GROW TO SUSTAIN - HYDROPONICS 2.0
Hydroponics is known as the way of growing plants with nutrient rich water, without soil. But, that hardly says it all, if anything at all!
LET'S DEFINE HYDROPONICS OUR WAY:
It is the science of doing way more gardening with way less.
Less of what? Well precisely, less of some of the most vital resources we have - Water, Space, Fertilisers. Funny enough, when done thoughtfully, it is also the least polluting way to grow food crops so far! Add very little to no pesticides usage to this mix too! All of this with very little effort! Almost magical isn't it!
To be specific, you save 90 to 95% of water, 80% or more of space, and 75% or more of fertilisers! And all these while using 90 to 100% of less pesticide, and causing almost 0% pollution or soil contamination!
Question is, why is Hydroponics not everywhere? Especially when it seems to have the power to bring very powerful, positive changes, at a time when the world needs it the most? Even before we jump into the colossal world problems, why not take a look into what it can do for, you know, us! The individuals. The families. The community. For you.
** If you want to get straight to the point (read money), go all the way down to the summary section.
$$$ MONEY IN YOUR MIND ?
Simply put, how does the below sound?
A) Imagine a 6 meter x 3 meter space producing 1800 to 2400 medium to small sized plants a month.
B) Imagine this space producing 180 to 250 kilograms of fresh produce every month and thus -
C) bringing in a revenue between $2700 to $4600 a month, all from this 18 square meter space! Year round!
So this is a standard car park worth of space, literally! An average rental property does not bring this sort of income! Not even close when compared to the much larger investment a property needs! And once the initial hydroponic setup is done, this only requires a few hours of work a week of one person!
Yes, all of the above are possible. Not just possible, but has been done already. Right here.
So, what's the catch you ask. Simple. The know-how to do it, and the money to materialise it. How much you say! Well, depending on how low tech (read, requiring more regular effort) or high tech (i.e. less regular effort), you are looking at between NZD $25,000 to $30,000, all done for you as a turn key project!
What you get is a fully computerised smart hydroponics greenhouse, shining in your backyard with rightful pride! Go anywhere you want, knowing you can remotely watch and control your green factory! Year round, as its a fully controlled environment, giving it it's name of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) or Precision Agriculture!
GROW WHEREVER, WHENEVER, WHATEVER! NO SEASONS!
Maybe you are on a budget (like us! :D), and feeling crafty, we have a local growing community of like minded people around it to happily help you DIY and save close to NZD $3K to $5K further off this cost. So then effectively comes down to NZD $20,000 to $25,000.
Also you will be doing the environment a big favour by helping to pave a way towards a better future. So there are tons of government as well as private (less, but increasing steadily) initiatives and funding initiatives to help your project take off!
Remember, the cost is always higher for a smaller unit like this. For example, a greenhouse double this size wont be twice as much the cost. Rather it would be say 60 to 70% more. Like wise for say 4 times the price of this you can get 10 times bigger setup with of course 10 times more produce.
Do the maths, and you will see how it can become a full time money making machine. And good money that is, when properly done!
NOW, MAYBE MONEY IS NOT YOUR OBJECTIVE!
Fair enough. How does a smaller setup producing enough herbs and veges year round for yourself and family. This can save you a few hundred dollars easily each month. Takes a few hours each week of your time, which you, if you are anything like us, and love plants, will love to do. You are looking at between NZD $3900 to $5000 or so, and a mere 3 x 3 sqm of space.
This can pay back for itself within a year or two, just from the savings in vegies and herbs that you did not need to buy! And yet we have not even accounted for the pesticide free, full of nutrients, crisp fresh vegies, salads and herbs that you get to enjoy! You will be making lots of friends for sure sharing your bounty of surplus green joy!
WELCOME TO SMART, SUSTAINABLE, FUTURE OF GROWING FOOD CROPS!
You don't need a lot of space to grow. You can grow indoor, in your apartment, in your backyard greenhouse, or in a container. You can grow in single layer or in vertical racks.
No regular maintanance or weeding necessary. With our sophisticated state-of the art iHydro automation system in place, you don't have to do any daily chores.
You can check on your phone or computer screen for status update form your work. Only times you will go into your greenhouse is to harvest fresh produce, plant new seedlings, and occassional light maintenance.
Well I lied! In reality you will be visiting your greenhouse way more often, and most likely with visitors! Simply cause you will love the proud show of plentiful lush produce!
SO, TELL ME AGAIN WHY IS NOT EVERYBODY DOING IT?
In our own words:
Initial high entry barrier
There are some initial investments needed to start with. Like hydroponics NFT (Nutrient Film Technique, one of the most efficient and effective modern methods) Gully/gutter, reservoir, pump, rockwool (grow medium), nutrients, pipes, plumbings etc as well as a space for growing, which is mostly an outdoor greenhouse.
Analysis paralysis
Biggest of all, too many options, clouding judgements, creating confusions. Thanks to the likes of YouTube, TikTok and so on! Everyone is an expert! Well some are for sure. This causes typical "analysis paralysis" for many of us, where too many options simply makes us not to pursue any!
Lack of "effective and educated" help
But we are here to help. Count ElecSys Lab in. We can guide you through the setup process, so that you can continue independently on your own for years with expert level efficiency. We are happy to support you at each step, whenever there is any confusion - just talk to us!
Lack of in depth body of field knowledge
We design and make our own hydroponic and climate control automation controllers, and sensors right here in Christchurch, New Zealand. So with all due respect, we do know this stuff. These are high tech web connected modern systems that can cater small balcony setup all the way to hectres of greenhouse farms. In addition, we also have our own branded NFT gullies, not just uniquely convenient, but also of very high quality and affordable pricing. On top, we are channel partners of one of the world's best LED growlight manufacturers for vertical and/or indoor farms. This gives us the professional capacity to custom make/advise/provide specific spectrum LED grow lights for your particular crop, at budget price.
So just know that if there is any problem, we will be right here to support you!
Last but not the least, plenty of old wives tales!
These badmouth hydroponics, even without ever effectively attempting it! A body of distorted misleading knowledge is out there unfortunately not letting people see through the dust haze this creates! Now some of these were true issues in the past, which has been conqured by modern technological developments. But the general awareness has not increased and perception stayed more 'belief' than factual 'knowledge'! We are here to bust this with our research, and hands on field experience!
SO IN SUMMARY, TO WRAP IT UP:
When done for generating income, for a space size of 18 square meter, you can either have a greenhouse, or you can do it indoor with highly efficient LED grow lights, you can grow around 2000 plants easily.. For that, your initial setup cost would be around 25K to 30K, your ongoing cost would be $200 to $500 a month. And when properly run, this can generate $700 to $1100 per week conservatively speaking. We can show you how.
So basically, your investment of $30K will result in a net return of more than 50% a year! Yes, hard to believe. However, it is true.
But if you are just willing to try it out yourself to get a feel for it rather than investing lots of money, we can also help you make a stand-alone small system, without any automatic control or anything and would love to share our knowledge with you. Just because we love this wonderful technology and the benefits it can bring. Just ask us, by dropping an email through our contact page.