successful growth of indian spinach without soil

Indian spinach(basella alba, basale soppu, valchi bhajji) grown without soil on roof top using simplified hydroponics by Pritham 'metal farmer' D'Souza

in continuation of my earlier post on indian spinach, i am continuing the series of growth events below chronologically


the photo above was taken on taken on feb 11, 2009 the day i first transplanted basale soppu or indian spinach.



the above 4 photos show the development of shoots slowly appearing from the buds.

the above photo taken 14 days after transplanting clearly shows the appearance of new shoots & branching. photo taken on feb 25, 2009

the fading of green was my mistake as i had initially given light dose of nutrients. once i gave nutrients in full strength, visible lush green appearance was seen in 2 days time as seen below.
the above 2 photos show the shoot and lateral branching and excellent growth of indian spinach.

photo taken on march 13th 2009.

all photos and data by Pritham Dsouza. to view photo in original size, click on photo to enlarge

Grow harive soppu amaranthus without soil

Grow Amaranthus harive soppu on your roof top without soil using simplified hydroponics by Pritham 'metal farmer' D'Souza

amaranthus or harive soppu as its popularly known as in Kannada is a leafy vegetable grown for its excellent taste and high nutrition. its also a very profitable as the crop can be harvested within 21 days, thus fetching better returns in a shorter time.

i have grown the crop first in tubs with coconut peat and rice husk substrate, & later i have grown it in floating beds.

i used a spoonful of seeds in a single grow tub. i spread the seeds evenly on the surface & watered it using my own mixture of sea weed based algae gel for the first few days till it germinated and later for a few more days till it was big enough. then i switched on to the nutrients provided by CV.

the photo above shows germination in progress just 2 days after sowing. in the field, germination can be noticed after 4 days. the above photo was taken on Jan 31 2009




the above 3 photos were taken on Feb 2, 2009. notice nearly every seed i sowed, has germinated perfectly.

amaranthus loves sunlight. so the tub was placed such that it receives max sunlight for most part of the day as seen above

the above photo was clicked on feb 9, 2009. notice in detail, the black smudge was due to the algae gel i used for the first 10 days of plant growth. later when i switched over to the nutrients provided by CV, the leaves appeared much greener & distinct, without the black spots

harvesting in amaranthus is generally done within 21 days after sowing, but there is not rule here. some people keep the plant for as long as 45 days as seen below, till the leaves become very large & stem hardens a bit. for some people , harvesting is preferred when the plant is very tender, just 6 to 8 inches in height.

the photo above shows individual amaranthus plant grown in same tub as bottle gourd. the plant can either be cut at the stem level a few inches above the ground level or whole plant is uprooted & bundles are made and sold.

Amaranthus in Floating Bed by Pritham 'metal farmer' D'Souza

i wanted to experiment with amaranthus just like in lettuce, if it works in floating bed. for this i used a regular dish washing sponge and made a deep cut in the middle as shown below.

since the plant is very thin, i took 10 to 15 plants together as seen below


then i placed them in between the deep cut i made on the sponge as seen below and placed them in the thermocol sheet which had holes made previously to accomodate the plants.



the above photos were taken on march 12, 2009.



the above 3 pics were taken on march 21, 2009. the growth is a bit slower, but if one notices, the leaves have turned a lot greener than they were on the first day of transplanting.

advantages of floating beds

• portable beds, can be taken anywhere
• since the water has nutrients, no need to add more nutrients unless deficiency is observed
• since there is no soil, no question of soil borne pathogens or pests.

Most important poinf for float beds

• daily aeration is a must as the roots need to get as much oxygen as possible. this can be done by splashing the water and creating bubbles as seen in the pic below

• this splashing of water creating air bubbles destroys any kind of insect eggs like mosquito eggs if any, in addition to providing oxygen to the roots.
  
• minimum 2 minutes of splashing waterdaily has to be done, i splash water twice daily for better aeration.

All photos and data by pritham dsouza. to view photos in original size, click on photo to enlarge

Grow Lettuce on your Roof top using Simplified Hydroponics

Grow Lettuce On Your Rooftop Using Simplified Hydroponics by Pritham 'metal farmer' D'Souza

following are some very simple steps i took in creating my very own floating bed where i used it to grow lettuce.

the above pic shows lettuce seedlings germinated in seedling tray. i had to wait for a few days till they were a few inches tall before i could transplant them in my floating bed

i took a normal dishwashing sponge as seen above and cut it into square blocks measuring about 1 inch as seen below.


on each sponge block obtained i made a deep incision as seen above, at the middle

i took a normal thermacol sheet & made holes in them using a bottle cap.

since my carpentary skills are not as good as my guitar playing skills, i decided to use one of my normal grow bed tubs & convert the same into a floating bed (sorry peggy)
i covered the base, and the sides using black polythene sheet & taped the sides as seen above. then i filled it with already prepared nutrient water

i wet the seedling tray, and slowly picked up the lettuce seedlings as seen above & placed them gently in between the cut i had made on the sponge piece as seen below


notice the good root development above n the enlarged image below


another side view of the seedling placed in between the cut on the sponge block

notice the pic above has very small roots. i was not careful while removing the seedlings from the germinating tray, and as a result a lot of the roots here snapped. but i transplanted it anyways to see if it will survive

i plugged all the 12 holes with the seedlings & if you notice, at the bottom left, i transplanted a tomato seedling just for kicks!
the above photos were taken on march 5, 2009

just a day later, on march 6, 2009, i noticed, the roots slowly begining to look a lot healthier & the plants looking a lot stronger

i aerate the water everyday , twice with my hands & the bubbles thus formed help the roots get oxygen. it also eliminates mosquitoes from breeding as they prefer stagnant water, not daily aerated water.
the above pic was clicked on march 5, 2009, just 2 days after i transplanted. if one compares the photos, it is very clear, there has been rapid increase in length of the leaves and the plants look a lot greener.
i will post newer photos after a few weeks & see the development of my lettuce floating bed

all photos n data by Pritham dsouza

Using Yellow sticky traps in controlling insects

Yellow Sticky Traps in Hydroponics and Field - By Pritham "metal farmer" Dsouza

One of the most damaging insect pests seen on crops like Egg plants (brinjal), chilli, capsicum, tomato & leafy vegetables like amaranthus, spinach etc is the pesky white fly.

these white flies are very small & in most cases appear like flying power or dust when the plant is shaken or when watering is done. the chemical treatment is using systemic insecticides like dimethoate & malathion, which is simply toxic & very labour intensive.

a very simple method is by using sticky traps as seen below.

for the above trap, i took discarded cornflakes box & flattened them. then using scissors, i cut out the required amount of yellow plastic sheet (easily available in the market) and stapled it to the cardboard box as seen.

then using a gun tacker i stapled it to a long stick as shown.

making it sticky : i then added 1 tiny spoon of used vegetable oil, and smeared the entire yellow sheet both front and back and planted it firmly in my brinjal garden.

the next day, i could see thousands of tiny white spots all spread over the sticky trap. (click on photo to enlarge)


my first impression was , it could have been dust. but on a closer look, it turned out to be the pesky white fly which got caught in the sticky trap & choked to death.(click on photo to enlarge)

the above pic shows an area of about 2 sq inches. (click on photo to enlarge)

why yellow plastic is used? - thats because insects have a special liking to the color yellow. it distracts them from the main plants & turns their attention to a nice big bright yellow death trap, kinda the same effect a light bulb has on night moths & night insects.
since the surface is sticky, the tiny feet & wings get & they die due to suffocation on the oily surface.
This is by far the best method in controlling white flies. its safe, non toxic, chemical & pesticide free & the yellow plastic sheet can be used for upto a month.

it can be re used by washing the sticky trap with soap water, and following the same methods as suggested above.

all content and photos by Pritham Dsouza

Bottle Gourd Seedlings and Transplanting in Hydroponics

Bottle Gourd Seedlings and Transplanting in Hydroponics by Pritham "Metal Head" D'Souza

Bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) is a widely grown tropical vegetable which has high carbohydrate content. oil can be extracted from the seed kernel and is used in hair care products. the hard shells of the bottle gourd can be used as utensils, or floats in fishing nets and even musical instruments, due to its resonating property.

i decided to try n grow bottle gourd using simplified hydroponics.


the above pic shows bottle gourd germination in plastic tub. i had sowed the seeds on jan 31, 2009 & germination took place within 3 days.

a perfect seedling of bottle gourd 3 days old


the above pic was taken when 3 leaf stage was observed. date was 10th january, 9 days after germination.


very well defined growth

for the photos below , i had simultaneously sowed 12 seeds in a germinating tray. when they were about 2 inches tall i decided to transplant them in growing tubs.

the above pic shows the substrate taking the shape of the germinating tray. looks like a peanut (chikki) sweet

one of the best photos i have taken. see clearly the well formed rooting network, clear and healthy


the actual size of the seedling for transplanting

hole dug using my thumb in the grow substrate

plugging the hole, so to speak


transplanting done.

a closer look at the leaves of the 3 leaf stage seedling shows some blackish residue. that is the bacteria gel solution i used during the initial stages of seedling growth. as the growth stage progresses, the residue(organic in nature) will disappear.