Greencoast Hydroponics Receives 2009 Best of Santa Barbara Award.

U.S. Commerce Association’s Award Plaque Honors the Achievement.

WASHINGTON D.C., On June 8, 2009 – Greencoast Hydroponics was informed that they had been selected for the 2009 Best of Santa Barbara Award in the Hydroponic Equipment & Supplies category by the U.S. Commerce Association (USCA). September 23, 2009 Greencoast of Santa Barbara was informed they have the distinct honor of being the 2009 Best of Santa Barbara Award recipient in the Hydroponic Equipment & Supplies category!

The USCA “Best of Local Business” Award Program recognizes outstanding local businesses throughout the country. Each year, the USCA identifies companies that they believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and community.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2009 USCA Award Program focused on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the USCA and data provided by third parties.

About U.S. Commerce Association (USCA)

U.S. Commerce Association (USCA) is a Washington D.C. based organization funded by local businesses operating in towns, large and small, across America. The purpose of USCA is to promote local business through public relations, marketing and advertising.

The USCA was established to recognize the best of local businesses in their community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations, chambers of commerce and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to be an advocate for small and medium size businesses and business entrepreneurs across America.

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Steve Encell and his 9-year-old son Pace planted their pumpkin seeds two months late, but they still managed to take home first and third places at the Third Annual San Luis Obispo County Great Pumpkin Contest held Thursday, Oct. 16, at the Farmers Market in downtown SLO.

“I try and find really interesting and fun projects for my son and I to do throughout the year, and it was really a great experience,” said Encell, a Ballard resident.

Encell and Pace planted “Godzilla,” their 790-pound award-winning pumpkin, in late May. Most pumpkin growers try to plant their seeds in mid-March, two months earlier in the growing season, Encell said.

“We pretty much have to defy nature constantly. There is nothing natural about growing large pumpkins,” Encell said.

“It was really fun. My friends were impressed with how big they got,” Pace added.

Pace’s favorite part of growing the pumpkins, he said, was getting to sit on top of them and take pictures with his pets.

The two kept a diary of their experience on www.bigpumpkins.com, a forum for people trying to grow the largest pumpkin and learn from those who have learned the tricks of the trade.

“We really received great advice from the growers online. They are the ones who taught Pace and I that putting sand under the pumpkin prevents rot, and to turn the pumpkin sideways so the vine doesn’t break when it gets large,” Encell said.

Encell and Pace also put chicken wire underneath the pumpkin to prevent gophers from digging underneath and destroying it.

In mid-August, according to Encell’s diary, Godzilla was growing 14 pounds per day. By the end of that month the pumpkin was growing 35 pounds overnight.

“Green Coast Hydroponics in Santa Barbara ordered us special fertilizer and they were all excited about our project. They decided to help us out for next year’s competition as well,” Encell said.

A week before the contest, Godzilla was taken off the vine and weighed just over 800 pounds. Since the pumpkin wasn’t receiving any nutrients, it shrunk to 790 pounds by the time the judges weighed it.

Godzilla’s victory won $750 for the father and son, who also $250 for their other pumpkin, “PeeWee,” which took third place at 589 pounds. They also beat last year’s record by 75 pounds.

“We are definitely going to make this a yearly tradition. We videotaped the contest this year and we are going to make a documentary from planting to next year’s contest as well,” Encell said.

See how Encell and his son are doing this year with the pumkin diary

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Store manager Shawn Beam says GreenCoast Hydroponics on State Street is always looking for new ways to raise plants outside of a soil environment. “We have customers who come in and talk about things we don’t know about it, and we’re very aggressive about researching that,” he said. “There’s such an exchange of ideas.” (Lara Cooper / Noozhawk photo)

It’s a small storefront on upper State Street surrounded by cedar window boxes overflowing with flowers and vegetables. You’ve driven by it on your way downtown and most likely enjoyed its sidewalk greenery, but step inside GreenCoast Hydroponics and traditional horticulture gets left at the door.

Just to go over the basics, the whole premise of hydroponics is to raise plants outside of a soil environment. The root system of the plant and the plant itself are supported by a medium, and the store carries mediums such as clay, coconut fiber and volcanic ash. The medium doesn’t provide nutrients to the plant. Instead, the plants are fed from a nutrient solution that circulates through the tanks where they are grown.

The system can be used indoors or outdoors, but if a grower chooses to keep the plants inside, fluorescent lights are used in place of sunlight.

This scenario is a traditional hydroponics model, but talk to Shawn Beam, the store’s manager, and he’ll tell you that GreenCoast is open to all types of growing, and rattles off a slew of other types, including aeroponics, growing plants in air environment while misting their roots with nutrients, and bioponics, where plants are grown hydroponically, but are fed from the wastewater of other living creatures, such as fish swimming in the tank of the plants.

Other processes the shop promotes include deep water culture, where the roots of a plant are submerged in highly oxygenated water, and even gravitropism, where a plant’s roots grow in the direction of gravitational pull.

To manipulate gravitropism in plants, GreenCoast carries a device that resembles a giant wheel that holds seedlings and rotates around a light in the center of the wheel. As it turns around the light slowly, plants develop a thicker cell wall and grow stronger because of resistance. This type of technology was developed by NASA, Beam said, as are many of the alternative methods of growing.

“There are so many different things we can do to increase our yield of produce,” he said. “The possibilities of other methods of farming are what we’re really about.”

Exploring the possibilities is something Beam gets excited just talking about, and GreenCoast’s team is always ready to talk about ideas.

“We have customers who come in and talk about things we don’t know about it, and we’re very aggressive about researching that,” he said. “There’s such an exchange of ideas.”

Israel is the leader in organic hydroponics, he said, which is a prime example of plant culture thriving in an otherwise hostile environment. Growing without soil also has huge implications for life in outer space, and is a viable option as less land becomes available for traditional farming.

“Our main mission is to satisfy some kind of need for self-sufficiency,” he said, adding that hydroponics is a huge growth industry.

“There’s a huge organic movement right now,” he said. “We keep getting customers from all different facets.”

Customers at the store range from large-scale greenhouse growing to people wanting to set up small systems on their windowsills.

The store was even contacted by an architectural firm that was exploring the option of having each unit in a housing development outfitted with hydroponic gardens instead of sunrooms. “The possibilities keep blowing our minds,” he said.

Someone just getting into growing hydroponically could expect to spend about $80 on a beginner’s kit, and the options get more elaborate from there, he said.

Just because plants are grown without soil doesn’t mean they’re immune from pests. Pests such as spider mites and powdery mildew can occur, and plants can even get caterpillars indoors, he said.

Organic pesticides can offer a solution to the pests, but GreenCoast also offers a host of beneficial insect-eaters, such as ladybugs, mantises and nematodes, which they order from Ventura-based insectary Rincon-Vitova.

Beam said hydroponics is often misunderstood, but that it’s only as difficult as the person who teaches you makes it, and is willing to walk newbies through any questions. The store occasionally hosts educational classes on topics such as different propagation methods.

“We don’t just sell a product and demand that you know everything,” he said.

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GreenCoast Hydroponics

For beginner and expert gardeners, igrowhydro.com is a one-of-a-kind destination site that offers a wide range of products. At first glance, it is a retail store where visitors can find quality hydroponics and organic gardening supplies. The team at igrowhydro takes it further by researching, testing and reporting on the latest cutting-edge equipment and providing valuable recommendations on integrating new technology into any garden.

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