No problem sylvestris,
You know when it rains it pours. I was just looking for infromation regarding hydroponically grown peppers and this came up, so I figured I would read it.
Nutrition & Hydroponics
Now this article is from a magazine that's geared toward the commercial hydroponic industry, mainly in Australia. So keep in mind that the magazine is not an authority in any type of research (although they do consult hydroponic researchers), and I haven't had time to researched the people mentioned in the article to see what type of backgrounds they have. But it basically supports everything I have said, and states names and sources for references.
Note the statements
(quote)
"The root system of a plant basically supplies only water and mineral nutrients to the plant. It's the upper part of the plant, through photosynthesis, that provides all the other types of compounds to the plant and its fruit regardless of where the plant's roots are growing.
However, Rick also believes that hydroponically grown produce has more of a chance of being good for consumers' health because there is no contact with the ground. This reduces the risk of getting disease organisms from soil and manure in the produce." (end quote)
It's important to note this is would be the "growing conditions," not hydroponics per-say. Better growing conditions because soil is not used in hydroponics, but rather a sterile, inert
growing medium.
Also Note the statement
(Quote)
"To produce a good vegetable product requires good horticultural practice and hydroponics is no different. It's not technology, it's just a different, if more sophisticated, horticultural technique. Therefore, hydroponic growers must have a good knowledge of their crop if they are to grow successfully. Hydroponics plants are often less stressed than in other systems which means that produce quality is more likely to be maintained consistently, especially in adverse conditions. (end Quote)
Notice this is referring to being able to better control the growing environment with hydroponics. Not referring to the technology of hydroponics being the reason for a good vegetable product, and regardless of method (soil or hydro), a good working knowledge of the crop is needed to produce a good vegetable product.
Also Note
(Quote)
"Take tomatoes, in particular. It is possible to improve their taste by using higher strength hydroponic solutions," he said. "This not only helps push more mineral nutrients into the plant and fruit, but also increases the strength of the solutions inside the plant, consequently raising the strength of other beneficial compounds such as sugars, organic acids and vitamins. A well-grown hydroponic tomato does have a taste and nutrition benefit compared to those grown by other methods. The down side of this is that poorly grown hydroponic tomatoes will be inferior, as happened with ignorant entrepreneurial growers in Australia in the early 1980s."
"In the case of tomatoes, the taste and nutritional benefits are directly related to the variety and the length of time the fruit is allowed to ripen on the vine, regardless of what growing method is used." (End Quote)
It's important to note here that the reference to a well-grown hydroponic tomato having superior taste and nutritional benefits, is based again on the ability to provide better growing conditions to the plant using hydroponics, not the technology of hydroponics itself. As well hydroponically grown plants given poor growing conditions will result in inferior plants and produce (again a result of growing conditions). It is also important to note that the amount of time the fruit is allowed to ripen on the plant is a very important factor in both taste and nutritional benefits, no mater whether it's grown in soil or hydro (like I mentioned).
Also in the article there is reference to a study that was done in San Jose, California, by Plant Research Technologies Incorporated (should be able to look it up if you wanted to), that claimed hydroponics produce was higher in certain vitamins than field grown produce. I haven't read the study, but I would caution the difference is due to the ability to provide better, and more consistent growing conditions to the plant than what the field grown plants received. Again there are fanatics on both sides of the argument, but specifics on how the study was conducted, and how it was compared is the difference in the truth. It may very well be if they changed the fertilizers in the soil, or weather conditions, the results might be different. Simply because there is no difference in the processes of mineral uptake by the plant between growing hydroponically, or in soil. It's just imposable to control the nutrients in soil the way you can in hydroponics, and is a variable that will be different in every study.
P.S. Hopefully you have enough to get a leg up in the argument in the other forum, as well as discuss the issue intelligently (so you look good). I'm not a fanatic about the issue either way (I'm a realest). I will always be happy to look at any creditable infromation, but that also requires reading between the lines (what they may or may not leave out of the study), and determining its creditability. Just like I cautioned that this article was from a magazine and not a creditable source in itself (but the sources might be creditable). That's something most fanatics don't want to do (especially if it supports their theory).