Hydroponic Farm

Background
Hydroponics means water working. Therefore,
a true hydroponic culture is one that uses water only,
with plant nutrients added in the correct concentrations and ratios for the plants grown. In most cases,
hydroponic culture involves a substrate for the plant
roots to grow in, and is consequently termed
soilless culture.
Hydroponics goes back as far as the famous
hanging gardens of Babylon and the floating
gardens of the Aztecs. From the early 1600s until
the 1800s, nutriculture techniques were developed
for the growing of plants in laboratories to study
plant nutrition. Dr. William F. Gericke of the University of California coined the term hydroponics in the
early 1930s, as he developed techniques to commer-

cially produce crops without soil. His first practical

application of hydroponics was during World War II
in an effort to grow fresh vegetables on non-arable
islands where troops were stationed. Installations
were established on Ascension Island in the South
Atlantic, Iwo Jima and Okinawa in the South Pacific,
and later, on Wake Island and a 22-hectare (55-acre)
project at Chofu, Japan after the war. The U.S. Army,
with its own special hydroponics branch, grew over
8,000,000 pounds of fresh produce during 1952.
Today, there are about 2500 acres of greenhouse
hydroponic vegetables produced in Canada, and
over 1500 acres in the U.S. Principal crops grown are
tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants and
lettuce.

Objectives of the Resorts Hydroponic Farm

CuisinArt Golf Resort & Spa, which is located on

Anguilla, a small Caribbean island, must import all of
its fruits and vegetables, along with all other food,
from North America or Europe via St. Maarten. This
is not a problem with processed foods, but for
perishable fresh salad vegetables such as tomatoes,
cucumbers, peppers, lettuce, and herbs, quality is
greatly reduced by such a lengthy shipping process.
The Resort wanted the freshest ingredients for
their guests. As Anguilla is non-arable and has no
fresh water apart from that generated by reverse
osmosis, hydroponics was the obvious solution for
growing fresh vegetables. A special greenhouse was
engineered to withstand strong winds up to 150 mph

caused by hurricanes that occasionally pass over

these islands. In this way, the crops can be grown all
season, regardless of outside weather conditions.
Hydroponics saves water through the use of
recirculation systems and drip irrigation. In the
Hydroponic Farm, we recycle the drainage from the
greenhouse to feed the outdoor landscape plants.
All of the tomatoes and peppers are vine-ripened
to give maximum nutritional value and backyard
flavor. The lettuce is very tender with a mild flavor.
Our fresh tomatoes are used in pastas, pizzas and all
cooking, as well as served fresh in salads. We also
grow all our own herbs, so that they are always fresh
in all our dishes.

Tour of the Hydroponic Farm

The hydroponic greenhouse is 18,000 square feet
in area. The crops are grown with several hydroponic
cultures. As you go through the south entrance, there
are two lettuce ponds growing buttercrunch lettuce.
This is a true hydroponic system of water culture
termed raft culture, from the Styrofoam rafts or
boards that float on top of the nutrient solution. The
water contains a special recipe for lettuce, using all
13 plant nutrients. The lettuce is seeded in rock wool
cubes. After 18 days, the lettuce is transplanted to
the ponds and is ready for harvest in 26 days. With
52 boards in the two ponds, we have a daily supply
of 128 heads of lettuce from two boards.
The raised beds on the sides of the lettuce ponds
contain sand and Promix, which is a peat-perlite
mixture. This is also a soilless culture system. These
beds are fed with drip lines coming from a central
injection system on the other side of the greenhouse.
Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, bok
choy and herbs are grown in perlite. Tomato and
pepper plants receive one drip line, while the
cucumbers receive two to three drip lines per plant.
All of these vine crops are trained vertically as
staking varieties. This is to permit optimum use of the
greenhouse area. As the tomatoes reach the above
support wires they are lowered weekly, and the lower
leaves are removed once the fruit is harvested.

By the end of the season, the tomato plants will be

in excess of 30 feet in length. The bare stems will be
laid along the tops of the pots, with the upper seven
feet of growth continuing to produce fruit.
European cucumbers will start producing fruit
within five weeks from seeding. We harvest them
five weeks before changing the crop. By keeping two
rows staggered in age by five weeks, we keep a
constant supply of cucumbers for the restaurants.
The plants grow up to six inches a day. When they
reach the overhead wires, several suckers are
permitted to hang down and produce fruit. When
these suckers are finished producing, they are cut
back and replaced by two more suckers that repeat
the process.
Peppers and eggplants are trained to two main
stems, unlike tomatoes which are single-stemmed.
The peppers are initially green, and upon maturing,
turn to yellow, orange or red. Remember that these
colored peppers have more nutritional value, as
do red tomatoes, compared to the green ones.
Hydroponic greenhouse eggplants are experiencing
a surge in popularity! Smaller and firmer than
traditionally grown eggplants, they are well-suited
to the wide variety of dishes prepared in our
restaurants, especially Anguillas first authentic
Japanese restaurant, Tokyo Bay, and Italia, serving

up homemade pasta and ravioli at the Clubhouse.

The plant towers are made up of a series of 10
pots stacked vertically, one on top of the other.
They are filled with perlite and are fed with several
drip lines in the top pot and one in the middle pot.
The nutrient solution percolates from the top
down, and any excess is picked up by the drainpipe
at the bottom for re-use with the landscape. We
grow bok choy and herbs such as basil, parsley, mint,
thyme, oregano, chervil, dill, sage, chives, lavender
and sweet marjoram.

Injector/Nutrient System
The plants are fed through a drip irrigation system.
Part of the drip system includes the use of a proportioner or injector. Three stock solutions feed the
injector, which dilutes in the correct ratios the concentrated stock solutions into a blending tank where
they are mixed with water to produce the final plant
nutrient solution. This is a timesaving device, since
we can make up sufficient stock solution to last a
period of two weeks. Upon making up the stock
solutions, we send a sample for atomic absorption
analysis to a laboratory in Georgia. The results,
given in mg/l, indicate what adjustments need to
be made to keep the elements in optimum ratios
and concentrations.
Howard M. Resh, Ph.D., is creator and manager
of the Resorts on-premise Hydroponic Farm and
Retreat. Dr. Resh has experience in hydroponics that
spans more than 40 years. He acquired his Ph.D.
degree in plant science/horticulture from the University
of British Columbia in Vancouver and is active in
lecturing at universities and conferences throughout
the world.

Micro Greens

Books by Dr. Howard M. Resh

Microgreens are similar to sprouts, but are grown in

full sunlight, making them more nutritious and
flavorful. We use them in salads and as garnishes in
our restaurants, especially in the Japanese cuisine at
Tokyo Bay.
Our microgreen offerings include radishes,
amaranth, lettuce mixes, cole crop mixes, mizuna,
red komatsuna, bulls blood beets, arugula and
more. Depending on the species of plant, they grow
from seed to harvestable plant in 7 to 10 days.

Hydroponic Food Production

Hydroponic Home Food Gardens
Hydroponic Tomatoes
Hydroponics Questions & Answers
Hobby Hydroponics
These books are available in the CuisinArt Golf
Resort gift shop or on the Internet at
http://www.howardresh.com. Please visit Dr. Reshs
website for more information on hydroponics.

PO Box 2000 Rendezvous Bay AI-2640 Anguilla Phone 264.498.2000

Reservations and information 800.943.3210 or 264.497.4900
www.CuisinArtResort.com

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