Hydroponics Grow with the flow
Tony and Megan Hinde, the head and heart behind
hydroponic.co.za. Megan, who runs the online shop and two branches in Cape Town, says she grew up with a hydroponics tunnel in the back garden. Before her father retired, he used to sell vegetables such as pak choi and endive that he grew this way.
The term hydroponics sounds like a somewhat futuristic concept: plants are grown in water, with white roots that never see soil but grow flat-out.
Those in the know say it is futuristic – it is the future of food production. “With the rapid growth of the world’s population, it’s the only way we’ll be able to feed everyone,” predicts Wynand Bezuidenhout, owner of Grow Machines, a business near Standerton, Mpumalanga, that builds hydroponic systems for commercial and hobby farmers. Wynand says hydroponics is especially popular in the US, Israel and the Netherlands, where it’s used for commercial food production. South Africa is not far behind these countries with this technology, he says. Several local farmers are already using hydroponics to grow lettuce and herbs, whereas the tulips you buy in Woolworths probably come from Adriaan van Wyk’s farm near Rawsonville – he cultivates up to 140 000 stems a week on a patch of land spanning only 1 600m².
“When you buy salad and see it’s totally clean or still has white roots without any soil on it, you know it’s probably a hydroponic product,” says Elaine Hinde, co-owner of the online hydroponics shop hydroponic.co.za, a site managed by the Hinde family.
Elaine’s daughter Megan, who runs their two Cape Town shops, says their customer base has grown over the past two years, especially with the strict water
