This underground farm grows rare plants without soil or sunlight

An underground farm in the middle of New York City provides ingredients to some of the top restaurants in the world — all without using soil or sunlight.

Farm.One grows more than 5,000 different kinds of plants and herbs inside a 1,200-square-foot basement, optimizing sustainability everywhere possible.

The “vertical farming” system allows employees to stack the plants on top of one another, taking advantage of the limited space inside the building.

Everything grows inside a hydroponic system, which sustains plants in a water-based nutrient instead of soil. It also uses LED lighting to grow all kinds of crops year-round.

Rob Laing, the CEO of Farm.One, told In The Know that the plants are safe to eat “straight off the leaf.”

“We don’t use any pesticides so the food is absolutely clean,” he said. “And we use beneficial insects instead to control any pests.”

Laing said local farms provide restaurants with a “huge advantage,” eliminating the hassle of delivery.

“People can have access to a really good quality, local produce, year-round, almost anywhere that they are,” he told In The Know.

Farm.One prices range from 65 cents for an edible plant to $40 per pound of Pluto basil. For $50, you can take a tour of the farm and see the magic of hydroponics up close.

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