A commercial hydroponic setup

[kiwi]

Pictures of a commercial hydroponic setup where I work.
The plants that are grown hydroponically in this commercial operation are herbs. Over 20 different varieties of herbs are grown, such as Dill, Basil, Thyme, Parsley, Mint, Oregano, Rosemary to name just a few. These herbs are grown to supply supermarkets and restaurants throughout New Zealand.

Picture 1. The Glasshouse. It has a growing area of 900sq metres. Over 80,000 herbs are grown at any one time.
Picture 2. The electronics of maintaining the glasshouse. pH monitor, wind direction, wind speed, temperature (this governs when and how wide to open the roof vents and when to fire-up the gas heater)
Picture 3. The water pipes that are suspended off the ground and 1 metre below the hydroponic gullies. These water pipes are heated by the gas heater when the air temperature inside the glasshouse falls below 12C.


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Da olaksam ucesce svim zainteresovanima evo i slobodan prevod teksta:

Ove slike pokazuju komercijalni hydoponic sistem gde ja radim.
Biljke koje rastu o ovom komercijalnom hydoponic sistemu su zacinske biljke i ima ih preko 20 razlicitih vrsta a navodim samo nekoliko i to Mirodjija, Bosiljak, Timijan, Persun, Nana, Origano, Ruzmarin. Ovim biljkama se snabdevaju novozelandski supermarketi i restorani.

Slika 1. Staklenik. On ima radnu povrsinu od 9000 kvadratnih metara i ima kapacitet od preko 800000 biljaka.
Slika 2. Elektronsko odrzavanje staklenika. pH monitor, temperatura i odredjivanje pravca i brzine vetra. Ovo odredjuje kada i koliko da se otvori krovna ventilacija i ukljucivanje grejanja.

Slika 3. Cev dotoka vode koja je u zemlji i koja je 1 metar ispod hydroponic olika. Voda se zagreva kada temperatura vazduha u stakleniku padne ispod 12 stepeni.

 

[kiwi]

Picture 1. The Fertilizer Tanks. The hydroponic tank mixes are:
Tank 1. Calcium Nitrate
Tank 2. Potassium Nitrate
Sulphate Magnesium
Mono Potassium Phosphate
Trace Elements
Picture 2. Recirculating Reservoir Tanks. Each tank holds over 4,000 litres of water. The returning nutrient falls into the reservoir tanks. The reservoirs are equipped with a venturi for oxygenation. Ethylene, a by-product waste gas of plant metabolism, can block a recirculating system. A venturi that operates off pump pressure creates a spa like effect in the reservoir, agitating ethylene out of the solution and introducing fresh air into the system.
Between 8,000 - 10,000 litres of water a day is lost through respiration of the plants depending on how hot and sunny the day is.
Picture 3. Feeder Tubes. Each gully has one feeder tube which supplies the water to the gully. The flow rate of 1 litre a minute per gully. The depth of water in each gully is 4mm.


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Slika 1. Rezervoar sa dzubrivom. Smesa za hydroponic je:
Rezervoar 1. kalcijum nitrat.
Rezervoar 2. Kalijum nitrat, magnezijum sulfat, Kalijum hidro posfat KH2PO4, retki elementi.

Komentar: KH2PO4 je poznat kao MPK monobasic potassium phosphate.

Slika 2. Rezervoar u kruznom toku. Svaki rezervoar je zapremine od 4000 litara vode. Povratna voda se vraca u te rezervoare. Rezervoari su opremljeni sa venturi cevima radi ventilacije vode. Gasovi (Etilen) nastali od produkata metabolizma mogu da blokiraju kruzni sistem a venturi cev koja koristi pritisak pumpe stvara mehurice u rezervoaru podstice etilen da napusti rastvor a ujedno podstice i rastvaranje vazduha u rastvoru.

Svakoga dana se gubi izmedju 8000 do 10000 litara vode usled potrebe biljaka a to zavisi koliko je suncan i topli dan.

Sikka 3. Cevi za dovod rastvora. Svaki oluk ima jednu dovodnu cev za dovod vode. Protok je 1 litar po minuti. Nivo vode u svakom oluku je oko 4 mm.

 

[kiwi]

Picture 1. Seed Sowing. The herb seed is sown automatically by machine. The potting mix in each pot contains:
80% Fine bark potting mix
20% Fine pumice
600g Sulphate Potash
1kg Lime
3kg Dolomite Lime
200g Trace elements
Vermiculite is spread over the top of the potting mix which acts as a mulch to help keep the potting mix moist.
Picture 2. Seed Germination Room. The potted seeds are germinated at a room temperature of 25C. A grow-light is used and the floor of the germination room is kept wet to create a high humidity.
Picture 3. Watering Seedlings. Once the seeds have germinated the pots of plants are taken to the glasshouse and watered once or twice a day (by Kiwi) depending if it is a sunny day or cloudy day.

 

[kiwi]

Picture 1. A Dill Plant. Once the plants are big enough they are planted into the gullies to grow to a size where they are then harvested for the supermarkets and restaurants to use.
Picture 2. Plant Roots. The roots of a hydroponically grown Mint plant.

 

[boban]

Evo zahvaljujuci Kiwi mi mozemo da vidimo kako funkcionise i jedan pravi komercijalni hydroponic sistem. Ovaj prikazani se koristi za zacinsko bilje ali bez problema moze da se prenameni i da se koristi za bilo koje drugo bilje jer je princip isti.

Glavna karakteristika ovakvih staklenika je da skoro sve ide automatski sto je i razumljivo jer mu je kapacitet ogroman pa bi bez automatske podrske tu trebalo da radi puno ljudi.

Ako poredimo onaj hydroponic sistem koji sam ja postavio onda moze da se vidi razlika bas u toj automatizaciji i naravno u velicini.