General Hydroponics

Lawrence Brooke

General Hydroponics

Lawrence Brooke

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Passionate Visionary

As Lawrence Brooke, founder of General Hydroponics, shows off a collection of photographs on his desktop computer, in his modest second-floor office at the company’s headquarters in Sebastopol, California, it’s clear that this is a man who is truly in love with the adventure called life. There’s the photo of massive tomato plants grown in Israeli greenhouses with GH nutrients; there’s another of Brooke flying to Oregon in his airplane with a rock star friend; there’s another of Brooke shaking hands with President Obama; and of course, there are the countless pictures of the huge circle of family and friends that surround one of the most gregarious, generous, and innovative leaders in the world of hydroponics today.

Though Brooke’s company has grown from a one-man operation in a Northern California garage to a multi-million dollar company with two factories in the Bay Area and one in Martinsburg, West Virginia, Brooke is focused much less on financial success than you’d think of someone in his position. Through it all, he remains driven by the things that made GH a success in the first place: a belief that hydroponics can help solve problems of food security in a constantly growing world and a love for the power of science.

“Human beings and plants are deeply connected,” says Brooke. “That is our mission in life, to enable people to grow plants, to meet their wants and needs. They could be for food, beauty, medicine, it could be anything, but that’s the function that we offer.”

Working with top scientists in Israel, Holland, Canada, Australia, South Korea and other places, along with an internal team of Scientists including Dr. Cal Hermann, who previously worked at NASA developing water purification systems for Earth to Mars spaceflight, Brooke has consistently placed innovation at the forefront of his company’s mission.

“I think of myself first as a scientist and secondly as a business person,” explains Brooke. “I’ve got great talent around me. We work together as friends and colleagues with

the common goal that this technology will solve global problems.”

Brooke’s work is part of the historical continuum of hydroponics, which in the modern era, dates back to 1929 in Berkeley and the first use of the technology in a serious way by the United States Navy, who used it to grow greens for the troops. Brooke says beyond that, it was a “scientific novelty,” something that wasn’t seen as having any value beyond a certain niche use. But an evolution in hydroponics technology in the 60s and 70s, particularly in Europe and Israel, changed everything.

“I came into the game when the science was becoming pretty well-recognized,” says Brooke. “I was able to pick up some good science and then offer my own scientific work to improve it. I started out at a time when there was no market, but with the passage of time, people have discovered just how effective this technology actually is. It went from being a novelty to something of economic viability.”

A willingness to take a risk comes from Brooke’s earliest days. Born in the United States, Brooke’s father was a diplomat whose job took him to far away locales. By the age of six, the family had traveled the world, living from Lebanon to London. They returned to Washington, D.C. when Brooke was 10 years old, and stayed there until he was 16, when they moved to Belgium soon after Richard Nixon was elected president. The international setting of his childhood influenced

Conversation with a visionary

“I was working with teams of scientists and engineers that were pushing the frontiers of knowledge,” explains Brooke, a tinkerer from his earliest days with a deep affection for making things. “In that context, it came to me that on a planet with so many people and stressed-out resources, that food production was going to become an issue, and I created General Hydroponics in my garage.”

But it was a tough road to walk in the days before the widespread embrace of hydroponics. He tinkered away in the garage for the next few years, taking a hydroponics course at his alma mater UC Berkeley. The hard work led to the development of the “Aquafarm” in 1976, a supercharged electric flowerpot, what Brooke calls the “ideal personal hydroponic module.” Along with a group of friends, he developed a multi-part fertilizer, also known as a building-block nutrient system, thus becoming some of the first to implement hydroponic technology in the United States, establishing a small market for dedicated modern gardeners.

The world wasn’t quite ready for hydroponics, so in 1981, when Brooke was offered a position on a science

Conversation with a visionary

Brooke’s personality in a big way, leading to open-mindedness and willingness to think creatively, a trait that came in handy when he decided to go into hydroponics even when there wasn’t a market for this unique form of growing.

After spending his early college years at the United States International University in London, Brooke transferred to U.C. Berkeley, graduating with a degree in political science in 1974. Not long after, he was hired as a technical writer at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Soon, he was promoted to a position as a technical scientific coordinator in the Mechanical Engineering Department. The best and the brightest walked the halls of the lab, working on projects that often ended up in the running for the Nobel Prize—and sometimes won. Brooke gained exposure to the fields of geothermal energy, solar energy, magnetic fusion, cryogenics for particle accelerators and superconductors, recalling the time fondly.

Dr. David Johnson, who went on to found the TiNi Alloy Company, took Brooke on as an assistant on a project involving nickel titanium alloy—Johnson became a valued mentor, teaching the burgeoning inventor how not to be discouraged by failure.

“He taught me to be a machinist and an inventor,” says Brooke. “He taught me that inventing is an attitude and a point-of-view. It’s not being discouraged by people saying an idea is impossible. It is getting back in the saddle and riding that horse come hell or high water, because what other people consider impossible just means it’s a little more difficult for us.”

Tenacity would be just what Brooke needed as he ventured out on his own into the first iteration of the business that would become the first hydroponic company in the United States.

team that was going to Brazil to discover medicinal plants for further study, he decided it was time for a change. He packed up his bags, put GH in suspended animation, and got on a plane to South America. By the time Brooke returned to the United States, he had a new outlook on life, new wife Eliana on his arm and nothing but hopes and dreams in his pocket. Hydroponics was still in his blood; his dream of making fertilizers based on the perfect combination of science and innovation was alive and kicking.

“My life is a consistent stream of the unexpected,” Brooke says, beaming as he shares that he and his wife now have three grown children, all very successful in their own right.

Brooke, had a reinvigorated drive to transform his love for the science of hydroponics into a financially successful venture. With the support of his wife, who had just given birth to their first child Kristina, Brooke reopened his El Cerrito garage for tinkering and invention. Products began to take shape: the Aquafarm, known today as the WaterFarm and a fertilizer called AB-MicroC that eventually evolved into the most successful and advanced nutrient

system being sold in the world today as the three part “Flora Series.”

“I had the electric flowerpot and the fertilizer to go with it,” recalls Brooke. “To this day, it’s one of the best hydroponics systems in the world.”

Rejuvenated by this second chance, Brooke never looked back. He worked side by side with his wife’s brother Reggie, and then hired another person, and then another; before they knew it, they had outgrown the garage. And while the early years were a struggle financially, Brookes was able to pay the company’s way out of debt within a couple of years.

The popularity of hydroponics was growing steadily, amassing dedicated customers who loved the fact that they could grow vibrant, healthy vegetables with different technologies and fertilizers. After combining forces with Diamond Lights, a lighting manufacturer based out of San Rafael, General Hydroponics saw their reach become

national. Garden catalogues and distributors like the newly

established Hydrofarm began distributing the products far and wide.

By 1986, it was time for Gen Hydro to move into a larger space. Brooke recalls renting a 2,500

sq. ft. building in San Rafael. It was just one giant leap for a company that would become known for making regular giant leaps.

“I remember thinking, oh my god, this building is huge! What am I going to do with all of this space?”he says. Within three years, the company had outgrown what once had seemed overwhelming, and they moved to a 7500 square foot space in Corte Madera. Two years later, they moved once again, to a 16,000 square foot space.

“Our employee count had grown and we were doing pretty damn well,” says Brooke. “It’s like building a tribe. You start out on adventure alone, and the group gets bigger and bigger until you

Conversation with a visionary

finally discover that you’re a leader of people.”The company now employees dozens of people, in

jobs from accounting to human resources. “We went from being this tiny company that basically started on about $5,000 to tens of millions in sales today,” says Brooke. “And we’re still growing quickly, with no limit in sight, except for our ability to keep the train on the track!”

At the dawn of 21st century’s second decade, General Hydroponics, like the thriving plants for which its products provide sustenance, only continues to grow. They recently opened a new factory in Martinsburg, West Virginia. General Hydroponics Europe, headed by a good friend of Brooke’s, has 30 employees and serves Europe, Africa and the Middle-East.

Brooke, through General Hydroponics, has also used his success in philanthropic ventures. General Hydroponics financially supports research in the Plant Science department at U.C. Davis, supplying research materials as well as challenge questions. SubCulture-B, a powerful root innoculant created by General Hydroponics, is just one of the products that’s been tested by the university under strict scientific standards. In addition, General

Hydroponics is a founding sponsor and executive producer of the PBS show ‘Natural Heroes,’a five-time Emmy award winner.

“As long as there’s enough to pay the bills and live a good life, I’m happy,” says Brooke. “If there’s more, then I have some to give away.”

Through it all, Brooke has retained his dual love for science and his belief in the interconnection between humans and plants. His wish is to see more innovation by GH and others. “The products we make today in our state-of-the-art facilities incorporating the latest and best manufacturing practices, procedures, equipment and research from around the world provide consumers with the purest best quality products we have ever manufactured. It’s always good when someone has a great new idea, it makes a better product and pushes team GH to improve and stay ahead of our competition. “I don’t feel possessive about the industry in that way,” says Brooke. “In fact, he says, there’s plenty of room for everybody.

Ideas have made General Hydroponics the powerhouse that is it today, thanks to the leadership of Lawrence Brooke. From a simple electric flowerpot, to the multitude of nutrients, supplements, and garden systems in the modern GH catalog, it’s a company that continues to innovate

and grow with the times. With that success, Brooke moves closer to his goal of creating food security in an unstable world.

“The need on a global scale for a secure food supply means that our technology in hydroponics is going to become increasingly important with the passage of time,” says Brooke. “Hydroponics to help the world is a fact.”

Conversation with an visionary

We met Larry Brooke at our first Maximum Yield show over a de-cade ago when we were just getting our feet wet in the hydroponics industry. Instantly drawn to Larry’s charisma and enthusiasm about the industry, music and life in general, we could not be happier to represent the General Hydroponics brand. Larry’s vision has made a major impact on Atlantis Hydroponics and its employees.

 Over our past fourteen years, it has been a privilege and honor to get to know the GH family. Thanks for providing so many quality products with unparalleled integrity. We look forward to being a part of the GH family in the future and part of the cooperative effort to bring our customers only the best.

 Happy 36th anniversary!

Steve Sevener, Demetri Hubbard and the Atlantis Hydroponics crew

Industrysalutes

Larry Brooke, Needless to say, Larry and GH have made significant contributions to the industry. A lot of Greenstar’s success comes from the vendors that we represent and, of course, having a vendor like GH enhances our abil-ity to go to market successfully. Clearly, having Larry and the GH team behind us continually contributes to our overall success. On behalf of Greenstar and Grotek Canada, congratulations Larry on your industry milestone and, of course, your 60th birthday! Thank you for all the hard work, persistence and dedication to our industry! “One generation plants a tree; the next generation enjoys the shade.” Cheers Larry!

Brent Jackson,Greenstar Plant Products

I have known Lawrence Brooke since the beginning of my Hydrofarm career, back 1989, and have found him to be a very kind, gentle-hearted person who takes great pride in bringing wonderful products to the gardening industry. His products are all locally made in Sebastopol, California at his mixing facility, which runs on solar power. Lawrence is truly a humanitarian, and I am proud to distribute his products. I wish him a very happy 60th and look forward to many more years of his great ideas and inspirations coming to fulfillment.

Kathy Giovannelli,East Coast Sales ManagerHydrofarm – EastFairless Hills, PA

I met Lawrence in 1987. What brought us to-gether was our common passion for gem stones (I was a gem dealer at that time). It so happened that when we met, I was ready to change careers and I wanted to start a hydroponics operation. This was the beginning of our friendship and collaboration.

During the following years, Larry taught me many many things—and drove me crazy! At the beginning, General Hydroponics consisted of just a couple of people, a couple of products in development and no sales department whatsoever. I watched with wonder as my friend took that company literally from the ground and turned it into a successful business, growing at an incredible speed to become the leader of a whole industry! What was most puzzling to me, however, was that Larry is absolutely not a business man. In fact, the way GH operated during those first years would have brought a classic corporate manager to a serious nervous breakdown. None-theless, Larry’s management led to the success that we all know today.

Then, we became partners for the European branch of General Hydroponics. It took some years, but this venture is too a success, thanks in part to what I learned during my years working side by side with Larry. It’s been 15 years now since we left California, but the distance has not pulled us apart.

Larry has also come through for me in some difficult times. I do not know what would have happened to my family without Larry’s help and support. I know that it is in times of trouble that you recognize who your true friends are, but what Larry did for us goes far beyond what you except from a friend.

What I appreciate most in Larry is that success did not change him. He did not compromise any of the principles and values that are important to him—and he still has the same twisted mind and gift to render anybody around him nuts. Don’t change, Lawrence; I love you dearly the way you are!

William Texier,General Hydroponics Europe

William Texier introduced me to Lawrence Brooke in 1989 in San Rafael, California, where General Hydroponics had its first fac-tory. When I met Lawrence, I would never have imagined how precious this person would be to me. We became friends, then col-leagues when we tested the AeroFlos and Flora Series at the White Owl WaterFarm in Sebastopol, and finally partners here at GH Europe in France.

Working with Larry was an inspiration for me at all levels, professional and hu-man. He managed his company with intuition, generosity and intelligence, and a great sense of humor! It was all crazy, but worked fine and developed so fast. We

became partners when we decided to open General Hydroponics in Europe in 1995. Not a paper was signed—only a word was given, and it has been honored since.

I am happy to be part of General Hydroponics and I am happy to be Larry’s friend. Long and harmonious life to him and his loved ones, and long live GH!

Noucetta Kehdi,General Hydroponics Europe

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Industrysalutes

IndustrysalutesLarry,

A shout out to you on achieving your 60th birthday and 36 years at GH. You and a few other pioneers have led a worldwide revolution in this gardening industry. Everyone in this business should raise a glass to you. I remember Lar-ry Brooke was one of my first contacts and friends in the industry when I opened my first store in Phoenix in 1989. If you called GH, Larry would answer the phone and fill you with product info, industry gossip and his new interests and ideas. He would pass an hour on the phone, calling me directly—and making me a firm friend to this day, even though we do not as speak often. His conversations were not only product info, but accounts of personal life. Many of the conversations would begin with something like, “Guess who I hung out with backstage last night? The Band, man!” or “Guess what? I am going to the Amazon.” Larry’s enthusiasm for life was evident each time we spoke.Congratulations and many thanks, Larry! I hope to write another one of these on your 70th birthday. Darryl Johnston,Gold Coast HydroponicsFort Lauderdale, FL

Papa Larry,

We have known you for what feels like forever. Twenty years ago, Steve and I built our business on GH and it is still a cornerstone at our retail chain, Pacific North West Garden Supply. Steve and I look fondly back at visiting you and your family in wine country, and we cherish the time with you by the pool. It is difficult to put all we’ve been through in one paragraph, except that the cream always rises to the top. You are a dear friend, mentor and ally, and the whole industry owes you a great debt of gratitude for paving a bright future for all of us.

Steve and Justin,Green Planet

GREEN PLANEThydroponics

Congratulations Larry on this great milestone! You have been a true inspiration for us throughout the years. When we first started Maximum Yield Magazine 15 years ago you welcomed the publication and became a strong supporter and pillar from that day forward. Your insight and enthusiasm have helped us grow into the international publication that we are today and for that we are grateful.

As Napolean Hill once said, “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve!” You have achieved it Larry – congratulations and thank you for paving the way for so many others in the industry to believe and achieve!

Jim and Linda JessonMaximum Yield Publications

IndustrysalutesOver the years, I’ve shared many good times with Larry. One of the earliest—which is also one that is the most memora-ble—started in San José. Larry flew George Van Patten and me from San José, over San Francisco to Sebastopol, where Eliana picked us up. She took us to their place and we all had a great meal together.In fact, a lot of the memories I have of Larry involve food. We

shared meals in many places: Montréal, Chicago, all over.Another good memory is how I first got to know Larry. We

were on a cruise put on by a Japanese bulb company for its customers. I was there with my wife, and Larry was there with Eliana. We all met that night and just hit it off. I think

we got along so well then (and still now) because we’re the same age; we can relate to each other.In closing, best wishes, Larry; and I hope to see you again soon.

David,Alternative Garden Supply

But they said it was as good as the original!

Don’t get caught limp. Demand Genuine General Hydroponics. Proven Quality for 36 years.

http://www.genhydro.com