Growing Lettuce Using Kratky Hydroponics

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Lettuce seedlings on my hydroponics setup. Hoping to have some for samgyupsal after a month.

It's not about the little savings, but the proud moment of harvesting food I've personally grown.

Less than a week (Thursday afternoon last week ko ito ginawa), and some of the lettuce seeds has spouted already in my improvised Kratky hydroponics made from PVC pipes, large Delight bottles cut in half (kinulang ng dalawang bottles kaya small mineral water bottle na lang ginamit ko) and recycled foam I kept from some gadget packagings. All were cleaned and sterilized before use.

Inside the pipes is water mixed with a nutrient solution (nutsol). Mixed 25ml nutsol to 1 liter of water.

This time, due to limited space and just for experiment, I let the seeds germinate directly in the foam. I should have let them grow in a separate grow bed to be able to select and replant only successfully sprouting seeds, but to save on space, I could just put another set of seeds if not all will be sprouting. No worries since we don't really need too much lettuce.

Another batch in the same Kratky hydroponics setup is at our Montalban home...and hopefully they have sprouted too. But that one is left unattended and will check on it only when we visit our home again.

But the rainwater is uncontrollably also mixing and causing the pipes to overflow. Naglagay ako ng makeshift roof to somehow protect it. But apparently not working well. I have to find a way to protect this setup from the frequent rain.

Container Gardening Series: Harvesting Turmeric

Wazzup Pilipinas!

I have three of these turmeric plants in my container garden here in Pasig, and two in Montalban. This one is now the biggest (in terms of leaves) here in Pasig. All from kitchen scrap - leftovers that were too dry to use but I still took a chance in planting them and hoped they survived. Surprisingly, they did survive and are now thriving.

I want to plant more but as I've said before, limited space at our 5th floor unit in Pasig and we rarely visit our Montalban home. Our Pateros home has my brother with his own mini veggie and fruit garden plus poultry farm (just a few chickens and I think ducks).

So I chose quality instead of quantity. Using the best garden soil which I mix with carbonized rice hulls, coco peat and vermicasts - the only stuff I buy since I can't make soil out of used stuff unless I do vermicompost or composts which takes a long time to produce and requires dedicated containers.

I just use recycled plastic containers from mineral water, biscuit, cooking oil, and other food grade. (since they are lightweight and can be reused unlike those heavy clay pots that break, or cans that rusts). They also lessens the trash that I have to dispose. This container is from a powder mix health drink.

Paano ba malalaman when to harvest your turmeric?

Your turmeric is ready to harvest when the leaves and stem start to turn brown and dry, about seven to 10 months after planting.  Therefore this turmeric is still too young and healthy to harvest.

Night Time is Still Plantito Time: Silip sa Hardin Bago Matulog

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Kahit gabi na, sinisilip ko pa rin ang mini container garden ko. Very limited space at our 5th floor unit yet ang dami ko ng harvested veggies that I've mostly grown from seeds, or mga seedlings na bigay ng friends or from generous members of the plant enthusiast groups that I've joined in Facebook.

Doon ko rin nadiscover ang many types of hydroponics, aside from the many organic fertilizers and pesticides coming from everyday kitchen scrap or waste...and the use of recycled containers instead of buying pots, and the free seeds from the Department of Agriculture was a big help with my first pechay harvest using hydroponics. Of course, supplementing the knowledge with research online via YouTube or Google search.

Still learning everyday....and not all that I've planted have survived, or I had to sacrifice some so others could live. But proud to say that majority are thriving and doing well.

Green thumb? They say there's no such thing. Though I believe that the plants can sense if you truly care for them based on your touch and frequent visit. The heck I even take photos and videos of them, sometimes even selfies.

Am I a plantito? Maybe! But I don't really care about branding myself. I am just contented that I am able to grow my own food and get to enjoy the process of doing it.

It is also my stress reliever, alternating with my usual online tasks. Para maiba naman, and to be near plants sort of offers something .... spiritual. Just seeing them grow big and healthy is so satisfying.