Organic Hydroponics

Organic Hydroponics refers to hydroponics farming using organic fertilizers.  The basis of the procedure below is 10 liters of water with 8 lettuce vegetable plants using Kratky method:

 

Materials Needed:

1.  Katanim box (Kratky) that can handle 10 liters of water with 8 plant holes;

2.  Good Compost (must be complete compost with adequate NPK ingredients, e.g., good combination of cow manure, chicken manure, vermicast, guano, decomposed banana parts, decomposed egg shells, decomposed used coffee grounds or teas, etc.) or commercially-graded Organic Compost/Fertilizer (e.g., Plantmate) - 700g kilogram;

3.  Non-chlorinated Water - 10 liters

Procedure:

1.  Just like in any regular Kratky setup, place 10 liters of non-chlorinated water in the Katanim styrobox;

2.  Make the Compost Tea.  Pour 700g of Good Compost, mix and stir until the 10 liters of water turns dark brown like chocolate;

3.  Transplant the seedlings (seedlings must be 14 days after sowing);

4.  Leave and wait for the seedlings to grow.  The lettuce plants will grow in 4 weeks and should be ready for harvest by then.

Important Note:

The above procedure can be the basis in implementing organic hydroponics using other hydroponic methods such as NFT, DWC, etc.  For hydroponic methods requiring pumps, you may need to filter the Compost Tea in order not to clogged your water pump.  Also, you may need to steep the Compost Tea for 3 days before filtering the solid materials.