Hello Gardeners
How are you today ? I hope and pray, we are all always given health and also happiness in living this life. I am very happy to be given the time and opportunity to come back to Hive Garden Community to share my stories and activities this week in my hydroponic garden. What happened this week in my hydroponic garden? continue to see my story this time.
Previously, I apologized to my friends, because I missed a day for my hydroponic journal. For the past two days, I've been so busy doing home improvement that I haven't been able to actively participate in Hive. I also want to wish a happy fasting month for the Muslim community around the world. Hopefully gardening can be an alternative for our activities to wait for breaking the fast later.
Anyways. For the first time since 2023, all the hydroponic media I have in my hydroponic garden has been used and planted with vegetable seeds. I am very happy, because during 2023, there have been so many problems and problems in my hydroponic garden that my hydroponic garden has never been planted with 100% vegetables. I will invite you to see the condition of the hydroponic vegetables that I plant one by one.
Condition of Pakcoy in Hydroponic Garden
For the first time, I will invite my friends to see the condition of the pakcoy that I planted in my hydroponic garden. Since I started gardening with a hydroponic system, pakcoy is a vegetable that I always grow in my hydroponic garden. Pakcoy is a green vegetable that is still in the same group as mustard greens. This vegetable is very often used for various Asian dishes, especially East Asia and Southeast Asia. Usually, pakcoy is prepared by sautéing it or as a side dish with noodles.
I planted about 500 pots of pakcoy in my hydroponic garden with two different growing ages. The photo above is a Pakcoy with a planting age of about 19 days after sowing. There were about 200 pots of pakcoy that I planted at that age. The Pakcoy that I planted grew very well and optimally. We can see from the condition of the green leaves and uniform growth. During this planting period, I used a liquid fertilizer solution with a concentration of around 1100-1200 ppm.
Unfortunately, the same as the planting period last month. Mice are still the biggest pest problem for these vegetables. I found about 8 pots of pakcoy eaten and damaged by rats. To be honest, it's still better than the rat infestation conditions last month that destroyed 60 of my pots of vegetables. I tried to do an anti-rat treatment by spraying lots of garlic solution here.
Apart from the pakcoy, I also have 300 pots of pakcoy which are around 13 days old after sowing. Yup, I just moved these pakcoy seeds last Sunday. The conditions of the pakcoy that I planted in this period grew very well and optimally. I was a little late in transferring the pakcoy seeds to the planting medium, but I don't think that would be a problem.
For these 300 pakcoy pots, I use a liquid fertilizer solution with a concentration of around 1000 ppm. I'm trying to save on the use of hydroponic fertilizers, because fertilizer prices continue to rise every month. I hope that all of these pakcoy will grow well and get optimal results.
Condition of Kangkong in My Hydroponic Garden
Next, I will invite my friends to see the condition of the kale that I planted in my hydroponic garden. Kangkong is one of the favorite vegetables in Indonesia. Kangkong is preferred because the price is cheap, and the taste is liked by all people of all ages. Moreover, how to process and cook kangkong is not difficult, so this vegetable will always be present at the Indonesian people's dinner table.
I grow about 300 pots of kangkong in my hydroponic garden. The watercress that I planted was about 19 days old after sowing. I am very happy and also surprised to see the growth of this kangkong. All the kangkong that I planted in my hydroponic garden grew very fertile and optimal. Everything grows uniformly, green and looks very fresh. I plan to harvest and sell all of these kangkong in two days. Hopefully, I will get a good crop and price at that time.
Conditions of Lettuce in My Hydroponic Garden
Next, I invite my friends to see the lettuce that I grow consistently in my hydroponic garden. If anyone doesn't know, I used the second floor balcony of my house to become a hydroponic garden specifically for growing lettuce. Why do I grow lettuce on the second floor balcony? the reason is, lettuce is one of the vegetables that grows optimally in the highlands or medium. Lettuce grown in the lowlands can't get too much sun. Therefore, the second floor balcony is a suitable place for growing these vegetables.
There are about 250 pots of lettuce that I grow in my hydroponic medium. I have a variety of lettuces of different planting ages. I aim to create consistency and sustainability with every vegetable I grow. Lettuce is one of the vegetables in my hydroponic garden that I manage to maintain.
This week alone, I harvested a lot of lettuce from my hydroponic garden. After harvesting, I immediately replaced the harvested lettuce with ready-to-plant salad seeds. In this way, my hydroponic media will not have time to be empty for too long. Apart from that, if you see, I still have a few pots of lettuce that will be ready to be harvested and I have also prepared lettuce seeds to replace it.
Mint Leaves Condition in My Hydroponic Garden
After discussing and seeing some vegetables, I invite you to see one of the most commercial plants in my hydroponic garden, namely mint leaves. I have been growing and getting to know mint leaves for the past two years, and continue to consistently grow this vegetable in my hydroponic garden.
I grow mint in a PVC Installation, there are about 200 pots of mint that I grow in my hydroponic garden. The mint leaves that I planted grew very well and optimally. In this week alone, I have earned almost IDR 150K (10USD) from the mint leaves that I sell to my customers. Currently, I'm trying to increase production so as to get even more optimal results in the future.
That's all my story in hydroponic gardening this time. Hopefully it can provide inspiration and information to all my friends. See you next week.
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.