Act 1, Scene 1 - Hydroponics Day 1

Today is the time for my first hydroponics venture. I had bought two home DIY hydroponic kit from a hydroponic farm. Each kit is supposedly good for two cycles of planting - I reckon if the art, science and fun of hydroponics and healthy living gets to me... then I may just invest in better hydroponics equipment in the future. For the moment, a simple DIY kit is good enough.

By the way, one of the kit is for vegetables and one other kit is for herbal plants. They are basically the same... except the seeds are different and the planting pots are different in size. Other than that, almost everything is similar.

Pix 1: This is the herbs hydroponics kit

Firstly, following instructions on the DIY kit, I cut holes on the top of the Styrofoam box as instructed. Then, I fill in the Leca or vermiculite to 3/4 of the pots and fit them into the holes..

Pix 2: Cutting a hole in the Styroform box and adding vermiculite

I then add in the herb seeds as instructed. There should be 3-6 seeds in each pot and carefully distributed to avoid congesting in one particular part of the pot.

Pix 3: Adding seeds to the 4 pots

Next, I add tap water to 1 cm just below the top of the box and following instructions, I add the right proportion of nutrients to the water and stir to mix the nutrients well. I then cover back the top of the Styrofoam box.

Pix 4: Add tap water to just 1 cm below the box top

Pix 5: Add in the right mixture of nutrients using the measuring cup

Pix 6: Mix well

Once the top is covered, I put the box in a place which receives sunlight but away from direct rain water. If your planting location has insects or pest, you may want to cover the box with a plastic sheet to prevent pest from getting at your plants.

Pix 7: Cover the top and place the box under sun but away from rain and pest