Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
In most of the villages water is hauled to each house and most of the houses don't have running water. It would be hard to keep a system going. Yes, in this modern world there are people still crapping in buckets. That's why I don't think you see much of hydroponic gardening in the villages.
In most of the villages water is hauled to each house and most of the houses don't have running water. It would be hard to keep a system going. Yes, in this modern world there are people still crapping in buckets. That's why I don't think you see much of hydroponic gardening in the villages.
I think the lack of knowledge of the "north slope" perma frost is at play here.....frozen ground...no water wells, no water system like this person is use to where ever it is he/she lives....
I don't see any indoor planting with hydroponic systmem? Is there any? Home or Plant?
You neglected to fill out your profile so no one knows where you've started from. Do you know anything about Barrow? Alaska has been known for many years for enormous cabbages and other crops that do well under almost total daylight in the farm areas north of Anchorage. Those cabbages and such, pumpkins, and root crops can be stored far cheaper for later use than it would be feasible to grow them by hydroponics for use during the dark season. Lettuce and other soft leaf crops could be feasible for winter or dark season crops but as was pointed out you could have a cave and with proper light you could grow such crops but at what cost? It is a matter of economics; would the cost of the necessary heat and light allow such crops to flourish so the endeavor would be profitable? At one time I saw some of NASA"s work designed to grow crops, on the moon and in space, by hydroponics. Light in the case of the moon was a problem but in the Winter in Barrow with only a couple of hours of daylight plants would need illumination. The ambient temperature would be the factor and you'd need to provide a sufficiently warm atmosphere in which to grow any crop. I tried to grow lemon grass this past Winter. I bought several culms of the grass and started it in water and under 12 or more hours of artificial light it did well. I eventually put it in soil and it didn't do as well. I still have it growing and will put it out soon into the sunlight and expect it will do well under 12 or more hours of light. It is a tropical grass and it will be interesting to see how well it fares under light from 3 AM to 11PM which is close to double it's normal insolation in the region where it comes from. If you know anything about hydroponics you should understand the light and temperature requirements of plants and understand how to duplicate the correct conditions. All it takes is funding, work and the necessary knowledge.
Originally Posted by warptman In most of the villages water is hauled to each house and most of the houses don't have running water. It would be hard to keep a system going. Yes, in this modern world there are people still crapping in buckets. That's why I don't think you see much of hydroponic gardening in the villages.
I think the lack of knowledge of the "north slope" perma frost is at play here.....frozen ground...no water wells, no water system like this person is use to where ever it is he/she lives....
You are confusing two different places that have some similarity, but the functional distinction for hydroponics is important.
Warpt, living on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, is indeed in an area with permafrost similar to that on the North Slope. But the YK Delta is, for shipping purposes via ocean barge , much closer to Seattle and therefore the cost per square foot of a building, while high by Lower-48 standards, is much lower than building on the North Slope. By the same token, once a building has been constructed the cost of heat and electricity to keep it running is extremely high in the YK Delta area because all energy producing fuel must be shipped in from somewhere else. And that is the opposite of the North Slope where heating and electricity are produced by natural gas from local wells (at prices lower than in Anchorage).
Hence here on the North Slope the cost of floor space is simply too high to make indoor farming anything other than a novelty. On the YK Delta the effect is the same, but it's the utility bill for heat and electricity (and therefore also for running water and sewage treatment) which makes indoor farming prohibitive.
I'm in Fairbanks just now and at the little greenhouse next to Pike's there was a sign saying something about an upcoming hydroponics seminar. Didn't get the details but if someone wanted to google Pikes/Fairbanks they might be able to find some information.
Up in Circle they have a little greenhouse that they're able to grow Asian pears in....I saw the greenhouse at Chena not long ago---it's a much bigger place and the prevailing rumors about the guy who owns/runs it aren't too flattering concerning just how truthful he is about the whole thing being powered by geothermal energy. Apparently he's in the business of marketing smallish geothermal power plants but nonetheless an awful lot of diesel seems to be used there for whatever reasons.
Anyway we looked into it on POW; that guy was trying to sell us one of his plants and it just isn't viable at this time for our area. I am putting up a small greenhouse this year though and may try some hydroponic tomatoes. But we're a ways from the North Slope and it'll just be a summertime thing so I won't be needing added heat or lights.
I think that the most viable thing for anyplace though is still the old way of growing as much as you can during the season and putting it up for the winter.
They grow veggies hydroponically at Amundsen-Scott South Pole station. Yes, its possible in the North slope of Alaska.
No one said that it wasn't possible; the question is whether or not it's economically viable for the average household to do so.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Q?
