I understand verification of any information. I don't discount anything from commercial sites, I just verify it. I also verify that which I find at .edu sites also. You wouldn't believe how much BS I've found at .edu sites as well.
The academic world is full of argument among themselves. Full blown battles exist between factions of academia about almost every issue that exists.
I've found statements made by Dr. Resh that I disagree with and can support argument on. While he is the one I consider as the "Father of Modern Hydroponics", he's not infallible and does make statements that are not state of the art or that I've proven wrong with my own experiments.
Cross verification of data is the only way to confirm the validity of that data.
As of 1990, I had read every book written about hydroponics that is listed in the "Books In Print" volumes that are in every library in the nation. Those who don't have hard copies of those volumes have online issues to source.
I started at the first book listed in the volumes and requested each through the Intra-Library Loan Service and over a period of a year, read every single one that was listed.
That helped me immensely with filtering out BS in future articles and publications.
I've also been studying hydroponics since 10 years prior to that research, and have done extensive experimenting on my own.
I was once considered for the Directors position at the Epcot Hydroponic Exhibit in Orlando, Florida, but a person with a Doctorate beat me out. It turned out to be a faulty decision on their part as I discovered after seeing the results of his work. Frankly, I could have done it better, but didn't have the Doctorate to back up my knowledge and the Board at Epcot chose him because he did have one. Oh well...
I really wish I'd gotten that job! I wanted it really, really badly, and it bummed me out very much when I lost the opportunity.
The Epcot Center will just have to be satisfied with his 1950's hydroponics displays. (Bap, Bip, Bop....take that!)
I'm telling you this to give you an idea of what my own background in hydroponics is. I seldom say anything in the way of suggestions unless I've already proven the data to myself first.
You're perfectly correct when you say that *all* data should be cross checked by multiple sources. Even then, you can still find data that has been accepted as accurate and is not.
Like I told a ghost believer once, I'll believe that their are ghosts when one sits down and talks with me when I haven't been drinking or smoking anything. Until then, I consider them a result of over-active imaginations.
I consider Dr. Resh as the supreme authority in hydroponic farming. He's forgotten more than I'll probably ever learn, so-to-speak. However, I've found data of his that I've tried and found to be NOT the best way to do things through proving it via experimentation.
Cross check and verify. Two very wise methods to use prior to proving via experimentation.
Only after proving a method in trials can it be accepted as fact, unless someone else you trust has already done so.
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