Story by Erin Peterson

Photos by Ariane Kunze
Two tomatoes rest side by side at the local market. One is bright red and delicious without a blemish on it. The other is equally red, delicious, and blemish-free. The only visible difference between the two is a sticker that reads “Certified Organic.” How can anyone tell which one is better? The organic tomato was grown solely with natural plant fertilizer. This tomato is eco-friendly and lately, it’s been the talk of the town. But the organic tomato may have a new rival. It looks the same and tastes the same, and its name is hydroponic.
Hydroponics, or hydro for short, is a technology for growing plants in nutrient solutions, like water or fertilizers, with or without the use of an artificial medium, such as sand, gravel, or sawdust. There are a variety of hydro systems, but all must be enclosed in a greenhouse-type structure that can provide temperature and light control, reduction in evaporative water loss, and a reduction in disease and pest infestations.
Harper Keeler is the Director of the University of Oregon Urban Farm, a haven for fresh organic fruits and vegetables. He believes that when comparing an organic tomato to a hydroponic tomato, there is no question that the organic one is healthier for the consumer. “An organic tomato is not going to have any residue of pesticide or any fertilizers,” Keeler says. “I can’t say it strongly enough that organic is more important.”
Joe Schneiderhan, who works at the Aqua Serene Hydroponics store in Eugene, Oregon, believes that hydro is the more efficient way to farm. “For food production, especially if you’re doing a large scale, it’s easier to keep up with a [hydroponic] cycle than harvesting and replanting all the time,” he says, lifting the top of a hydro system to show the roots of a plant dangling down into the water and nutrient solution. With soil, the farmer must often replenish the farm with fertilizer and compost. But with hydro, the farmer only needs to replenish the liquid nutrients.
According to Schneiderhan, hydro allows for a more efficient use of water and fertilizers, minimal use of land area, and better disease and pest control. “Especially for countries that don’t have good soil to begin with and have a growing population that isn’t getting any smaller, hydro could save people from being hungry in certain places.” With hydro, it’s possible to grow oranges in the icy planes of Greenland or tomatoes in the Mojave Desert.
The pro-organic debaters say that hydro is too expensive and those countries wouldn’t be able to afford farming that way. “Where is that money going to come from, especially in the developing world?” asks Garth Kahl, the Latin American Program Coordinator at Oregon Tilth, a research facility that certifies organic farms. The farmer has to buy fans, filters, fertilizer, sun systems, mineral supplements, carbon dioxide generators, and insulated ducting materials to start a hydro operation.
But at Aqua Serene, a small hydro system would cost about $200, about the same price as one cubic yard of soil for an organic garden, according to Rexius Sustainable Solutions Inc., a garden supply company in Eugene. And Schneiderhan explains that many of the systems can be made out of regular household items. All you need is a plastic box with some water tubing and a timer in a warm room and you’ve got yourself an ebb-and-flow system. But hydro systems leave out what many believe is the key ingredient to growing quality produce: nature.
Keeler picks up a handful of squirming compost filled with millions of beneficial microorganisms, like nematodes, protazoas, and fungi. All these work in symbiosis with the produce. “There’s no substituting the sun and soil,” Keeler says. “Plant health is absolutely contingent upon that.”
Kahl believes it is important to feed the soil. The pioneers of organics, Sir Albert Howard, Dr. William Albrecht, and Rudolf Steiner, stressed the importance of having organic matter in the soil medium to benefit the circle of life. The plants and animals feed on those plants, and the people eat those plants and animals. “Originally organics was in contrast to synthetic nitrogen [in conventional fertilizer], which is where the opposition to hydroponics arises from,” Kahl says.
Conventional fertilizer contains nitrogen, a chemical that can turn into a harmful greenhouse gas when spread on fields. Many farmers think that the largest contribution to their carbon footprint would be the emissions from such energy-intensive tasks as transportation. However, the single biggest source of emissions is from simply growing produce with conventional fertilizer, Kahl says. This means that the carbon footprint of a local conventional farm is much larger than a certified organic farm in Argentina transporting products to the US.
Kahl believes that hydro is a dying breed and that, like in the past, it will fall off the grid. “Hydroponic agriculture is going to be a blip, an historic anomaly.”
But there is some hope for hydroponics. “You can do a balance of half-organic and half-synthetic,” Schneiderhan explains, and Kahl assures that Oregon Tilth will certify this type of hydro as being organic, making it much more likely to stick around. If hydro can work together with organic, maybe it will stay in town for a while, invite organic out for a drink, and turn a rival into a new friend.

The Hydrophonic Essentials

Artificial Sunlight: Hydroponics require artificial light in order for the plants to survive. Since many hydroponic plants are nonnative, they require varying levels of light. Lamps allow farmers to control these levels to maximize growth.

Plants: Hydroponics allow for a much faster grow time because the nutrients are fed directly to the roots rather than through the soil.

Artificial Medium: Baked clay pellets are an example of the artificial medium in which farmers can choose to grow their plants. Growing with an artificial medium simply holds the roots in place and provides support for the plant. Clay pellets are very porous and therefore have great water retention.

The Reservoir and Nutrient Film: The big tub that sits below the plants is called the reservoir, which holds the water for the system. The nutrient film spreads a thin layer of hydro nutrients at the bottom of the grow tray and over the roots of the plants.

Water Pump: Necessary for hydro systems a water pump can be submersed in the reservoir or connected via tubing. The pump keeps the water constantly flowing and mixing with the nutrient solution.

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