Hello everyone and all members of Hive Garden Community, how are you all friends today? May we all always be given health and happiness in living this life. How's the weather at your place? In my city, the sun still shines with its heat. It is difficult to be active and also work optimally in this hot sun, but for farmers, we must remain enthusiastic.
This April, Muslims like me are fasting Ramadan. We didn't eat or drink from sunrise to sunset. Fasting does not limit my activities, as a hydroponic farmer. I continue to carry out the process of caring for and planting vegetables as usual. As usual, every Monday I will share my hydroponic weekly (4-11 April 2022) journal.
Buy New TDS Meter
IN the last week, I told about my ppm meter which seems to have broken. Then, I bought a new TDS Meter for me to use. TDS stands for Total Dissolved Solids or the amount of solids / particles that are too much in the water. In addition to measuring the nutrient levels of hydroponic plant solutions, this tool can also be used to determine the quality of drinking water. This tool uses ppm units, for water that can be consumed it should not be more than 150 ppm.
Concentration in growing media
TDS Meter is the most important tool for hydroponic systems. Because, each plant requires a different ppm concentration. For example, chili and tomato plants need a ppm concentration of around 1500-2000 ppm, lettuce around 600-800 ppm and spinach 1200-1600 ppm. TDS Meter helps us to make the right concentration of solution for our plants.
Pakchoy Development
When the weather is hot, water consumption for plant development is very high. This was caused by evaporation, but only water and minerals from liquid fertilizer remained in the media. The pakchoy that I planted grew well and optimally, but there were about 5% of the pakchoy that were stunted, because they had growth delays.
Vegetables grow not uniformly due to several things such as nutrient needs that are not absorbed properly. This is because I use Styrofoam media which does not have circulation so there is a risk of nutrients settling and not soluble. Usually, me or my family at home will stir the water in this Styrofoam media but the hot weather makes us reduce these activities.
Pakchoy that are stunted or slow growing, I group them in one medium to make it easier for me to control and observe them. The pakchoy that I planted grew green and fresh, there was no pest attack activity that appeared and maybe next week I will harvest some of these vegetables.
Lettuce Development
Hydroponic lettuce is one of the most popular vegetables to be grown in hydroponic media. Lettuce is very easy to grow and not difficult for beginners to do. Lettuce is also a popular vegetable for food. Starting from local food, to international need lettuce to complete the dish.
Lettuce has promising business potential if it is developed properly. Since I have been gardening with a hydroponic system, I have consistently grown lettuce in my hydroponic garden. I have harvested about 70% of my lettuce and sold it to consumers. The lettuce that I grow is very beautiful and looks tempting to eat.
Mint leaves
I started harvesting these mint leaves regularly. Mint leaves should be harvested often because it will make this plant germinate faster and more lush. Mint leaves are widely used for beverages and various dishes that have a strong aromatic. There are 130 pots of mint leaves that I planted in my hydroponic installation. Everything is growing well and fertile. Unlike other vegetables grown on Styrofoam media, I plant mint leaves in a PVC pipe installation.
Okay, this is my story this time. Hopefully it can provide inspiration and new knowledge for all of his friends.
Call me Isdarmady, because I have a full name that is very long, namely Isdarmady Syahputra Ritonga. I am a head of the family who work as Farmers Vegetables Hydroponic and Consultant Hydroponics, sometimes I also sell coffee from various regions in Indonesia.
I have expertise dispensing coffee with a variety of techniques and tools brewing, because I have the desire to make a coffee shop with hydroponics as centerpieces. Help me realize that dream.
Thanks for read, vote, re-blog and support me in Hive. Maybe god will reward the kindness, let’s success together.
