Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 7.14
The AeroGarden Extra Tall for taller plants such as tomatoes.
(Courtesy of AeroGrow, Boulder, Colorado.)
box (available in Kmart, Target, or Walmart) to serve as the nutrient reser-
voir. Pumps and irrigation supplies are available in many garden centers,
hydroponic shops, and irrigation stores.
Alternatively, you may purchase complete systems such as those avail-
able from Botanicare. Botanicare has a number of models under its
Jetstream category. Two-tray, four-tray, six-tray and eight-tray units are
available in 6, 8, or 9 inches wide by 42 to 44 inches long (Figure 7.15 and
Figure 7.16). Each tray contains one rockwool or coco coir slab. A sub-
mersible pump feeds the individual plants in their rockwool blocks with a
drip irrigation line via a PVC header. A 2-inch diameter PVC catchment
pipe returns the solution to the 20- or 30-gallon reservoir. Four plants are
set onto each slab in each grow tray. A four-tray system has 16 plant sites
and a six-tray one has 24 sites, but always remember the spacing rule. This
rockwool or coco coir system is ideal for most vine crops, just be careful
with the area per plant needed. Prices range from $600 for the two-tray
unit to over $1000 for an eight-tray one. These units are easily converted to
mesh pots with expanded clay pebbles or perlite using the same system of
drip irrigation (Figure 7.15).
Botanicare also sells a one-tray and two-tray system it calls a Jetflo that
is an ebb and flow system. The one-tray unit consists of one tray 7 inches
