilized by the effluent of that person. CALORIE CROPS COMPARISON Corn: Growing constantly it would take 4000 sq. ft. to feed a person, who would have to eat 25 ears per day.

Rice: Growing constantly it would take 1350 sq. ft. to feed a person, who would have to eat 1.2 lbs. per day.

Potatoes: Growing constantly it would take 900 sq. ft. to feed a person, who would have to eat 5.9 lbs. per day. For optimal yields, an equal amount of sunlight and darkness/day is necessary. Potatoes typically have 50% more waste than edible yield produced.

Sweet Potatoes: Growing constantly it would take 400 sq. ft. to feed a person, and in that it has edible tubers and leaves, the person would eat 0.5 lb. of cooked leaves and 2.6 lb. of tubers per day. For optimal yields, an equal amount of sunlight and darkness/day is necessary.

Amaranthus: From data on the web, growing constantlyt is appears that yield per 100 sq. ft would be around 50 lbs, over a 40 day growing period, or 1.25 lb. per day, which appears to match the daily food calorie needs of a person, who would have to eat 1.17 lbs. per day. Thrives in hot dry weather. Determine Crop Nutrition Efficiency. Calorie and vitamin concentration per unit weight of food, and the yield of a given crop or crop combination per area must be worked out. As mentioned earlier, one of the most efficient crops is sweet potatoes. The edible vs not proportion of a sweet potato plant is far more efficient than the same comparison for corn, where the large stalk, roots, and cobs must be composted before the nutrients "locked up" there are once again available to nourish crops. There are many crops with high calorie yield, high nutrition, and/or multiple edible parts.

Palatable.

The garden crops must be something you and your family will eat, and can eat. Consider the volume and weight of food you can consume. I read in ONE CIRCLE that between 4 and 6 pounds per day is the range for most people. That reference works with a list of the following 14 crops. Their book makes a valuable reference. Collards (leaf and stem) Filberts (seed) Garlic (bulb) Leeks (bulb) Onions (bulb) Parsley (stem & leaf) Parsnips (root) Potatoes (tuber) Peanuts (seed) Soybeans (seed) Sunflower (seed) Sweet potatoes (tuber) Turnips (root & leaf) Wheat (seed)

Annual vs Perennial.

Annual crops require significant input, a lot of which is used to grow the unused plant portions. These must then be reduced by composting organisms (themselves using up energy) before further crops can be grown. Perennial crops such as trees put much less "effort" into maintaining their support system. Envision perennial corn fields, with permanently standing stalks. The potential is waiting for the right bio-engineer in the form of Zea diploperennis, a multi year relative of corn.

Annual. Perennial.

Trees. The quintessential perennial crop. Honey Locust. A mesquite, bearing edible "bean" pods, when mature a tree 55' in diameter may provide 66 lb. of pods, containing 30% (19.8lb.) sugar, 22% (14.5lb. protein), and good quantities of potassium. While this tree DOES NOT fix nitrogen, it is a good "miner" of deep soil nutrients for later use by surface gardens. The pods can be used to make coffee. In a 100 ft. sq. comparison it provides 2.77 lb. of pods, with .83 lb. sugar and .61 lb. protein. Citrus. Citrus is a global favorite. Of the citrus crops, lemon, grapefruit, and orange trees can produce fruit without pollination, where in effect, the fruit is a genetic copy of the mother plant. The provide a better crop growing on rootstock that is not their own, but fortunately are readily "spliced". Varieties are available that produce in the heat of Yuma Arizona to areas with snow.

Moringa Olefara. a small tropical tree that grows to about 25 feet (8 meters). It has edible tuberous roots, fern-like leaves, and seed pods resembling musician drumsticks. The pungent horseradish essence is in all parts of the plant, with the roots used as flavoring and in poultices.

The bark yields substances including moringine and moringinine, the earlier acts as a cardiac stimulant, produes rise of blood pressure, acts on sympathetic nerve endings as well as smooth muscles all over the body, and depresses the sympathetic motor fibers of vessels when eaten in large doses.

Native to northern India it is mentioned as a medicinal plant in ancient Sanskit texts. It is fast growing and possibly the most nutritious of all leaf crops, the leaves are 7% protein and have extremely high levels of folates, vitamin C, carotenes, calcium, iron, and niacin. The seeds yield an edible and high quality oil (ben oil) earlier used to lubricate fine mechanical swiss watches. Very tolerate of drought. Very attractive yard tree when allowed to grow to its full size.

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Authors	Emilio Velis, Fred
License	CC-BY-SA-4.0
Language	English (en)
Related	0 subpages, 3 pages link here
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Created	April 27, 2022 by Irene Delgado
Modified	February 8, 2023 by Felipe Schenone
Cite as	Emilio Velis, Fred (2022–2023). "MESS (Micro Environment Subsistence System)/Hydroponics". Appropedia. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
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