By Kimberly Warren
Managing Editor
After a flood in 1993 covered
his family’s Missouri farm in 36 feet of water, Chester Bullock
decided it was time to try a different approach. He and his wife,
Susan, had been growing hydroponically for 10 years as a hobby. And
after the floods, they decided to take that hobby up a notch.
“At that time, I couldn’t grow in the soil anymore –
it’s just too hard,” Chester said. “It’s very
unprofitable, so we decided to find another way. And I have to tell
you, it’s the best thing that’s every happened to us.”
And now they have 85,000 plants growing hydroponically at their Myakka
City, Fla., farm, Hydro-Taste.
Growing plants hydroponically has allowed the Bullocks to expand their
marketing. They offer u-pick, an on-farm market and a produce club.
“We hate to eliminate the middle man, but people want it fresh,
and they’ll come get it,” Chester said.
As part of The Produce Club – what Chester calls “the
club” – customers choose from five different menus of
produce options so they never have the same basket of produce in a
row.
“The club is growing by leaps and bounds,” Chester said.
“I have one school that I deliver 15 baskets to... While we
were delivering those baskets, we have five more join.”
For those who come to the farm to pick their produce themselves, a
stacked hydroponics system allows for easier picking.
Hydro-Stacker
Much of the farm’s success also is thanks to the Bullocks’
innovations.
The couple worked together to develop Hydro-Stacker, a hydroponics
system that Chester is now selling all over the United States.
“We needed to make a planter that would have a larger root mass
to have larger production,” Chester said. “We said, ‘We
can do this better.’”
Chester and Susan, who is a science teacher, put their heads together
to come up with the planter system, of which they’ve already
sold millions.
The planters can be used in a greenhouse or outside. Chester’s
customers are split evenly between outside and greenhouse.
The system’s set-up costs are $1.75 per plant. The costs include
everything from the planters to the plants to the growing media. Everything,
that is, except frost cloth and chemicals.
For most growers, Chester recommends starting with a 15,000-plant
farm, which would run $27,500.
“After you’ve learned the learning curve after the first
year, the sky’s the limit,” Chester said.
After the first year, costs go down to 5 cents per plant, as growers
don’t need to keep purchasing the set media and containers.
Many of the growers who come to Chester looking to start a Hydro-Stacker
farm are soil growers.
“Soil growers don’t have a difficult time converting because
most are very open minded and understand plant physiology,”
Chester said.
Hydro-Stacker allows the grower to feed each plant only what it needs
with no waste.
“We feed three times a day for three minutes,” Chester
said. “It (food) goes in at the top at about a quart. We use
what’s called a run-to-waste system. When it comes out the bottom
of the funnel, it’s less than a tablespoon.”
Chester uses a mixture of perlite and vermiculite as growing media.
Perlite retains about 10 percent of its weight in moisture, so it
allows oxygen around the roots. Vermiculite, on the other hand, holds
the moisture. The mixture of 60 percent perlite and 40 percent vermiculite
makes a big difference from other options, Chester said.
Chester’s “secret sauce” fertilizer also has allowed
him to perfect growing using Hydro-Stacker.
“This one formula fits all – I can grow anything,”
he said.
And for those growers concerned about pests, the Bullocks have found
a way to deal with that, too.
“Insects will not live in vermiculite and perlite, but thrips
don’t live in that anyway, they live in the plant,” Chester
said. “So we use natural predators. And a mix of soap, water
and cayenne pepper.”
The problem came when Chester tried to apply the mixture to his vertical-standing
plants. So, he invented what he calls a fogger. This system is made
up of misters that automatically will spray all of his plants in 13
minutes.
“We never have to stand out there and spray, and we’ve
never had an infestation ruin a crop yet,” he said.
And when something comes up or when something doesn’t work,
Chester isn’t afraid to try a new approach.
“It’s been quite an adventure, and it’s not over
yet,” he said. “We’re inventing new things every
day – if you ask me to bring you something and I can make it,
I’m makin’ it. When I tell somebody I’m doin’
something, I’m doin’ it.”
When growers buy Hydro-Stacker farms from Chester, he makes sure they
have everything they need.
“If you build it, we will come – every step of the way,”
he said. “I try to keep people from makin’ mistakes. People
are really nice, and once they understand you’re on their side,
things go well.”
For more information about Hydro-Stacker, visit www.hydrostacker.com
or call (941) 739-6511.
