The lousy economy over the past few years boasts a silver lining in the temperate Floridian climate where I live. Some folks who lost their jobs have started small farms or expanded existing ones, many of them growing local, organic produce.
While this is a fantastic turn of events, unfortunately, some of these farms have chosen to grow organic hydroponics instead of soil based produce.
Why do I use the word “unfortunately” and “organic” in the same sentence, you may ask?
The reason is because organic hydroponic produce produces big, watery fruit that is very low in mineral content. In a nutshell, organic hydroponics is not nutrient dense food and is basically a waste of money!
The essential problem with hydroponic farming arises through its use of a mineral based solution to grow and nourish the plants instead of soil. Some hydroponic operations even rely on artificial lighting. Proponents of organic hydroponics claim that their produce is just as good as organic produce grown in soil. Such claims are extremely short sighted. To actually assume that an artificial growing environment could ever come close to the perfection of nature is just plain silly!
No mineral solution can ever take the place of black, worm filled, organic soil that is carefully tended and worked by the farmer season after season.
Organic Hydroponics Test Poor Nutritionally
The proof that organic hydroponic produce is relatively nutritionless can be easily and quickly measured with an instrument called a refractometer. Nutritional measurement is performed by squeezing a couple of drops of liquid from the produce to be tested onto the prism of the refractometer and reading the results. The juice should be from the part of the plant that you would actually eat, not the stem or the roots, for example.
The refractometer (click here for a picture of one) measures the amount of carbohydrate and dissolved minerals in the juice. Sweeter, riper produce will therefore test higher brix than unripe produce. Calcium is one of the minerals that increases substantially in high brix produce. The minerals in high brix produce are readily and easily assimilated when eaten because they are in naturally chelated form. This means they are attached to amino acids and are biologically active unlike the same minerals found in a rock, for example.
High Brix Produce Tastes Better
Animals instinctively prefer high brix plants. Cows given a choice of hay will choose the one with higher brix. Cows which graze on high brix grass will produce more nutrient dense milk, butter, and cream too!
Given a choice, humans will choose high brix produce as well because the taste is so much better! Taste will always tell you if the produce is high brix or not. Ever had tomato sauce made from 15 brix tomatoes? It is an experience you will never forget! Organic hydroponic tomatoes generally test at a measly 2 or 3.
Pathetic indeed for the organic price premium you pay per pound!
High Brix Produce Lasts a Long Time Without Rotting
High brix produce is resistant to insects, disease and rot. Have you ever noticed how that box of organic hydroponic strawberries from the store looked so beautiful on the shelf but a mere 2 days later, the berries have developed large spots of rot that have to be cut away?
Produce that rots quickly is indicative of low nutrition, poor quality fruit – organic or not!
What to Choose? (Hint: NOT Organic Hydroponics)
Even local produce grown in soil using conventional means will generally beat out organic hydroponics when measured for mineral content. This is why I tell folks to seek out local produce at farmer’s markets that is grown in dirt, not hydroponically. Buying at farmers’ markets is a great way to seek out quality produce as you can ask the farmer directly how the produce was grown.
Ultimately, the highest brix produce I’ve ever come across is from people’s personal gardens. Working the soil on a small, personal patch of ground yourself is an activity that consistently produces spectacular results. My Mother-in-Law in Australia has a small garden that has the thickest layer of worm filled, black dirt I’ve ever seen. She has been working this soil with compost and other natural fertilizers for over 10 years. There is no doubt that the produce she grows in this dirt is more nutritious and higher brix than any organic produce to be found at the store!
So, actively seek out high brix produce, not just organic and especially not organic hydroponics. Your taste buds and your wallet will thank you.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Sources and More Information
Weston A. Price Foundation
4 Steps to Keep Monsanto OUT of Your Garden!
Heirloom vs Hybrid Produce
Hydroponic Invasion of USDA Organic
You are very mis-informed. Hydroponics if used properly is actually very nutrient rich depending on the nutrients supplied to the plants and lights used as well. to say that the plants have 0 nutrition because they were grown in a water base instead of a soil one is like saying when it rains it will wash away all of a plants nutrition, its poppycock.
“Organic Hydroponic” is an oxymoron, unless you are referring to the “bioponic” growing method developed by William Texier. Given the amount of false information in the article, I sincerely doubt that you are!
Hydroponics uses 80 – 90% less water than conventional agriculture. Given that fresh water is our most precious resource, hydroponics is an ecologically sound and smart choice for growers.
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Your facts are incorrect. In studies done. Particular an independent study is San Jose ca. The 15 different vitamines and minerals tested. 5 were higher in soil. They are the heavyweight metals. Vitamine b’ and c to mention a few were up to and exceeded 75% greater value than soil. I am pro food. Our soil is depleted. By using additives only further destroys the microb base. ( a hand full of soil has over a billion microbs. Hydroponics If properly preformed has the same microb base as soil. A higher quality is needed in hydroponics. The nutrient goes straight to the plant. NASA has stated hydroponics is the most efficent wat to grow healthy produce. Check your acts my friend.
In hydroponics we provide the minerals required for plant growth
directly, completely eliminating the need for soil and soil organisms.
The result is much higher growth rates, yields and even
crop quality than organic methods can achieve. This is not what
some people want to hear, but it is the simple scientific truth – and
practically all scientists and educators in the fields of agriculture
and chemistry know it and will be the first to agree. In fact, the
kinds of materials which are permitted for use under “organic”
regulations are not of sufficient purity to be used for hydroponic
culture.
There is an increasing public
demand for methods which are gentle on our delicate planet and
which don’t harm the soil, water or ecosystems. Hydroponic
farming methods fit properly into this system of values if used
appropriately. Hydroponics protects soil because it doesn’t use soil.
Less water is required for hydroponic culture and consequently
more food can be cultivated with less water. The fertilizers we use
for hydroponics are ultra-pure and leave no residue in the
cultivated fruits and vegetables. Since hydroponic technologies are
more efficient than soil methods, more people can be fed with less
area and ecological impact.
Best postings I have ever read. Quick sum up – if you have the time, resources & knowledge to grow organically in great soil, DO IT! If – like 90% of the world – you have limited space & resources, grow Hydro/Aero/Aqua. Both ways will remove your dependence on agri-business and improve the quality of your life & the life of the planet. Hydro farmers, learn from the soil farmers & vice versa. Wake up, shake off the programming & realize we’re all on the same side of this beautiful organic revolution.
– GROW UP! (llc)
Pseudo science for the win! No, seriously, hydroponic food isn’t as good because you say so without any evidence. You clearly know nothing about how plants grow or hydroponics works. Hydro nutrient solution has higher content of every element you want in your plants including: N, Ca, Na, Mg, Fe and so on… Plants don’t simply absorb water to grow, this is a physical impossibility, water (H2O) simply cannot be reorganized to make a solid. And exactly how does artificial light change how the plant grows? If you want to be technical all light is artificial, given the sun is effectively a fuel source as well.
To anyone reading this, do not believe this tripe. The writer has no idea what they’re talking about, at all. Show me your non-existent proof!
No KIDDING! It irritates me that this site posts this miss-information. It is not true, SOME hydroponic farmersusing plain, treated tap water might produce nutrient deficient produce but most know what they are doing, this is a bunch a crap……She needs stop being a sales person and do some research!
PEOPLE, do not believe everything you read… and no, I am not a farmer but I know how plants work and absorb nutrients and this article is garbage, might as well be in the National Enquirer, marketing and selling is all it is….GARBAGE article, not true at all.
I can reorganize h20 to make a solid
Great Info! Thanks!
I disagree with this. Hydroponic produce is full of flavor and minerals, even more so than soil-grown crops. Perhaps the reason you say this is because you used the term “organic”, a title hard to achieve with hydroponics. Normal hydroponic plants are packed with flavor because everything can be controlled: pH, temperature, light, nutrient levels, something nearly impossible to do in soil. Since this can be controlled, the plants are given precisely what they need, and they actually don’t need a whole lot, a lot less then everything in soil. Need some more calcium? Add some. Can’t do that with soil. Also, hydroponic systems used WAY less water then soil because the water is recirculated and reused. The plants soak up all of the nutrients being directly given to them – they love it. That’s why they actually grow a lot faster as well. Some commercial hydroponic growers try to save money by using less nutrients, producing tasteless crops. Perhaps that is what is being sold at your store. But if done right, hydroponics is a GREAT way to grow your food, it grows faster and tastier, plus it can be done all-year round, and you don’t have to worry about bugs!
Just scrolling down to mention Murray and I see wendell beat me to it. I agree with the article, but I think application of the techniques described in Murray’s ‘Sea Energy Agriculture’ could swing the balance strongly the opposite way. He went to great lengths to show his hydroponic produce had superior mineral contents- examples being controlled refractometer studies, the preference of animals for the hydroponic produce over field grown, and the increased body mass and health of animals fed on it, even though they had eaten less quantity. Of course this is all according to Murray, but it looks legit and makes compelling reading.