Elliot Mercier

If you’ve been maintaining a keen eye out on the road, you might have noticed that there are a stupendous amount of hydroponics shops around Worcester, such as Let’s Grow on West Boylston Street or Green Zone on Madison. These shops aren’t as media buzz-worthy as say the shops that sell marijuana outright, but they still are a topic of interest in this maturing industry. They’re not the ones you go to if you want a direct route to the green stuff, but they are the helpful folk you contact to ensure a good harvest.

Believed to have been put into practice before the 17th century, hydroponic planting is growing plants without the use of a natural soil; instead, the base that holds all the roots of the plant, is a container of water mixed with a mineral solution. Elements such as sulfur, sodium, cobalt and zinc make up inorganic variants, while blood meal, bone meal and farm animal manure make up organic types. Workers in this business use this technique because it is proven to yield results faster than the old-fashioned way most of us are accustomed to when growing herbs and vegetables. The only noticeable disadvantage of this system is that such a setup is much more expensive. The hydroponic method requires a water tank big enough to hold several plants and the roots that will inevitably spread out underneath the surface; a rack that will suspend the heads of the plants above said water; and a heat lamp hanging over the whole structure to produce photosynthesis indoors.

Most marijuana sellers will use hydroponics when they can due to the fact that plants grown through this method will typically yield greater and larger plants. Hydroponic harvests also don’t require safety measures that soil-grown plants need to realistically survive such as pesticides and constant watering. The former can suffer from diseases, but its relatively rare since most hydro farms are kept indoors, so insects don’t get a chance to derail the process. Due to the fact that the base for the roots of the plant is a water solution, it’s easier to leave it alone and not have to constantly play babysitter. Funny thing is, this method uses 90% less water than traditional growing, since water isn’t being wasted after the thirteenth watering on a hot summer day. The profit from a hydroponic farm is even reportedly much more than that of a traditional one. Traditional farmland will rake in about $30,000 per year for one acre, but hydroponic will bring in almost $250,000 for the exact same measure.

So, for those with ambitions of making their own indoor farms, the nice people at these establishments will definitely know the equipment and the laws surrounding growing marijuana in your own house. Just because Home Depot has a garden department doesn’t mean you should try going there and asking them for advice on your supreme green dreams: 90% of the time they find that the opposite of amusing.