From talexan@PEAK.ORGTue Nov 7 12:33:30 1995 Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 09:00:56 -0800 (PST) From: Tom Alexander Reply to: hydro@Hawg.Stanford.EDU To: hydro@Hawg.Stanford.EDU Subject: Re: Organic Hydroponics??? On Tue, 7 Nov 1995, vijay lal wrote: > This question may have arisen before, but being a new subscriber to this > list I have yet to see this issue discussed. Can vegetables/herbs be > grown organically using hydroponic/NFT systems (or its variations, i.e. > aeroponics, aerohydroponics)? The definition I am using for "organic" is > what would be considered organic by any organic growers association, > especially growing without using non-synthetic fertilizers. Eliezer, There are very few certifiable (either by Oregon Tilth or the Ca. Organic organization--whatever there name is) hydroponic fertilizers. Earth Juice from Green Fire in Chico and Sacramento, CA is one. Many use certifiable ingredients but spike it with one or more non-certifiable nutrients. The other problem is rockwool is not certifiable because it is superheated. Perlite and Vermiculite are also superheated but certified so I question their standards. My feeling is both organizations look down upon hydroponics for whatever reason and are making it hard for hydro growers. I see no reason why if you use NFT without rockwool and use 100 percent organic nutrient why it can't be certified organic produce. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Tom Alexander, Publisher PO Box 1027 Growing EDGE magazine Corvallis, OR 97339 talexan@peak.org 503.757.8477 ================= http://www.teleport.com/~tomalex =================