One local entrepreneur has the lofty goal of transforming the abandoned Safeway store in Miami into a year-round indoor farming community.

Just how does one convert such as ambitious goal into a reality?

The answer is: one hydroponic vegetable plant at a time.

This sometimes-outrageous person is none other than Elvin Fant, Sr. who is passionate about helping people become self-reliant.

Hydroponics is a method of growing plants in a water-based, nutrient rich solution. Hydroponics does not use soil, but plants still need something in which to anchor their roots, and something to support them during growth, as well as to retain moisture.

Plants are supported using an inert medium such as perlite, rockwool, clay pellets, peat moss or vermiculite, which is a type of growth media that contains no nutrients.

The basics behind hydroponics is to allow the plant’s roots to come in direct contact with the nutrient solution, while also having access to oxygen, which is essential for proper growth.

Growing with hydroponics comes with many advantages, the biggest of which is a greatly increased rate of growth in plants.

With the proper setup, plants will mature up to 25 percent faster and pro-duce up to 30 percent more than the same plants grown in soil.

The plants will grow bigger and faster because they will not have to work as hard to obtain nutrients.

Even a small root system will provide the plant exactly what it needs, so the plant will focus more on growing upstairs instead of expanding the root system downstairs.

All of this is possible through careful control of your nutrient solution and pH levels. A hydroponic system will also use less water than a soil-based system because the system is enclosed, which results in less evaporation.

Fant has built his own indoor system that takes up minimal space and holds 20 plants. He is currently growing strawberries, bell peppers, tomatoes and lettuce.

Fant and his wife have been taking an online course to expand their learning on hydroponics and are willing to share their knowledge to others wanting to learn as well. For more information on hydro-ponics, call Fant at 928-310-7110.