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The experiments conducted in Montreal are important ones: the potential of organic hydroponics for producing both high yields and healthy produce on the rooftops of urban homes and businesses is significant. That the project was conducted in a low-income area and that the community residents have indeed taken over the garden project is also encouraging. Further work remains to be done: we hope to continue researching the methods and techniques of organic hydroponics in our newly completed rooftop greenhouse at the Institute for Local SelfReliance in Washington, D.C. And we hope that more community groups try their luck with organic hydroponics ... in Montreal, some people grew to love it.

WHAT IS HYDROPONICS?

Hydroponics is the cultivation of plants in a medium other than soil. When you start an avocado pit or root a plant cutting in a glass of water, you are practicing the simplest form of hydroponic culture. As the technique is more commonly used, plants are grown in a bed of material such as gravel, sand, or even sawdust. At ILSR, we use a mix of perlite and vermiculite, the one a lava product and the other a kind of puffed mica. The soilless growing material provides the physical support which the root system needs. A nutrient solution is fed into the mix periodically so that the roots can absorb all the nutrients which they would normally extract from soil.

More information on hydroponics—on its advantages and disadvantages, the cost, the chemistry, and the procedure—is available in a ten-page packet published by the Institute for Local Self—Reliance. If you're interested, send $1.00 and 25¢ for postage to: ILSR, 1717 18th Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009. Ask for the Hydroponics Packet.

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