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The Urban Farm-Info 101

Welcome. There is enough information on this site to confuse people. And it is impossible to explain The Urban Farm and hydroponics in general without being long-winded. So we will try to "lean out" the product pages, and instead concentrate deeper information to this page and the FAQS page. Come back often to study up.

Our goal: is to make gardening easier and more efficient. Because let's face it, not everyone has the time or the passion to dig and plant and till and tend.....but they still love heirloom tomatoes. The Urban Farm is designed to be a replacement gardening platform that greatly reduces the amount of work needed to get a large return in fresh vegetables. The Urban Farm most certainly does this. See How to grow tomatoes. Email or call with any questions you have and we'll be glad to answer.

The Urban Farm in a nutshell: It is a modular recirculating hydroponic design consisting of a nutrient reservoir and a series of 3,5,10, or 20 planters. You lay out the system as you would potted plants....from a small balcony to an entire garden area. The electronics package takes care of watering and feeding by filling and draining 6-8 times/day. Plant your seeds or starts and let it go. You will adust your nutrient every 3-5 days. The twin applications of Patent-Pending hydroponic design and nutrient delivery make for astounding growth rates and yields.

Afraid of Hydroponics? Think it will be too technical for you? This will be the easiest gardening you've ever done. The whole idea behind The Urban Farm is to make high-performance, hydroponic gardening simple and available for anyone. Our automated systems do the job for you day in and day out, 365 days-a-year: no watering, no weeding, no worrying about what will happen if you go on a two-week vacation.

Instructional videos for The Urban Farm are coming soon to You Tube! See a season from start to finish!

Make sure you check out Frequently Asked Questions. FAQs

Because of the recession and salmonella there is an increasing concern regarding the quality and cost of fresh food we buy. Many people have an interest in growing their own vegetables but have neither the time, knowledge, or space. At HydroSystems we have solved these problems with the Urban Series GroSystems™. Automation and reliability reduce input and prior knowledge to a minimum. Our 3-container units can fit on a balcony*. For the first time you have the ability to grow a huge amount of produce without a garden area.

In years past people marveled at the size, color, and flavor of our beefsteak tomatoes, the enormous size of our cucumbers and squash, our endless harvest of eggplant, and the yields of our green chiles, jalapenos, sweet bells, and serranos.....they always asked us how we did it. When we said, "container gardening with our own recirculating hydroponic systems" they clearly didn't understand but wanted to know more. They didn't understand how our technology could produce far better flavor, size, and yield, and do it in a much smaller area than their large gardens. They were stunned that we didn't weed or till.

This is due to the combination of The Urban Farm and just as importantly, our exclusive GroMagic Liquid Nutrient™. We have spent years dialing this in for optimum compatibility with vegetables. There are secrets in Urban Farm Fertilizers that make it vegetable rocket fuel.

Advantages:
-automation=convenience
-low maintenance=no tilling or weeding
-low-cost top quality food
-high yields
-grow in small spaces

Read about "blending" Urban Farm Fertilizers here.

Our granitized systems looks fantastic in upscale settings.

The Economics: The best heirloom tomatoes cost $4-6lb. Red, yellow, and orange bell peppers cost $2 each. Let's say you have the Urban Farm 5: three planters with tomatoes, one with red and orange bell peppers, and the fifth with cucumbers. Realistically, you will harvest at least 75lbs of tomatoes. You would either save $300-$450 from the supermarket or you would make that much selling them at the farmers market. The bushels full of peppers and cucumbers add tremendously to your savings. You can make any combination you like.....the return on investment is the same, and you get to continue using the system year after year.

Hydroponic vegetable production is exploding worldwide. Why? Sustainability, efficiency, and cleanliness. This is because of the ability to control and maximize all phases of growth and the need to conserve water and resources. Many of the tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers you buy in the store are greenhouse hydroponic grown. Unfortunately, the tomatoes are poor because they are flavor-less varieties to begin with and then they are picked early. The emphasis on supermarket vegetables is shelf-life. This means the sugars have been bred out, and that is where so much of the flavor is. With the Urban Series GroSystems you can grow the quality heirlooms and hybrids that the commercial growers can't.

Hydroponics at ground level. What does this mean? The Patent-pending technology of The Urban Farm doesn't rely on gravity to return solution to the nutrient reservoir. Almost all current hydroponic systems on the market today do. This means your plants start out at waist-level.....totally impractical for outdoor, high-performance vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, and squash. The Urban Farm allows plants to grow from ground level for better vertical training.

The Urban Farm=better flavor, nutrition, size, and yield. How?

Even the best soil can't match the aeration or nutrient delivery of The Urban Farm. Your plants are growing in an optimized environment. Think of it as a well-oiled machine operating at maximum efficiency. The plants put all their energy into vegetable production. Take it from people who love soil, everything is better with The Urban Series GroSystems and our proprietary Urban Farm Fertilizers.

How it works: This patent-pending design is a proprietary adaptation in the field of recirculating hydroponics. (read the importance of flushing) All systems consist of a nutrient reservoir and 3,5,10, or 20 planters. The reservoirs are sized to the number of planters respectively. Nutrient is automatically circulated to the planters and returned to the reservoir. By spending 5 minutes every three days adusting your nutrient, the conditions in the root zone are kept at optimal levels. There is no tilling, weeding, or soil-bourne diseases. The Urban Farm GroSystems™ use far less water and fertilizer than soil growing, hence a smaller environmental footprint. No prior knowledge of gardening is needed. The systems are extremely user-friendly, reliable, and productive with minimal input.

We offer two styles: budget-minded inexpensive pots or stunning granitized planters that will grace any setting with elegant distinction. In the latter case the reservoirs are specially molded to match. This patent-pending technology is simple yet advanced. It starts with the nutrient reservoir. A series of planters are connected to it by a single hose. An electronic control package automatically regulates the irrigation cycles, recirculating nutrient back and forth between the reservoir and the planters. A failsafe overflow mechanism prevents spillage due to a pump failure or incorrectly set timers. Our Urban Series GroSystems™ aren't toys. They aren't hyped, plastic contraptions sold on infomercials. These are gardening machines, tested and refined 365 days-a-year. As long as your source water isn't too out of balance you will see staggering results.

The Urban Series GroSystems™ are available in an option for anyone. Pick the number of planters based on your space. Then choose your level of aesthetics. If you want simple for the lowest cost go with black planters. For a truly high-end, elegant designer look go with the granitized finish of our rotationally-molded cylinder planters. These will engender many oohs and ahhs from visitors and grace any deck with distinction.



*tap water source required (faucet or garden hose bib).

The Urban Series GroSystems: Advanced container gardening for vegetables.
Commercial row production of heirloom tomatoes in The Urban Farm 20. Vertical management is important. Optimized hydroponics allows very large plants to prosper in small 3gal containers.


Swiss Chard attains enormous size in The Urban Farm, but is best picked young..


Row tomatoes just getting started..


In one of our greenhouses we run Urban
Farm 20's, mix-cropping with tomatoes and cucumbers. These are young..