High-Performance Gardening

Steve Kube, Designer of Seymour HPG   *  November 10, 2021

Background: I began experimenting with high-performance gardening in 1992. My early success with the techniques inspired me to continue to design, build, and experiment with different materials, different plant foods, growing techniques, etc., with the intent to make the technology available to average people everywhere. My original vision required technology that didn't exist at the time, but recent advances in other fields along with other innovations not only make the vision attainable but expand on it in ways I couldn't have imagined when the journey began.

There are significant benefits to be had in making high-performance gardening much more broadly available than it currently is. The technology can reduce water use by 90% or more, cut fertilizer use by 60% or more, and can improve the flavor and nutritional values of food grown in the systems, particularly when compared to growing in depleted soils. 

However, large commercial hydroponic operations have limited crop selections that are usually bred for appearance rather than flavor or nutrition, and it's harvested early to survive long distribution channels. The result is low-quality food that spoils shortly after being purchased by the consumer, or even before it reaches the grocery store.

Medium-sized commercial hydroponic operations are usually located in or near big cities, so time to nearby markets is not an issue, but crop selection is typically limited to leafy greens.

Consumer hydroponic systems, pioneered primarily by cannabis growers, tend to be costly, confusing, and clanky. Nevertheless, there are about 1,800 retail stores in the US catering to hydroponic hobbyists and the systems are used to grow high-quality plants that may sell for fifteen hundred dollars per pound. 

The consumer segment of the market is poised to blossom and bring the technology to average people in developed, as well as developing countries to grow common fruits and vegetables that may sell for 2 dollars per pound or less in grocery stores. The systems will also be able to grow cannabis, herbs, medicinals, flowers, leafy greens, and more.

We anticipate hydroponic hobbyists and other experienced growers will become evangelists for the new systems and will educate others on best practices and they could get involved in setting up, monitoring systems, and helping others to get started. 

In addition to requiring minimal inputs of water and fertilizer, produce grown in these systems can be hyper-local, harvested at peak ripeness, and peak nutrition, with minimal to zero transportation costs.

$50 for one strawberry?

In Japan, some strawberries sell for $50 each or more, and some cantaloupes sell for $300 and up. These are extremely high-quality fruit with intense flavor. This is the direction High-Performance Gardening is going. However, in some regions of the world hunger is currently the primary concern. Seymour HPG addresses abundance and quality, to serve people from the base of the economic pyramid to the top.

An average meal in the US travels 1,500 miles to the table.

Instead of growing in depleted soils, plants in these systems can be fed complete plant food with a full array of trace minerals and the selection of crops to be grown locally in the open air can be far greater than that of indoor grow operations, and can include just about any fruits, vegetables, aromatics, medicinals, herbs, flowers, and more.

Eating fresh produce, which is about 95% water, can be an important means of hydrating the body. This is particularly true in regions where water is scarce and or not suitable for drinking. Eating a pint-sized cucumber or other high water content fruit or vegetable in many cases would be better than drinking a pint of water.

Our systems are simple enough for a child to set up and use to grow a wide variety of plants at the same time, and harvest thousands of pounds per season in a typical backyard. The systems scale from smaller than a parking spot to larger than a football field, from personal, to community, and even commercial operations.

A simple Seymour HPG system requires about 20 Watts from an AC adapter (a cell phone charger will work) and has options for battery backup and solar power. With simple controls for casual users, easy access to advanced controls, and wireless networking for advanced functionality. Some of the durable components could last 25 years or longer.

About half the people on the planet have reliable power supplies and don't need battery backup or solar panels, unless they just want to cut the cord. However, the other half do not have reliable power supplies, so battery backup and solar panels are a necessity for them.

Victory Gardens

By the end of WWII, 50% of households in the US grew 40% of the nation's produce in Victory Gardens in backyards, vacant lots, and on rooftops. This translates to a potential for something like 50 million Victory Gardens in the US today, and as many as 1 billion worldwide. 

Trajectory

1929 Modern Hydroponics got its start at UC Berkeley.

1940s Hydroponics was used on Pacific islands to help feed troops.

1960s Walt Disney included hydroponics in his plans for EPCOT, which is still a premier showcase of what can be done with hydroponics.

1970s & 80s Hydroponic hobby stores start opening, catering primarily to connoisseurs of cannabis.

1990s Commercial hydroponics grew rapidly, with at least one operation in the US covering hundreds of acres under glass.

2000s Many hundreds of additional hydroponic hobby stores open in the US, but key technology is lacking for this to go mainstream.

2010s Technological advancements in unrelated fields, along with other innovations can be used to create hydroponic systems suitable for average people to grow thousands of pounds of food in a typical US backyard or the equivalent of a half dozen or so parking spots.

Going forward:

Food @ 2.5 cents per pound?

Plants get building material from water (95%) soil & fertilizer (2.5%) and the air (2.5%).

The current price of fertilizer is $1,000 per ton ($0.50 per pound).*

In theory, one pound of fertilizer could produce 40 pounds of food. However, we don’t normally consume the entire plant. We usually eat the roots, the stem, the leaves, or the fruit. For some plants, we can eat more than one part of the plant.

To account for the parts we don’t consume we halve the amount of food grown to 20 pounds. = $.50 / 20 = 2.5 cents per pound.

80% of surface water on earth is used for agriculture.

Hydroponics can save up to 95% of the water used to grow food. Hypothetically, if all food was grown hydroponically it would use 3.2% instead of 80% of the surface water.

Growing with the sun, in the open air is the lowest cost way to produce food.

Greenhouses can be used to extend growing seasons but aren’t necessary.

With hydroponics food and water use are minimal, and energy use can be as well. 

System costs and other consumables aren’t free.

A basic system that might grow a ton of food annually for 20 years or more could be manufactured in high volume for $50 or less. Battery backup, solar panels, fertilizer, and shipping not included.

Fertilizers packaged for retail hydroponics will cost more than bulk, and other consumables that add significant value increase cost. Instead of 2.5 cents per pound, the food grown may cost as much as 25 cents per pound or more depending on the crops grown and other factors like location, weather, length of the growing season, etc. Nevertheless, this is still a minor fraction of what produce at retail sells for. And, the quality is far superior to most retail produce.

Upgrades to a basic system, add convenience and features that increase outputs. 

Food, Water & Energy, are three critical focal points for mankind going forward.