past . We ’ ve put 100 strawberries in a vertical environment — we would have not been able to do that many on the ground .”
DeCarlo said they have been able to get more strawberries in a small area than they would have in previous years .
“ The water just comes through the top tube and just drips through ,” DeCarlo said . “ Continually drips and that ’ s how it feeds ( the plants ).”
According to DeCarlo , they are basically putting fertilizer in a bag with some compost in some hosiery to float the water for more nutrition .
Next , she said they want to look at growing lettuce with the system .
According to DeCarlo , in utilizing the hydroponics they are able to grow in a cleaner environment .
“ We can get more plants per square foot ,” she said .
DeCarlo said they wanted to try this out , because they are looking to build a new greenhouse and see if it would work there as well .
“ We wanted to be able to know that we could handle it ,” DeCarlo said . “ We started with a small hydroponics setup and we may work into a bigger setup .”
In the future , DeCarlo said the garden looks to move into a horizontal setup with the hydroponics .
According to DeCarlo , the process has been a good experience and a lot of fun .
“ It was fun to watch things growing during the winter time ,” she said . “ Now we already have strawberries .”
In the garden , they added heat , air and more to keep the area at 70 degrees at all times .
She recommends for anyone looking to try hydroponics to “ start small ,” as it comes with a lot of learning and new experiences .
For more information about Think Ability and the garden , contact Sheila DeCarlo at 580-641-3309 .
Think Ability is located at 1301 W . Main Street in Duncan . The Think Ability Market is located at 2109 W . Beech in Duncan and the Think Ability Garden is located at 2113 W . Beech . For more information about Think Ability , visit http :// thinkabilityfirst . com or find Think Ability on Facebook . DM