Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Growing Spinach using Simplified Hydroponics Technique on roof top

Growing Spinach on roof top by Metal Head Pritham D'souza

Spinach on Basella alba is a widely used crop in the region of coastal karnataka. it figures in the top 3 vegetables consumed as staple diet in Dakshina kannada, Mangalore. since it is a long vine that grows, i decided to try and grow it on the roof top of my house using simplified hydroponic technique. read the following


i have used a discarded tomato box as a grower as seen above. make sure that the box is not damaged or has rusty nails.

make a drain hole 1 inch below the bottom using power tool or hand drill as shown above.

use the tank joint to drain the excess water as shown

use black polythene sheet folded as shown which acts as the base of the grower bed

next, use black polythene sheet as shown to cover the walls of the wooden box. note that i used a staple gun (gun tacker) to pin down the sheet to the wooden box

rice husk , washed and dried is a great substrate to use in the grow bed

add washed and dried coconut peat to it. mix in ratio of 50:50 or 30:70 peat to rice husk as shown below


place it on stool or other objects to get desired height. make sure there is a little slope as there should not be excess water logged in the box. it will start to rot the substrate & increase fungal growth
transplant the spinach vines. cut the vines to desired length & transplant. water immediately as shown.
i have used sea algae based organic manure treated with beneficial bacteria for rooting & growth.

since the vines used were cut from the mother source, it must be kept in shade for a few days till the transplanted vines establish themselves.
i will update this post after 10 days to see if the technique works. If it does, then growing spinach in the rains wont be a problem using simplified hydroponics, as the grow bed is portable & can be kept indoors when it rains heavy & can again be kept outdoors when it stops. even if kept ourdoors it should not be a problem as excess water gets drained out anyways.

8 comments:

  1. I showed this method to mom just now!! She wants to meet u and see the farm extensively!!

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  2. Good idea Pritham but where will I
    get those chemicals like hydroponics etc.... Hope it works for you. Take care n love to u both. A Vernie.

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  3. Nice I just read a big book on Hydroponocs gardening and It sure sounds sensible and easy. Do send a picture of this spinach after it has filled out and is ready to use.

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  4. Hi Preetham,
    The most important thing in this is the nutrient. Can you post complete details in your blog?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for the post, we will post your Build your own hydroponics system article. I will post for our customers to see your articles on your blog Build your own hydroponics system

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for the post, we will post your Hydroponic vegetable gardening indoors article. I will post for our customers to see your articles on your blog Hydroponic vegetable gardening indoors

    ReplyDelete
  7. this is a good method, I want to know about the adoption of this practise, can you give some more detailsin my id okrishnaneeharam@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Pritham,

    Have you ever tried vertical hydroponic system with Spinach?

    Thanks,

    Ajay

    ReplyDelete