Food and culture 7th edition pdf download

Description

The first edition of this book was published in 1978. Generally, the book gets updated about every four years. However, the last edition, the sixth, was revised in 2001 and it has been over ten years now. As a result, the seventh edition has undergone some major changes to keep it state of the art in the field of hydroponics. The author has maintained the book in its same format, but expanded many of the chapters and added a new chapter (Chapter 11) on coco coir culture. Also, new applications and concepts of hydroponics are discussed with a sustainable yield approach. The book is not highly technical in providing the basics of hydroponics in the initial chapters with regard to plant function and nutrition. The objective is to make the reader aware of the present advances in hydroponics using the various substrates and systems that have proved successful with specific vegetable crops. While most of the material presented relates to greenhouse hydroponic systems, a few are of outdoor hydroponic systems under favorable climates. This book is meant to be a practical guide for persons interested in entering hydroponics commercially or as a hobby. Whatever the size of operation the reader may be interested in, the book presents the principles of getting started and gives many examples and illustrations to clarify these methods.

The first four chapters introduce the reader to the history of hydroponics: plant nutrition, essential plant elements, nutrient uptake, nutritional disorders, sources of nutrients, and then a detailed explanation of composing nutrient solutions. Sources of the nutrients are given with conversion tables to facilitate the calculations of nutrients the plant requires to the volumes of nutrient solution makeup. Concentrated nutrient stock solutions are explained and calculations are clearly exemplified. Many nutrient formulations are given as a reference to start the formulation for specific crops that can be optimized for specific conditions with experience. Various media or substrates most suitable to hydroponics or “soilless culture” are presented to explain their characteristics and assist the reader in choosing the best for his or her specific crop and growing system.

In Chapter 5, water culture systems are explained and illustrated. This includes raft or floating systems on a relatively small scale to large commercial operations. This section contains a lot of new material on commercial raceway or raft culture. Aeroponic systems are described with automated rotational systems by Omega Garden as either hobby or commercial application of aeroponics. An alfalfa and bean sprout operation is presented to demonstrate the principles of growing sprouts. Another new section is on microgreens, which are increasingly in demand as a new product, superior to sprouts in nutrition and taste. A do-it-yourself method is given so that one can easily set up such a system in the residence.

Chapter 6 on nutrient film technique (NFT) expands this culture to the most up-to-date automated systems presently in operation in Europe and North America. It also expands on the ebb-and-flow (flood) system for growing seedlings. A new section has been added on the commercial application of an A-frame NFT system exemplified by a commercial operation in Colombia.

Chapters 7 through 9 on gravel, sand, and sawdust cultures, respectively, have been changed mainly to emphasize present applications.

Chapter 10 on rockwool culture has been updated substantially. It has been updated with statistics on area and crops in North American and world greenhouse vegetable industries giving locations and sizes of large growers. In this chapter, commercial state-of-the-art greenhouse operations are presented. New technology in harvesting, grading, and packing equipment is illustrated. The move toward recycling the nutrient solution is exemplified with rockwool culture. The use of raised beds and the design of this recirculation of nutrient solution show where the industry is focusing such efforts to reduce the environmental impact and support the “green” concept toward the environment. Presented are examples and details of growing the main vine crops of tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers with rockwool culture. In addition, the new crop of greenhouse eggplants is introduced.

Chapter 11 on coco coir is entirely new. The sources, grades, and characteristics of coco coir are discussed with the available products of cubes, blocks, and slabs that are used in this system. Greenhouse culture is moving toward such sustainable substrates to utilize normal waste products from other industries. This was the case with sawdust culture in British Columbia, Canada, some years ago as illustrated in Chapter 9. Sawdust later was used in manufactured wood products, so is not as readily available as a substrate presently.

With the concern of the environmental impact or “footprint” of the industry under close scrutiny, especially in Europe, new greenhouse technologies emphasizing “sustainable” methods have become very important. The integration of closed recirculation hydroponic systems and greenhouse environmental control factors are explained. The trend toward recycling the nutrient solution and minimizing energy requirements of the greenhouse environment through use of solar panels, carbon dioxide recovery, and closed “positive pressure” greenhouse atmospheres is well illustrated. Details of growing tomatoes using coco coir substrate are given.

Chapter 12 dealing with other soilless cultures covers the use of rice hulls, peatlite, and perlite cultures. The section on perlite culture has been expanded to elaborate on perlite products such as blocks and slabs and to include culture of eggplants using perlite.

In Chapter 13, new sections have been added under “Special Applications” in the application of hydroponic rooftop greenhouses. Several locations are described with illustrations in New York and Montreal, Canada. This is another area where hydroponics will continue to become more applied as the “green” concept spreads into city centers. Ultimately, as illustrated, the concept of vertical high-rise buildings in the city core will become another future application of hydroponics. A new automated vertical hydroponic system (VertiCrop by Valcent) is presented in this chapter. Educational applications of hydroponics in school rooftop hydroponic gardens and the public display of the Science Barge on the Hudson River in New York are described.

Plant culture techniques of Chapter 14 are expanded in much more detail to illustrate the training of plants, growing of seedlings, varieties, and pest and disease management using integrated pest management (IPM). Eggplant culture is included with these cropping techniques. Green grafting of vine crops is now a common practice to mitigate diseases with the crops. This is explained in detail using illustrations.

Included in the appendices are websites for all of the hydroponic and greenhouse resources and supplies to make access to them readily available.

Howard M. Resh