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Jensen Department of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 Hydroponics is a technology for growing plants in nutrient solu- tions (ater containing fertilizers) with or without the use of an arificial medium (Sand, gravel, vermiculite, rockwool, peite, Peatmoss, coir, or sawdust) to provide mechanical suppor. Liguid hydroponic systems have no other supporting medium for the plant roots, aggregate systems havea solid medium of support. Hydroponic systems are further categorized open (..,once the nutrient solution is delivered tothe plant root, it is not reused) or clased (i.e. surplus solution is recovered, replenished, and recycled) In combination with greenhouses, itis high-technology and capi- tabintensive. Iis also highly productive, conservative of water and land, and protective ofthe environment. Yet for mostot itsemployees, hydroponic culture requires only basic agriculture skills, Since regu- lating the aerial and root environment is a major concern in such agricultural systems, production takes place inside enclosures de- signed o controlar and root temperatures light, water plantnutition, and adverse climate, ‘There are many types of controlled environmentbydroponic sys tems. Each component of contolled-eavironment agriculture (CEA) ‘sof equalimportnce, whetherit be the structural design, the environ- ‘menial contol, of the growing system. Not every sysiem is cost- effective in every location. Alto often, impertance i given to only fone or tWo ofthe key components, but the system fils due to lack of ‘tention to any one ofthe components. If improper attention ie given tothe greenhouse structure and tsenvironment, no hydroponic system will prove economically viable. While hydroponic and CEA are not synonymous, CEA usually accompanies hydroponics. Their poten- tials and problems are inextricable. ‘Recaivel for publication 4 Mar 1997. Acceptd for publication 4 Ape. 1997 ‘The cost of publishing this paper was defrayed in pact by th payment of page charges. Under postal regulations. his paper therefore must be hereby marked ‘advertisement solely to indicat this fac 1018 HISTORICAL REVIEW ‘The development of hydroponics has not been rapid. Akhough the first use of CEA was the growing of offseason cucumbers under “ransparent stone” (mica) fr the Roman Emperor Tiberius during the Istcentury, the technology isbelievedohave been used litle, ifatall, for the following 1500 years. Greenhouses (and experimental hydroponics) appeared in France and England during the 17th century, Woodward grew mint plants ‘without soil in England in the year 1699. The basic laboratory techniques of nutrient solution culture were developed (indepen- dently) by Sachs and Knap in Germany about 1860 (Hoagland and ‘Amnon, 1938) In the United States, intrest began to develop inthe possible vse ‘of complete nutrient solutions for large-scale crop production about 1925, Greenhouse soils had tobe replaced at frequent interval or else ‘be maintained in good condition from year to year by adding large ‘quantities of commercial fertlizers. As a result of these difficulties, research workers in certain U.S. agricultural experiment stations ‘tummed tonutrent solution culture methods as a means of replacing the natural soil system with either an aerated nutrient solution or an ‘artificial soil composed of chemically inert aggregates moistened with ‘nutrient soltions (Withrow and Withrow, 1948), Between 1925 and 1935, extensive development took place in ‘modifying the methods ofthe plant physiologists to large-scale crop production. Workers at the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station improved the sand culture method (Shive and Robbins, 1937). ‘The water and sand culture methods were used fr large scale produc: tionby investigators at the California Agricultural Experiment Station ‘Hoagland and Arnon, 1938). Each of these two methods involved certain fundamental limitations or commercial ropproduction, which partially Were overcome with the introduction ofthe subirigation system initiated in 1934 atthe New Jersey and Indiana Agricultural Experiment Stations (Withrow and Withrow, 1948). Gericke (1940) published a description of a quasi-commercal use of the liquid technique and appazently coined the word hydroponics inpussing. The HonrSciexce, Vot. 32(6), Octoser 1997‘ecinology was used in a few limited applications on Pacific islands during World War, After the war, Purdue Univ. popularized hydro- ponics (called nuricuture) in a classic series of extension service bulletins (Withrow and Withrow, 1948) describing the precise dliv- ery of nutrient solution to plant roots in either liquid or aggregate systems. While there was commercial interest in the use of such systems, hydroponics ornuticulture wasnot widely accepted because ofthe high cost in constuction ofthe concrete growing beds. ‘Alter a peri of =20 years, interest in hydroponics was renewed ‘with the advent of plastics, Plastics were used not only in the glazing ‘of greenhouses, butalsoin placeofconcretinliningthe growing beds. Plastics were also important inthe introduction of dip irrigation ‘Numerous promotional schemes involving hydroponics became com- mon with huge invesiments made in growing systems. Greenhouse areas began to expand significantly in Europe and ‘Asia durin the 1950s and 1960s, and large hydroponic systems were ‘developed inthe deserts of California, Arizona, Abu Dhabi, and fran about 1970 (Fontes, 1973; Jensen and Teran, 1971). In these desert, locations, the advantages ofthe technology were augmented by the duration and interest ofthe solar radiation, which maximized photo- synthetic production ‘Unfortunately, escalating oil prices, starting in 1973, substantially increased the costs of CEA heating and cooling by one or two orders, of magnitude. This, along with fewer chemicals registered for pest contro, caused many bankruptcies and a decreasing interest in hydro- ponics, especially in the United States. ‘Since the inception of hydroponics, esearch to refine the method- ology has coatinued. In the late 1960s researchers atthe Glasshouse Crops Research Institute (GCRD,Litlehampton, England, developed the nutrient film technique along with anumber of subsequent refine- ments (Graves, 1983). This research gave rise to the hydroponic systems used today. Jensen and Collins (1985) published a complete review of hydroponics highlighting many new cultural systems devel oped in Europe and the United States. ‘Almost 20 years have passedsince the lastreal commercial interest in hydroponics, but today there is renewed interest among growers establishing CEA/hydroponic systems. This is especially tue in regions where there is concern sbout controlling pollution of ground- ‘water with nutrient wastes or soil strilants. Today growers appear to bbe much more critical in regard to site selection, structures, the growing system, pest control and markets. CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT AGRICULTURE, Site selection Prior to 1970, the greenhouse vegetable industry was located near the high-population centers, mainly inthe tates of Ohio, Michigan, and Massachusetts. In 1867, a committe of the Massachusetts Hor- cultural Society noted the rapid growth of vegetables under glass and suggested that prizes be offered to encourage the practice (Massachu- setts Horticultural Society, 1880). All commercial production was in soil In 1965, Ohio was the major greenhouse vegetable region in the United States, with more than 240 ha. After 1970, with the rapid rise in energy cost to heat greenhouses, along with the construction of ‘supethighvvaysto transport fresh produce from southernregions, Ohio ‘became an importer of tomatoes. Today, the greenhouse vegetable industry in these easter states has collapsed and is insignificant. ‘With the superhighways in America, the energy required to trans~ port fresh vegetables from the southern region of the United Statesand from Mexico is less than that required to heat a greenhouse. For ‘example, in conventional greenhouses in Ohio, nearly 40,000 keal of ‘energy are required to grow I kgof tomatoes vs. only 4000 kcal inthe ‘open field. Shipping | kg of tomatoes 5000 km north by semi-truck expends only 1865 keal of energy. “Today with superhighways and high energy costs, light is consid- ered the most important factor for greenhouse vegetable production, rather than locating close toa population center. Inthe United States, the highest ight levels are in the southwestern desert regions of the HorrScrevce, Vot. 32(6), Ocronrr 1997 ‘able 1. Solar phowsynthetcally active radiation (PAR) by leeaton inthe United Stats PAR a) ection December June Osoher-Miaech ‘Tucton, Az 2 6 195 Miami, Fl. 2 a“ 157 Sen Diego, Cai 21 « nm Denver Calo. 0 8 13 hiladepbi, Pa 10 6 100 Cleveland, Ohio 5 a 2 New York, NY 6 a 18 ‘country. This is especially important to know if grower is to grow [greenhouse vegetables during the winter, when tomato and cucumber Drices are attheirhighest Table 1). Generally, 1% decrease in ight reduces yield 1%. A greenhouse in a high light region can produce ‘more than 500 tof winter tomatoes per a per year. Prxiucing such, Yields in northern latnudes is only possible ifthe crops are grown ‘through the summer period, when market prices are at their lowest. ‘Along with the light factor are temperature considerations, espe cially in the southwest desert. Forexample, i tomatoes are selected as. the crop tobe grown year-round, low elevations must be avoided, due to the difficulty in maintaining desirable temperatures in the green- house during ste spring and erly fall, even with fan and pad cooling. In the late 19605, hydroponic installations were installed in low- clevation regions in Texas nd Arizona. In most regions of Texas, ‘evaporative cooling is ineffective due to high ambient humidity Escalating energy costsin the 1970s added tothe costs of cooling inthe summer, as well as heating during the winter months. This, coupled with insect and disease problems and high amortization costs, espe- cially when growers were purchasing turnkey greenhouse sysiems rather than building their own growing system, caused most hydro- ponic installations to fil financially. This was tre not only in Texas and Arizona, but throughout the United Stats. Given the high cost of fan and pad equipment, future hydroponic growers willbe selecting sites at specific elevations that ave summer temperatures that donot require evaporative cooling therefore sparing the conts of such cooling equipment. At the same time, an elevation shouldbe selected that isnot foo high in order to avoid high heating costs in winter. In southern Arizona, such an elevation for tomato production would range from 1250 to 1675 m and for cucumber production, 600 to 1250 m. Proposed as an alternative to fan and pad cooling are high-pressure fog systems, Recent experiences have proven this method of cooling desirable if the feed water is absolutely free of any undissolved or dissolved solids. Its important forthe greenhouse structure 1 have ridge vents to accommodate ample ai exchange for presribed tem perature and humidity contol. Any time a grower deviates from the prescribed growing temperatures for a given crop, yields will be Towered, The more a grower has o cool or heat a greenhouse in order ‘omaintain recommended temperatures, the greater the costto operate the facility, therefore lessening financial return. evaporative cooling, systems are used, locating the greenhouse in region of low outdoor ‘humidity is important Especially important is selection of site fre of insocts that might be vectors for severe virus diseases, Early hydroponic ventures did not ‘consider this. In the United States and Mexico, sites were selected ‘where white fies existed. These can be a vector of gemini viruses, ‘which are extremely lethal to most solanaceous and cucurbit crops. Screens on ar intakes do not always work, asthe white fly almost always gains entry into the growing area. Growing in egions where there are mild winters normally increases the incidence of insects and diseases due tothe continued lifecycle ofthe pest. Selecting sit that {n't already a major producer of vegetable crops is also advisable. nergy and water ‘There are many choices of energy sources, such as natural gas propane, fuel ol and electricity. Many eatly hydroponic growers id ‘ot consider cost differences between the types of energy. Many used ‘propane, which proved to be very expensive. The only economical 1019WorKshor choices are natural gas and fuel oil. Coal was once used but ai pollution standards snd regulations make the use of this fuel prokibi- tively expensive. “There is new interest today in lighting greenhouses with high- imensity-discharge lamps. Both the capital and operating cost of such systems are extremely high and will no, in the foreseeable future, ‘permit competition wth Winter greenhouse vegetables grown in high- Tight regions. An exception may be in Quebec, Canada, where the clecrical rates are extremely low. ‘Water quality has become a major concem of greenhouse growers, ‘especially where large amounts of water are applied to a restricted volume of growing medium. Plant growthisaffectedby the interaction ofthe diseolved chemical elements inthe water supply, the chemical properties ofthe growing medium to which the waters applied, and the fertility program employed. In selecting a greenhouse sit, a grower must be aware of several chemical properties that might cause problems for greenhouse grow rs:pH, alkalinity, soluble salts calcium, magnesium, boron, uride, chloride, sulfates, sodium, carbonate and ion. The cieaner the water, the greater the opportunity to achieve maximum yields. The water designated for use in a greenhouse must be analyzed for agricultural suitability during greenhouse site selection Structures and environmental control "The Buropean glass structures that today are commonly being built {for vegetable production inthe southwestern port of the United States fare very different from the polyethyleneffiberglass houses used in hydroponic production between 1965 and 1990, The European stuc- ‘ures are much higher. “To achieve a more uniform growing environment, without rapid ‘temperature fluctuations, more total volume of space is being alloted. within a greenhouse; today the gutters of greenhouse structures are ‘commonly more than S m above ground level ‘The types of polyethylene sheet films are much the same except those introduced avera decade aga that retard the los of infrared best. ‘These films are reported to reduce 20% of the heat loss from a reenhouse and have become common in today's industry, especially in Europe. Other glazing materials, such as fiberglass, polyvinyl chloride, Mylar and Tedlar, have proven cither less appropri, Inconvenient, or in most cases, muct more expensive than polyethyT- ene, eventhough te later may have to be replaced more frequently [Newer materials, such as polycarbonates and acrylics have become ‘much more common, but their populaity has been offsetby high costs, Greenhouses are expensive, however, and controlling the environ- ‘ment within a greenhouse requires considerable energy. Starting 20 years ago, there was major research emphasis on the use of solar energy and reject heat fom large industrial units. Although solar energy asa greenhouse beat source is technically feasible, it has not proven economical because of collection and storage costs. The economics of using waste heat from generating plants favors incorpo- rating the heat use system into the overall plans for new plants, rather ‘than modifying existing ones. In the last 10 years, there has been interest inthe development of ‘cogeneration plans; smal electrical plants receive govemmentasss- tance if designed to use the waste heat from the electrical generators. Several such facilites have been established that use the waste heat either to heat greenhouse vegetables or water fo fish production. ‘While such opportunities are inviting. excess government regulation and red wpe have discouraged many investors from taking advantage ‘of such opportunities. ‘Whatever the source of energy, it should be conserved once itis in the greenhouse. In regions of cold winter weather, thermal curtains of porous polyester or an aluminum fil fabric are installed to reduce night heat loss by as much as 57%. Inthe deserts of the southwest, ‘winter temperatures are not severe enough to warrant curtains. While curtains will provide energy savings, they are not sufficiently effective to warrant ther high cost. Furthermore, the shade from the curtains, even when rolled up and stored during the day, can reduce yields ‘Computes can operate hundreds of devices within 2 greenhouse (vents, heaters, fans, hot water mixing valves, imigation valves, 1020 ‘curtains, lights, ef.) by wilizing dozens of input parameters, such as. ‘outside and inside temperatures, wumidity, outside wind direction and velocity, carbon dioxide levels and even the time of day or night. Unlike carly control systems, computers are used today to collect and Jog data provided by greenhouse production managers. A computer can keep track of all relevant information, such as temperature, hhumicty, CO,, and ight levels dates and time tags the information and stores it for curent or later use. Such a data acquisition system enables the grower to gain a comprehensive understanding of all factors affecting the quality and timeliness of the product. Hydroponicisoilless culture While there are many types of growing systems, the two most popular growing media today ae rockwool and perlite, Dueto the high 0st of rockwool, root volume is being reduced. Growers in Arizona ate growing six tomato plants froma rockwool slab no bigger than 7.5 %130x 15 em, Each plant has aroot volume no grester than 2438 cx. (A gallon contains 3608 cm’) The irigation system may be activated ‘more than 30 times per day. At the University of Arizona, excellent ‘tomato crops have been grown ina container no larger than 956 em’. Inthiscase he irrigation system was lef on continuously to optimize oot aeration, pH, and nutrition, Maximum yields were 128 kg of tomatoes per plant over a 6-month period, in the future, growers will provide litle root volume inorder not ‘only to reduce media cost but to maximize control over mineral nutrition, pH, aeration and root diseases. Unbelievably high lt levels, ‘are maintained inthe root systems where the E.C. of the feed solution willapproach 35 and the drain water at an E.C. of 45 05.0. Thishelps ‘oconizol pian growth s wellas lavor ofthe tomato fruit. Allsystems, in the future will be closed, with no drainage, preventing any loss of mineral elements and the contamination of groundwater. For health reasons, hydroponic systems may be used to reduce nitrogen levels in leafy vegetables at harvest. This s especially true in Europe for such, crops erowa under low winter light intensities. Pest control Early hydroponic operations were devastated by pest problems, Whit fies, leaf miners, pin worms, nematodes, Cladosporium leaf ‘mold and viruses, s well as root diseases suchas Pythium root ot and bacterial wilt, were common. Today, unlike 20 years ago, the drain solution is often sterilized (Runia, 1995). The options are heat treat- ‘ment, ozone and ultraviolet radiation. The University of Arizona has ‘program to control certain root diseases with surfactants or by using nonchemical approaches. While the results are not yet practiced in hydroponic systems, te results look promising. Today integrated pest management (IPM) is of particular interest, {o Americans in CEA because of the paucity of pesticides with legal clearance for use in greenhoutes. The frightening ability of some pests to develop resistance to chemical pesticides has revived worldwide interest inthe use of natural enemies of inscet pests, particularly when used ia association with horticultural practices, genetics and other control mechanisms. Tomorrow's growers may be growing crops ‘without applying any chemicals to control diseases and insects. Crop ‘production requires boththe identification of possible crop disease and insect problems and the ability to proper integrate disease and insect prevention and control practices into a total management plan. OVERVIEW Hydroponic culture isan inherently atractive, often oversimpli- fied technology, which is far easier to promote than to sustain Unfortunately, failures far outnumber the successes, due to manage~ ‘ment inexperience o lack of scientific and engineering suppext. Ths, interest in hydroponics has followed a roller coaster ride since its ‘conception, However, inrecentyears,extensiveresearch and develop- ‘meat programs in Europe have vastly improved hydroponic produc- tion systems. These new technologies are today being successfully transferred to the United States, proving hydroponics a technical reality in the high ight regions ofthe desert southwest. HorrScrexce, Vot. 32(6), Ocronse 1997Each crop is very specific in its environmental requirements. To deviate at all will decrease both the desired yield and quality of a product. Added to this, seed o propagation material must possess the ‘genetic characters suited tothe environment in whichitis grown, Most growing systems will work well horticultraly, but systems can differ Considerably in cost. Regardless ofthe type of system, greenhouse agriculture canbe extremely expensive. Thereisnoroom for mistakes. ‘The cost of CEA may be more than compensated by the sigificantly higher productivity of greenhouse agriculture as compared to open field agriculture. ‘Tac technology of hydroponic systems is changing rapidly with systems today producing yields never before realized. Inthe last four Years, nearly 40 ha of greenhouses have been built in Colorado, ‘Nevada, and Arizona. Maay more hectaes are planned not only inthe ‘Southvvest, but in Mexico. The future for hydroponics appears more positive today than any time over the lst 50 years. I sincerely believe hhydroponics wll be fashionable again Literature Cited Fontes, M.R 1973. Contrlled-envieonment horticulture nthe Arabian Desert ‘Abu Dhabi HorScience 813-16 Gericke, W.F. 1940. Th complete guide to soilless gardening. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cis, NJ Graves, C.G. The tient fm technique. Hort, Rey. 51-44 Hoagland, DR. and DI. Arron, 1938 The water-clor method for growing plants without soil Calforai Age. Exp. Sta Cire. 347. Jensen, MH. and W.L, Coins. 1985. Hydroponic vegetable production, Hoc. Rev. 7485-358 Jensen, MHL. and MA. Teran, 1971, Use of contoled environment for ‘vegetable production in dese region ofthe world. HortScience6:33-26. “Manning, R. (ed) 1880. History ofthe Massachosets Hoicultal Society 1T829~1878. Mass. Hor. Soe, Boston Rona, W.T. 1985.4 review of possiblities for disinfection of recirculation ‘water from soilless cures Glasshouse Crops Res. St, Naskwik, Holland. p8. Shive, LW. and WR. Robbins 1937. Methods of growing plants in solution ‘and sand cultures. New Jersey Agr Expt. St. Bul 62. Withrow, .B. and AP. Withrow. 1948, Nutieulure. 8.C, 328, Purdue Univ ‘Agr Expt Sta, W. Lafayette nd Biotechnology and Horticulture William R. Woodson Department of Horticulture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1165 Biotschnology exploded onto the scene of erop-basod agriculture in 1984 with he iestreportof inheritance of freien gencengineered imo plants (Horsch eta. 1984), Priot to this time, many scientists, speculated on the use of recombinant DNA techniques discovered ia the 1970s to improve organisms, but were limited by the capacity to inser new genetic information ito the genome. This inital publica- tion of Agrobacteriun-mediated transformation, ad those tht fl- Towed shortly thereafter (Horsch etal, 1985) sparked a new industry in plant biotechnology. Clearly, biotechnology isin fashion. Many ‘companies were quick to jump on the “biotech wagon” prompted by Claims for the potential to modify erop plants. As is typical for an ‘emerging industry that celies heavily upon new technological imovs- tion, the progress was initially slow. This led to alack of confidence that biotechnology would have a major impact on produetionagricul= ture. On the other hand, when one considers that 10 years elapsed, between the fist report ofa transgenic plant and te ist commercial, Product, the Flavr-Sevr® tomato, progress has been nothing shor of ‘remarkable. Since that ime a number of wansgenic plans have been ‘grown commercially (Table 1). To date, al of the major crop species, many of them horticultural, have been successfully transformed. Building on theearly reports of Agrobacterium-mediated ransforms~ tion, variety of novel methods for ntraducing genes intoplants were reported, including the delivery of genes into cells by bombardment with particles coated with DNA (Klein et al, 1987) By all accounts, 1996 was a eritcal year in the history of plant biotechnology. Forthe fisttime Ameriean farmers planted large aveas intransgenicplans, including herbicide-tolerant soybeans and insect- resistant cotton In 1996, more than 2 million ares were planted with ‘cotton engineered to express the Bt gene, or about 13% of the otal US. ‘oston rop. The B gene from Bacillus thuringiensisencadesa protein thatis oxi to cotton bollworm, pink boll worm andtohacco budworm, While there continues tobe cancer over the potential development of ‘Reseived Tor pobioaion 4 Mar 1997. Accepted for publication 4 Apt 1997 ‘The canto pblshing hs pape: was defrayed pat bythe paynet of page ‘charges, Uader posal regulations, his paper therefore mos: be ereby marked ‘adverisement solely to indicate his fact. HorrScience, Vot. 32(6), Octoxer 1997 resistance tothe Bt gene product, the early results look very promising. ‘The following discussion highlights a few ofthe recent developments in biotechnology that can be expected to impact the horticulture industry. Ripening and senescence ‘The phytohormone ethylene plays a major role in regulating fruit ripening and flower senescence in many important horticultural spe- cies, The capacity to manipulate fruit ripening or delay flower senes- ‘cence through bictechnological approsches is now a reality. Ethylene is synthesized by a well known biochemical pathway from S- ‘adenosylmethionine (SAM). First, SAM is converted to 1- aminoeyclopropane-I-carboxylic acid (ACC) by the action of ACC synthase. Subsequently, ACC is converted to ethylene by ACC oxi- dase (Kende, 1993). Both of these enzymes are encoded by large gene families (Liang etal, 1992; Tang et al, 1993) and have been cloned from # nutnher of plant species. The potential for modifying fruit ripening by manipulation ofthis pathway was fist reported by Oeller tal, (1991), who described the expression ofan antisense RNA for ‘ACC synthase in tomato, which led to a dramatic reduction in the activity of ACC synthase during fruit development and which in turn Ted toa delay in frit ripening that was completely reversible by the application of exogencus ethylene gas. These results clearly indicated ‘thatthe speed of ripening could be manipulated by genetic engineer- ing. Monsanto approached the question of ethylene control by geneti- cally engineering tomatoes to express a gone from Pseudomonas that ‘encides an enzyine capable of breaking down ACC into metabolites other than ethylene (Klee, 1993), which led toa similar delay in frit ripening that could also be overcome by application of ethylene "The senescence of some flowers is also associated with a dramatic increas in the production of ethylene, which plays role in regulating the processes of senescence (Borochov and Woodson, 1989). The genes encoding ethylene biosynthetic pathway enzymes have been Cloned from carnation (Park etal, 1992; Wang and Woodson, 1991) fndareexprested concomitantly with the inrease in ethylene biosyn- thesis during senescence (Woodson tal, 1992). Using acDNA clone 1021