Tags: Agribusiness, Entrepreneurship
By Anna Valmero
PASAY CITY, METRO MANILA— Residents in urban areas likes Metro Manila can cultivate their own vegetable gardens at home even without the luxury of having a large backyard.
“You can grow edible vegetables and other plants by hydrophonics, which is made to benefit urban dwellers living in limited spaces,” said Rolando Londonio, city cooperative development officer of Pasay.
Hydrophonics is a soil-less and low-cost vegetable production system and relies on nutrients in water. The local cooperative of Pasay developed their own formula called “SNAP” or System Nutrient Addition Program, which was developed by the University of the Philippines Los Baños.
Hydrophonics garden only requires sunlight and air for aeration of the plants, according to Londonio. Setting up a garden yourself is not as costly as tending to traditional plots since you will mainly use recycled materials.
“Aside from providing you with fresh vegetable supplies, you can also sell your produce and grow it into an organic business,” Londonio said.
There are four main steps to start a hydrophonics garden.
Establish the seedlings. The materials you will need here include: a sowing tray or basin with holes for drainage at the bottom; growing media composed of aged coconut coir dust, charcoaled rice hull or saw dust; seeds from your local Aggie store; and water with SNAP solution.
1. Fill one-inch of the sowing tray with a layer of growing media.
2. Level the media and scatter the small seeds uniformly.
3. Water the plants liberally, except during germination in the third to fifth day.
4. Grow the seedlings for ten days before transferring to individual growing cups called seed plugs.
Prepare the seedling plugs. For this step, you will need 8-oz. styrofoam cups, cutter or knife, growing media, seedlings and barbeque sticks.
1. Prepare the styrofoam cups by making eight holes about one inch long on the side and half-inch at the bottom using a knife or cutter.
2. Fill the prepared holding cups with the growing media at about one-inch thick.
3. Transplant the seedlings from the sowing tray using a small barbeque stick to uproot them.
4. Dig a hole in the middle of the growing media cup.
5. Water the seedling plug lightly and carefully.
Prepare the growing boxes. For this step, you will need styrofoam boxes such as those used to store fruits and a cutter or knife.
1. Draw five to eight circles on the cover of the styrofoam box. The diameter of the hole should be 0.25-inch smaller than the top diameter of the styrofoam cup or seedling plug.
2. Cut the drawn circle to make the holes that will hold the seedlings in place.
Manage your hydrophonics garden. For this step, you will need the seedling plugs, SNAP nutrient solution, growing boxes with ten liters of water each, polyethylene plastic sheet, benches and a rain shelter.
1. Choose a location where the SNAP hydrophonics will be placed. For best results, choose a location facing the east for the earliest and longest sunlight duration. Make sure the plants are protected from the rains by roof awning.
2. Arrange the growing boxes on the bench. Take off the cover lid.
3. Lay in the plastic liner to cover the bottom and all the sides of the box.
4. Fill each growing with about ten liters of tap water. Add 75mL of SNAP A to each box then stir well. Add another 75mL of SNAP B solution and stir well. Cover the box.
5. Place the seedling plugs over the holes of the cover. See to it that the cups are inserted evenly.
6. See to it that the bottom of the cups is touching the nutrient solution by 0.5-inch deep. If not, add more water until the desired depth is reached.
7. Examine the boxes for leaks.
8. Visit the setup every morning as early as you can to catch any insect larva that eats the plants.
Get more information about the Pasay City Cooperative Development Office
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