Up in the air

By not using soil or substrate, these basil plants receive more oxygen to their roots.

Thanks to technology, you’ll find greenhouses that have some pretty high-tech and fascinating growing practices. But growing food in the air just might take the cake. NewGardens LLC, a Reno, Nev.-based greenhouse company, grows tomatoes in the air and holds a patented technology for what has been termed “aeroponics.”

According to NewGardens, aeroponics is the “method of growing plants using mineral nutrient water containing the macro and micro elements instead of soil or substrate.” While it’s not widely used in the U.S., the concept is not new. Richard J. Stoner II patented his aeroponic technology in 1985. NASA has conducted plant growth experiments using the principles of aeroponics aboard the space shuttle and International Space Station (www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/technologies/aeroponic_plants.html). Bill Sobolewski, managing director of NewGardens, says there are many universities, both here and abroad, that have focused on aeroponics.

The interest developed is understandable. There are many proven benefits to producing fruits and vegetables in thin air. Sobolewski says the No. 1 benefit of growing aeroponically is the amount of oxygen the plants are receiving.

“[With aeroponics], the sky’s the limit,” he says. “And that’s what plants love. They get this rich food, delivered with a mix of water and nutrients and this enormous amount of oxygen, and they just grow like crazy. That’s basically being in a health spa 24/7.”

Cost reduction is another major benefit. NewGardens says its technology, the Aeroponic Plant Culture System, can reduce water consumption by up to 95 percent, and reduce the cost of using pesticides and fertilizers by 90 percent. The cost of soil or substrate is automatically eliminated. Sobolewski says there’s also time-savings, because after a plant is done producing and ready to be removed, the area can be cleaned up in less than 24 hours, whereas with hydroponics it can take anywhere from two to three weeks.

Another benefit is the chance of a disease outbreak. Because the roots are not touching one another, as they could in soil or hydroponics, if one gets sick, the others can’t get infected.

“If you have 100 tomato plants in one row, and one gets sick, you simply pull the sick plant. It’s not affecting the others. They’re not spreading disease like in the soil, or in hydroponics or aquaponics,” Sobolewski says.

Clearly there are advantages to growing produce this way. So why isn’t this technology in widespread use?

Sobolewski says one reason is because the technology hasn’t been commercially feasible. But the Aeroponic Plant Culture System can be implemented on a large, commercial-scale. Now the problem is finding the finances to fund it.

“We’ve just had a hard time convincing many investors that there’s something different than hydroponics,” Sobolewski says.

NewGardens currently produces Red Oro tomatoes and Sicilian cherry tomatoes, but plans to grow more crops, including endive, strawberries and peppers.

Finding investors in the North American market has been a frustrating process for him. Sobolewski is currently in Europe, and the company is working on a major, multinational growing project. The Aeroponic Plant Culture System has been selected as an exclusive system as an OEM (original equipment manufacturer). NewGardens first generation of aeroponic technology is being used primarily in Spain and the Canary Islands.

“The commercial operation of aeroponics doesn’t exist in North and South America,” Sobolewski says. “Europeans are more up to this type of technology. In the U.S., obviously when we started, there was the resistance to it. ‘Prove it to me. Let’s see it.’ Because at first it’s sort of hard to believe when you say, ‘We grow food in the air.’ People kind of look at you like, ‘What are you talking about?’”

But NewGardens will be returning its focus to North America in early 2013. It plans to get started on its turnkey operation in Reno, Nev. The company is affiliated with the University of Nevada, Reno, and was approved by a board of regents to have its greenhouse on the property.

“I changed the strategy of the company because our major goal is to start our turnkey operation in Reno,” Sobolewski says. “But since we’re not able to find suitable financing … we’re focusing more on licensing our technology in OEM and hope we get started in that direction and spread this technology.”

He believes NewGardens will be able to fund itself.

NewGardens is focused on more than just its aeroponic technology. It’ll also be launching an aeroponics curriculum with the University of Nevada, Reno’s horticulture department.

“We want to actually offer to the students another level of choice in agriculture,” Sobolewski says.

Reno is also supportive of NewGardens’ presence and products. Local chefs are itching to get their hands on fresh, locally produced tomatoes.

“They love our concept,” Sobolewski says. “The only time they get to put their hands on local produce is when it’s in season. Otherwise, three-fourths of the year they’re just relying on the same tomatoes that customers buy in major supermarkets.”

The buy-local movement benefits aeroponics and helps separate it from its competition, specifically hydroponics.

“Hydroponics is very expensive to operate,” Sobolewski says. “They need to be concentrated more in a centralized area. So big operations need to be somewhere in the tens or hundreds of acres, and deliver the produce in ranges of thousands of miles in order to be profitable. [With] aeroponics, our costs are a fraction of the cost, so we can modulate a smaller operation and be closer to the markets.”

This means NewGardens’ tomatoes can be harvested even later, when they are red and ripe for picking. It also means that delivery expenses are minimized, another cost savings.

With the buy-local movement, costs savings and other benefits, the interest for growing food aeroponically is catching on.

“If the interest is there, they can always give us a call,” Sobolewski says. “We’re available and we’re production-ready.”
 

For more: NewGardens, www.newgardensllc.com

How it works
To see how NewGardens’ Aeroponic Plant Culture System works, visit www.newgardensllc.com and go to the Media tab to watch a short video.