Ask HN: Hydroponics and Indoor Farming | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Hydroponics and Indoor Farming

3 points_8j5010 comments

HN,

I was curious about indoor farming in general. I on the fence, is it any better than stuff you buy from say walmart? Is it just a fad?

Is it unrealistic to grow cash crops this way? I mean, you can't have an orange tree in your living room (rigjt??!) but can you grow corn or wheat? And is it impractical to have a marketplace for this? Imagine people buying crops and herbs grown in other peoples apartments and this becoming an income source.

The main advantage I can think of is no fertilizers or anti-pesticides involved and better control of plant nutrients.

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Indoor farming ranges from sprouting seeds - a truly beneficial act - all the way to the so-called Vertical Farms where you have stacked racks of crops all powered by electric lights, pumps, and so forth.

I prefer sprouting things like broccoli and other seeds, but make no mistake, it's a labor of love; heavy on the labor.

You can read all manner of reasons for growing your own - and here, I'm not speaking of "cash crops" and doing it as a business; I have no intuitions in that space. My intuitions are born out of a desire to improve on the quantity and quality of certain foods I consume.

Hope that helps in some small way.

First time hearing of seed sprouting is there a community site/forum for this stuff?

Dr Google knows all about sprouts and sprouting. See youtube for lots.

Seems pretty expensive to me. It could be done commercially, but it's probably not economical for most individuals. Probably much cheaper and easier to plant outside or in a greenhouse. Cheaper to compost household waste and buy some cow poop.

An interesting indoor thing to grow are mushrooms. Growing your own lions mane, shiitake, oyster mushrooms can be cheaper than buying them and it's generally a low cost setup.

Hmm, yeah but most people don't own or rent outdoor space to do anything on.

Most people do. I think the percentage of people living in a detached home with a yard in the US is around 60%.

I’ve grown a handful of things indoors using the Kratky method and some grow lights. My apartment gets very little natural light, but otherwise the grow lights are not necessary. I found it to be economical, and really fun to grow. Cilantro and basil in particular can be very expensive at the store, but I can grow loads under a single LED light for very little $$ per month.

I also grew mint in a big 5 gal bucket, and it grew like a weed. I made mint iced tea that tasted delicious. Really easy maintenance too. I would just fill the water occasionally and add basic nutrients. The mint lasted 1 year in the same bucket and the roots were nice and white/healthy.

The only real things you need to do is have correct nutrients and a black container that stops light from being let into the reservoir and algae growing. Otherwise super easy! Much easier than even houseplants that you have to remember to water! My system was basically automatic and I’d check it once a week. The lights were on a basic timer and ran for ~16hrs a day.

I’ll also add that getting started is easy and cheap. Forget all the complex solutions, and start with a $10 plastic container or 5 gallon bucket. All the pre-made stuff is a waste of money IMO

Do you know if it is practical to grow base ingredients like potato, carrots and brocoli with a low cost setup? And what about soil vs hydroponic?

Much of the food tastes better (and much of it tastes exactly the same).

It's really nice to have lettuce all the time, and I like being able to pick cherry tomatoes for a snack.

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