Farmer Graham Large creates a wall of Begonias around his front door with hydroponics.
HONEYDEW – Local farmer, Graham Large, does not only tend to crops and stables but dabbles in the art of hydroponics.
Hydroponics is an alternative method of growing plants by keeping them in nutrient-filled water.
Graham Large displays the root system under the plant trays.
Large has experimented with different hydroponic systems and has noticed a quicker growth and increase yield from plants when grown in this manner.
Generally, plants are healthy but if common pests do attack them, Large doses the pests with more water instead of introducing any pesticides.
Large uses all local products, except for the pumps, to create a system and sometimes takes his produce to local markets.
“Everything is so expensive in the shops. This system is expensive to start up but it is cheaper in the long run to grow your own food, and the systems are designed for townhouse living,” Large said.
He began his journey with hydroponics when he started a fish farm. Due to regular power outages and staff negligence, Large lost 160 000 fish.
Graham Large uses hydroponic systems to grow a variety of vegetables, herbs and plants.
He was using about 1 000 litres of water to backwash the fish tanks and began to notice that the waste products from the fish in the water, being washed out onto the land, was making the earth very fertile.
A double sided hanging hydroponic system displays how the water runs through the system.
Large gave up fish farming and established a vegetable patch on that particular spot. From there, his love for growing vegetables and experimenting with different systems led him to hydroponics.
“I worked out that hydroponics is more efficient. I have been playing around with systems for years and there is minimal water usage and a minimal labour factor as there are no weeds,” he added.
Graham Large stands next to bunches of healthy spring onions.
He refills the nutrient water in his systems once a week from a borehole and estimates that he uses about 200 litres between eight systems, whereas his land requires about 2 000 litres for the same surface area.
Succulent plants thrive in a hydroponic system.
Large makes and sells his own hydroponic kits and hydroponically-grown vegetables, but also welcomes anyone who wishes to look at the systems and ‘steal with their eyes’.
Details: glfurn@gmail.com
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