Fastest Growing Edible Plant (Hydroponics)?

jamie12345

Hi there all!

I have a bit of an odd request/question - and this is somewhat the same as the FAST FOOD post that's already on this forum.

I need a very quick growing, edible and possibly nutrient rich plant that grows well in hydroponic systems. I was wondering if someone on this list might have an inkling as to which plant or groups of plants would be worth further research. My research thus far seems to suggest that radishes are the fastest growing common garden vegetable, and kudzu seems to be a very fast growing edible green. Cattail (Typha latifolia) has also come up as an option.

I had assumed something in the soy-bean family, or some kind of wheat grass, potentially?

As a somewhat extreme example - is there a plant out there that, under the right circumstances, would grow enough plant material, daily, to support a person's daily nutritional needs for a day?

I apprecaite there's been some discussion about fast growing plants you can eat already on this forum, but is there a clear winner out there? What would you grow during the first days on an emergency space station?

Cheers,
Jamie

Dufflight

Fastest growing edible plant. Duckweed. Lots of goodies in it and it grows like mad and will take up ammonia so will get going quickly. They eat it in some parts of the world but it may not be the best tasting. :mrgreen:

TCLynx

I don't think there is a single plant out there that could feed a person all their nutritional needs each day every day.

There are many salad crops that grow very quickly and they are a very common hydroponic crop.

In my location, if I had to choose a single crop to plant for survival, I would grow lots of sweet potatoes for the summer and turnips for the winter. (Though I'm sure I would get really sick of those if it were all I could eat.) I don't think a person subsisting only on those two plants is likely to be healthy even though those two are rather nutritious if you are eating all parts of the plants. The trick is, how do you get enough calories along with the nutrition? Generally some starchy grain or root crops is needed for the calories. Then you need greens and nutrients and here variety is a good thing. But what about protein and oils? For those, well I guess if you are doing Aquaponics, you eat the fish but non animal protein often comes from beans, peas and nuts. So, for a famine diet, you might survive for a little while on a single crop but I'd advise diversity.

In the aquaponics though........ Duckweed can be eaten if grown in safe water and it does grow fast if the fish are not eating it before it has a chance.

Depending on your location there may be some other really good plants to grow. Most plants that grow really really fast are called weeds and they tend to be quite aggressive and take over grow beds.

So what's the climate?

Cyara

jamie12345 wrote:

As a somewhat extreme example - is there a plant out there that, under the right circumstances, would grow enough plant material, daily, to support a person's daily nutritional needs for a day?

Moringa grown as a plloard (lopped back to make bushy) Very fast, very nutritious. Used to reverse malnutition in children in India. Would not get flowers and pods this way - I don't think - which are ultra nutritious too, but the leaves are saving lives as well as feeding livestock in many places.

RupertofOZ

Moringa is certainly a great plant... but perhaps not suited to hydroponics due to it's root structure... essentially all trees/bushes would pose problems in traditional NFT style hydroponics... but could perhaps be grown in rockwool slabs, drip fed... ala tomatos...

Boris01

a plant that grows enough to support a person's daily nutritional needs for a day ...

how much space do you have

Cyara

RupertofOZ wrote:

Moringa is certainly a great plant... but perhaps not suited to hydroponics due to it's root structure...

???

This is a plant that is amazingly adaptable to very close cropping as a cash crop in places. Heavy pruning prevents it shooting to tree size to maximise leaf production. One bed used for Moringa alone - to adjust to specific water needs - would provide the nutrients sought in a single plant.

For those really interested in pursuing Moringa for AP this research study may be of interest....

Quote:

DEVELOPMENT OF SOILLESS CULTURE METHODS FOR PRODUCTION OF MORINGA (MORINGA OLEIFERA LAM.) ROOT AND LEAF BIOMASS
Authors: G.W. Crosby, L.E. Craker
Keywords: geoponics, hydroponics, medicinal plants, rockwool, agroforestry
Abstract:
The soilless culture of a xerophytic, multipurpose tree used in agroforestry was demonstrated. Medical evidence for the nutritional, therapeutic, and prophylactic properties of moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam) and its numerous agricultural and industrial uses have encouraged scientists to further examine the potential of this valuable plant. Tissue culture techniques have been developed for the moringa genus to ensure the maintenance of germplasm, but poor survival of plantlets suggests that transfer to hydroponic culture rather than soil culture may be advantageous. Moringa has been identified as a plant to be analyzed using a stable isotope technique using hydroponic culture to measure vegetable specific β-carotene absorption to combat Vitamin A deficiency. Hydroponic culture will also provide access to uncontaminated root biomass. Because little information is available regarding the hydroponic culture of moringa, protocols were studied for producing leaf and root biomass. Seed obtained from Uganda and Haiti, were germinated at 25°C in rockwool cubes using a 16 h photoperiod and a photon fluence rate of 250 µmol∙m-2∙s-1. Germination rates of upto 65% were obtained for the dehulled seeds, but germination was low in hulled seeds. Seedlings grew extremely well in recirculating rockwool slab culture for more than three months using a nutrient solution consisting of 1.0 g•L-1 5–11–26 Hydrosol, 0.75 g•L-1 15.5–0–0 Calcium Nitrate Plus and 0.25 g•L-1 MgSO4∙7H2O and having electrical conductivity (EC) levels maintained between 2.0 and 2.3 dS•m-1. Maintaining a dry region around the base of stems was critical. Seedlings grown at pH 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 7.0 and 7.5 demonstrated optimum growth between pH 5.5–6.0. Moringa plants grown aeroponically using a commercially available, recirculating, Aeroflo® system, resulted in robust plants with well developed, fibrous, root biomass. This study demonstrated that moringa can be successfully grown using hydroponics.

http://www.actahort.org/members/showpdf?booknrarnr=756_15

TCLynx

You mention emergency space station. For such a situation, you have some more interesting challenges than simply hydroponics.

I believe NASA has already been studying sweet potatoes for space travel growing.

There are some algae crops that might grow well in tubes utilizing waste and returning clean air/water.

RupertofOZ

If you're going to do hydro... just plant a range of plants.. and you'll have a balanced diet.. :wink:

DanDMan

Sweat potatoes, and wheat provide, pretty much, enough nutrients to survive. Throw in some lentil sprouts and purslane for proteins. There are other options, but legalities prevent the better choices.

Chappo

Cyara wrote:

RupertofOZ wrote:

Moringa is certainly a great plant... but perhaps not suited to hydroponics due to it's root structure...

???

This is a plant that is amazingly adaptable to very close cropping as a cash crop in places. Heavy pruning prevents it shooting to tree size to maximise leaf production. One bed used for Moringa alone - to adjust to specific water needs - would provide the nutrients sought in a single plant.

For those really interested in pursuing Moringa for AP this research study may be of interest....

Cyra ,, I LOVE Moringa and have previously pushed it on this form,,,so much so people started calling me Mr Moringa:)
I grow it on my farm in Thailand , it replaces about 30% of the Tilapia feed , around 40% of the cattle feed and near half of the pig feed ( Chickens just don't seem to like it but I add some extract into their water)
The PROBLEM with Moringa is it contains the exact nutrients that tend to be missing in Aquaponics,, Iron / calcium etc. For that reason I believe it ios better grown in a seperate dirt or hydro system and harvested then ADDED to the aquaponics system.
AEither add as fish feed and /or a foliar spray,..... studies show many many crops grow up to 25% faster when sprayed with Morings extract(watered down)

RupertofOZ

Cyara wrote:

RupertofOZ wrote:

Moringa is certainly a great plant... but perhaps not suited to hydroponics due to it's root structure...

???

This is a plant that is amazingly adaptable to very close cropping as a cash crop in places. Heavy pruning prevents it shooting to tree size to maximise leaf production. One bed used for Moringa alone - to adjust to specific water needs - would provide the nutrients sought in a single plant.

Another edited selective quote.... if you had quoted the rest of my post you would have clearly seen that I suggested that Moringa, being a "tree/bush"... probably wouldn't be suitable for NFT style hydroponics, due to it's extended root structure, regardless of any "pruning" to encourage leaf production...

But that it might be suitable for growing hydroponically but perhaps not suited to be grown in rockwool slabs, drip fed... ala tomatos...

Rupertofoz wrote:

but perhaps not suited to hydroponics due to it's root structure... essentially all trees/bushes would pose problems in traditional NFT style hydroponics... but could perhaps be grown in rockwool slabs, drip fed... ala tomatos...

As indeed the research paper you linked confirms...

Quote:

Seed obtained from Uganda and Haiti, were germinated at 25°C in rockwool cubes...

Seedlings grew extremely well in recirculating rockwool slab culture for more than three months ....

... resulted in robust plants with well developed, fibrous, root biomass. This study demonstrated that moringa can be successfully grown using hydroponics.

Cyara wrote:

One bed used for Moringa alone - to adjust to specific water needs - would provide the nutrients sought in a single plant

As wonderful a plant as Moringa is... I don't believe that it has been demonstrated to alone, provide a complete, balanced nutritional diet for humans...

It certainly can provide a substantial part of the diet for other animals, as Chappo points out, but doesn't meet all the nutritional needs even of those animals.

The beauty of hydroponics is that it is capable of growing a wide variety of plants that would provide a balanced diet for human consumption, in a limited footprint... as indeed can aquaponic systems... but the question was about hydroponics..

RupertofOZ

Rupertofoz wrote:

But that it might be suitable for growing hydroponically but perhaps not suited to be grown in rockwool slabs, drip fed... ala tomatos...

Sorry, incorrectly edited the text I cut & paste... that should have read...

But that it might be suitable for growing hydroponically grown in rockwool slabs, drip fed... ala tomatos...

As I had posted earlier... and confirmed in the study... :wink:

Dave Donley

I read in Omni magazine once that you can get all your nutrtional needs from potatoes and milk. So grow some potatoes and a cow.

RupertofOZ

I heard something similar.. fish & chips and a bottle of milk...

Hey... all we need is the cow like DD says... :wink:

And we could sure as heck grow enough fodder (and moringa) to feed the cow... :lol:

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Fastest Growing Edible Plant (Hydroponics)?

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