Hydroponic systems allow the growth of plants without the use of soil, making it a useful resource for areas where soil reliant growth is infeasible, or in places where plant growth space needs to be optimized. One of the primary motivators behind this project is to create systems that can populate the empty walls of annex buildings on campus. These hydroponics systems will be able to grow produce, such as lettuce and microgreens, that can then be used to give back to the community.
The goal of this experiment is to examine the efficacy of three different types of hydroponic systems provided by CropKing: The EdRack educational hydroponic system, 8 Bucket Bato System, and the Vertical Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) System.
Appropriate plants have been chosen for the three systems: butter lettuce (EdRack), Bell pepper (Bato), and assorted lettuce (NFT).
Three students are focusing on evaluating equipment usage and plant health throughout the process. Parameters that will be assessed are energy usage, water usage, plant volume (output and area), plant coloration, plant height, nutrient uptake, pH balance, and light conditions.
Students will collect data daily and record onto the printouts created to reside by the equipment, as well as all time spent on the project. These records will be transcribed to digital copies that will be shared on this website. Harvests will be performed when the plant growth cycle is complete, and germination will be started for another cycle to begin.
Additionally, outreach and educational ideas and events will be logged into a booklet for use by future students and added to this website. Educational outreach goals include a dedicated class with the associated systems and equipment, exposure of agricultural opportunities to students, and curriculum for different experience levels.