THE EIN GEDI TECHNIQUE

Keep your eyes open: the Ein Gedi technique is coming your way.

And for good reason. There's no waste of nutrient with Ein Gedi. Derivations such as "aeroponics" (which is discussed in my book at http://www.mayhillpress.com) and "aero-hydroponics" are popping up all over the horizon.

Though the technique works amazingly well, the expense of setting it up and getting it into action has deterred many growers. But after looking at the many advantages this technique offers, many growers are beginning to have second thoughts.



Photo from : www.astrogrow.com

You see, the Ein Gedi (or aeroponics, etc) method recirculates its nutrient in a misty spray which is aimed at the air roots of a plant. Let me explain. A plant has three major growth sections: the top or "above-ground" section, the air root section, and the root section. A grower has to pay attention to all three.

In the Ein Gedi (read "aeroponics, etc.") technique, plants are plugged into holes at the top of an enclosed chamber. Their roots are allowed to dangle in the dark below and rest in a nutrient solution. BUT between the roots near the bottom of the chamber and the plant hole at the top you will find the air roots of the plant.

The aeroponics method has the same setup as does aero-hydroponics. But the last two have deeper nutrient streams below. All three methods use a misting device to spray oxygenated nutrient onto the air roots. The Ein Gedi method uses a spinner close to the surface of the nutrient pool below. As the spinner spins, nutrient runs up the shaft and sprays out into the chamber.

Aeroponics has a spinner suspended between the top of the chamber and the nutrient pool below. The nutrient spray is spun out from that spinner. Aero-hydroponics goes one step further. Although it too has a device for spraying dissolved oxygen upon the air roots, this method relies more heavily in having more dissolved oxygen in the nutrient pool at the bottom of the chamber.

But mainly, it's the air roots with which these methods are concerned. These roots are constantly sprayed with a mist of nutrient and oxygen which gives the plant the energy it needs. The nutrient below also becomes infused with oxygen so the entire root becomes energized. And the plant grows faster and produces a larger crop.

There is no nutrient waste because the nutrient spray is recirculated after it hits the air roots and then falls to the bottom of the chamber to be recirculated and sprayed again. There is little waste of any other kind, making this technique very desirable to any grower.

The initial investment is quite large as compared to other techniques. You need the long chambers which hold the plants, you need a sprayer setup to accommodate all the roots hanging down inside each chamber. But once the system is setup, the savings can go on forever. No more media to buy, less and less nutrient to supply, and so forth.

Dutch growers who up until now have relied upon rockwool for their growing needs have begun to look at other techniques. With rockwool the Dutch growers could let the nutrient go through on a one-way trip, that is until their government told them they had to stop polluting the ground water with excess nutrient.

So let's look at it again: the Ein Gedi method as well as aeroponics are pretty much the same. Both use the misting method for the roots section of a plant to give the plant the dissolved oxygen it needs. These two methods don't rely as much on the plant roots being immersed in the nutrient solution. Whereas aero-hydroponics gets most of its success from root immersion.

The other variation, known as aero-hydroponics, was developed by Dr. Hillel Soffer who has been associated with the Ein Gedi methods first developed in Israel. This is the method which uses both the spray for the air roots and nutrient immersed roots. His method is getting quite a lot of attention. Aero-hydroponics is very useful for propagating various plants, particularly plants which heretofore have been difficult to propagate.

For more information on this last method, contact General Hydroponics, P O Box 1576, Sebastapol, CA 95473-1576 1-800-374-9376 mailto:info@genhydro.com

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