Friday 13 September 2013

Home grown hydroponic fresh vegetables!



Take a good look around at the vegetables sold in the market nowadays, aren’t they beautiful?  Indeed. But to preserve the beauty of the fresh produce, pesticides were sprayed on them. That is the main reason why people preferred to plant and cook their own vegetables at their backyard or garden as it is a healthier choice. An alternate method of getting your own vegetables is by planting it on a non-static hydroponic system.
The word ‘hydro’ stands for water while ‘phonic’ deprived from a Greek word which means work. Therefore the word ‘hydroponic’ itself means work dealing with water. Hydroponic is a method for growing plants that use mineral nutrient solutions in water instead of soil. Plants grow when their roots absorb essential components of mineral nutrients that are added to the water.

There are many modern variations to hydroponic farming but the two common ones are static flow or continuous-flow in which the water used is either static (kept in a container, often for home-use) or flowing (part of a system where water is circulated continuously).
Here is a view of how home grown hydroponic(static flow) produce looks like:
 
Full-grown sawi ready to be harvested.

The static flow hydroponic system in Malaysia was initiated by Madam Lau Kam Lin in 1989. She got the idea when all the vegetables exported to Singapore were rejected because of over dosage of pesticides. At the meantime, Pengarah Pertanian Negeri (PPN) started hydroponic planting using circulating system. The structure is expensive and it has disadvantages. If there is no electricity supply, all the plants will get dried up and if root rot occus, all plants will be affected. On the other hand, non-static hydroponic system doesn’t require any electricity supply and only one takung is affected if root rot occurs. The requirement of water in the hydroponic takung is all calculated until harvest.
Sawi planted on static flow hydroponic system.
The procedures of planting using a static-flow hydroponic system is as simple as P.O.H.:
P- Plant. (Start planting by setting up the hydroponic set which includes preparing the water with the recommended nutrient solution and sowing the seeds)
O- Observe (Make sure the seeds germinate and no insects are attacking the plants)
H- Harvest (Harvest at maturity or whenever needed)
 
All ready to harvest!

What are the benefits of using Static Flow Hydroponic System?
Especially for those who have insufficient land to grow vegetables, hydroponic comes in handy because it takes up minimum amount of space to grow vegetables. Despite the fact that you can have fresh produce vegetables, they are also pesticides-free because it is for own consumption. Hydroponic planting is so much easier to handle than growing on soil because it doesn’t require watering and weeding. And the best part is you can plant a variety of vegetables such as kai lan, sawi, lettuce, bayam, kangkong and etc. or even flowering plants e.g rose, petunias, japanese rose, marygold and etc. 
A lady holding the Senposai plant planted on a static-flow hydroponic set.

As for me, the main reason why I like hydroponic is because the harvest are pesticides free and I can have instant fresh vegetables anytime at the side of my house. 



Shared by Ruby.
Intern at Petrosains, The Discovery Centre




27 comments:

  1. Hye Ruby, Im Ramlan frm TAWAU. I really interested to buy this Static Flow Hydroponic System. Can u name me the place to buy this hydroponic set. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi there, very sorry for the late reply. Please do visit our Facebook page for more info https://m.facebook.com/hydrophonicmalaysia

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    2. πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€HYDROPONIC BEGINNER SETSπŸ€πŸ€πŸ€

      Wants to have own vegetable ? No space ? No problem !!!! Now you can grow vegetables without soil can be grown anywhere.πŸ€

      Hydroponics is a subset of hydroculture, the method of growing plants without soil, using mineral nutrient solutions in a water solvent. Terrestrial plants may be grown with only their roots exposed to the mineral solution, or the roots may be supported by an inert medium, such as perlite or gravel. The nutrients in hydroponics can be from fish waste, duck manure, or normal nutrients
      πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€
      Advantages of Hydroponic Gardening:
      •Through hydroponic gardening; plants can be grown anywhere as long as their growth requirements are met.
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      •It uses only 1/20th of water compared to traditional (soil based) gardening.
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      •It provides a sterile environment for plant production. This technique does not require pesticides, fertilizers and other chemicals, as there’s no chance of damage due to soil-borne diseases or pests.
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      •Crops grow two times faster in hydroponic gardening. It provides controlled environment, and yield is doubled leading to more production from same amount of space.
      πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€
      It needs 20% of less space in comparison to soil based gardens, as plants with small roots can be grown closer to each other.
      πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€
      Run-off in traditional gardening can lead to environment degradation due to high proportion of calcium, phosphorous and potassium content dissolved in it. But in hydroponic systems; water can be reused multiple times leading to water conservation with less expense incurred on it.
      πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€
      There’s no-doubt in the fact that hydroponics involves less labor. Upkeep is also minimal
      .πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€
      •It’s simple to get complete control over nutrient balance by using solutions like Olivia’s Growing Solution.
      πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€
      •There are no soil setup and testing hassles.
      πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€
      •Plants grown through this technique are healthy and have better nutritional value. It has been proved that vitamin content is 50% more in hydroponically grown plants as compared to conventional ones.
      πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€
      •It is easy to harvest in this type of gardening.
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      •There are no worries about the changing seasons, as crops can be grown all year round.
      πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€
      •Hydroponic gardening is amazingly stress-relieving and a relaxing hobby. Moreover it is a great way to spend quality family time.
      πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€
      PM For Hydroponic Kit:
      SMS/Whatsapp:+60167884001
      SRK AGRO

      Delete
  2. Hi Ruby, I am Amy. I am very interesting in your hydroponic system and the harvest. Do you think you can guide me with the system or probably I could have a look at your little farm. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi there, very sorry for the late reply. Please do visit our Facebook page for more info https://m.facebook.com/hydrophonicmalaysia

      Delete
  3. Hi 'bagus bersaudara' and Amy Cheong,

    Thank you for expressing your interest. We will check with Ruby and get back to you very soon.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Ruby, your post is brilliant. Please let me know how to do it. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi there, very sorry for the late reply. Please do visit our Facebook page for more info https://m.facebook.com/hydrophonicmalaysia

      Delete
    2. Hi there, very sorry for the late reply. Please do visit our Facebook page for more info https://m.facebook.com/hydrophonicmalaysia

      Delete
  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  11. Dear Ruby, I am Kumaravel. I am very interesting in building a commercial hydroponic farming system and the harvest. Do you think you can guide me with the system. Thanks!

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