There have been several threads regarding making money on the homestead, here's another:-) I've been reading about hydroponics, there is a book on the net that talks about starting on a shoestring and making a good profit at it. I'm leary as it says hydroponics is a ground floor opportunity, I'm almost sure it has been around for awhile and my brother has often warned that "ground floor" often means it ends up in the basement. Has anyone made a profit from growing food this way?

-- Lenore (archambo@winco.net), July 06, 2000

Answers

Lenore: Hydroponics has been an agricultural system since the mid- 1930's - 65 years ago. It is used extensively in some area for high- value crops, such as tomatoes, cukes and roses (and in some places marijuana). Like greenhouses, climate is controllable and it can be profitable if you have a high-end market to match. From what you said, it sounds like it might be a scam to sell equipment.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), July 06, 2000.

I can't speak from much experience here but I do remember seeing similar ads in magazines before the internet, advertising hydroponics. What puzzles me is that hydroponically grown tomatos around here anyway bring as much as 50% more in the grocery store.

-- john leake (natlivent@pcpros.net), July 07, 2000.

John: The price difference is due to appearance and taste. Those normally sold in supermarkets are picked green and then artifically ripened. They have all the taste and consistence of dyed cardboard. Those grown in greenhouses are likely vine ripened.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), July 08, 2000.