Uploaded December 2016 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Brian and Kate Wharton use nearly every square inch of their backyard to produce herbs, chillies, and greens.(Read about it here: blog.brightagrotech.com/farmer-tip-what-happens-when-you-use-galvanized-tanks-in-hydroponics)
They've got a great climate for growing in Los Angeles, California, but have learned to grow through mistakes like any farmer.
Brian and Kate built a hydroponic system in their backyard and have slowly added on and modified it over the years. One "don't" of hydroponic and aquaponic systems, however, is the use of galvanized tanks.
Galvanizing is a process where the metal is dipped in molten zinc to increase it's durability and provide a cheaper alternative to stainless steel.
Although zinc is an important nutrient to plants, it's a micronutrient that's usually present in high enough quantities in hydroponic solutions (or fish feed if you're growing with aquaponics). In fact, zinc toxicity is more of a problem than zinc deficiency. (It starts causing problems around over .1 ppm and will kill fish at 4-8 ppm; we recommend a level of .03 and .05 ppm for a healthy system.)
Brian and Kate Wharton use nearly every square inch of their backyard to produce herbs, chillies, and greens.(Read about it here: blog.brightagrotech.com/farmer-tip-what-happens-when-you-use-galvanized-tanks-in-hydroponics)
They've got a great climate for growing in Los Angeles, California, but have learned to grow through mistakes like any farmer.
Brian and Kate built a hydroponic system in their backyard and have slowly added on and modified it over the years. One "don't" of hydroponic and aquaponic systems, however, is the use of galvanized tanks.
Galvanizing is a process where the metal is dipped in molten zinc to increase it's durability and provide a cheaper alternative to stainless steel.
Although zinc is an important nutrient to plants, it's a micronutrient that's usually present in high enough quantities in hydroponic solutions (or fish feed if you're growing with aquaponics). In fact, zinc toxicity is more of a problem than zinc deficiency. (It starts causing problems around over .1 ppm and will kill fish at 4-8 ppm; we recommend a level of .03 and .05 ppm for a healthy system.)
