Easy way to create Hydroponics by Emoy

FULL PROCEDURE
A. Establishing the seedlings
Materials needed:
1. Sowing Tray - plastic tray with holes bored at the bottom for drainage
2. Growing Media - Could be one of the following: Sterilized aged coconut dust, fine sand, charcoaled rice hull
3. Seeds - sourced from local agricultural store
4. Water or Snap Solution (Water with SNAP nutrient solution)
Procedure
1. Fill the sowing tray with a layer of the growing media (about one inch thick)
2. Level the media
3. Scatter the small seeds uniformly and thinly (the amount depending on your need)
4.Water liberally everyday (except germination in 3 to 5 days)
5. Grow the seedlings under the sun for 7 to 14 days before transferring to individual growing cups (called seedling plugs)
B. Preparing the seedling plugs
Materials needed:
1. Styrofoam cups (8 oz.)
2. Cutter
3. Growing Media (Coco Coir Dust)
4. Seedlings
5. Bamboo Stick
Procedure:
1. Prepare the styrofoam cups as shown. Use a cutter to make 4 to 6 slits (about 2-inch long on the side and including about 1/2 inch at the bottom)
2. Fill the holding cups with the growing media (about one inch thick)
3. Transplant a seedling from the sowing tray. "Dig" a holes in the middle of the growing media in the cup. Use the bamboo stick to uproot the seedlings from the sowing tray with care. Transfer only one seedling per cup. Lightly press the media around the base of the transplanted seedling.
4. Carefully water the seedling plugs.
C. Preparing the Growing Boxes
Materials needed:
1. Styrofoam Boxes
2. Tin Can with top removed and the circular edge sharpened
3. Polyethylene plastic bag (20"x30", 0.003 mm thick)
Procedure:
1. Make 8 holes on the lid or cover of the box using the in can borer
2. Use the plastic bag as a liner of the bottom half of the box to make it fit to hold the nutrient solution
3. Use packaging tape to close all the open slits of the lid/cover to prevent entry of mosquitoes.
D. Running the SNAP hydroponics system
Materials:
1. Seedling plugs
2. SNAP nutrient solution (shopee.ph/SNAP...)
3. Growing Boxes
Procedure:
1. For good growth of the plants, locate the SNAP hydroponics where it will best receive the morning sunlight, the earlier an the linger the better. It should be under a roof awning (while it also receives sunlight) or a transparent shed to prevent the rain water getting into the system.
2. Linearly arrange the growing boxes on the level ground or bench with covers removed
3. Fill each growing box with about 10 liters of tap water
4. Add 25 ml of SNAP A into each box with water and stir well
5. Add 25 ml of SNAP B into each box with water and stir well
6. Put cover/lid on the box
7. Place the seedling plugs into the holes on the lid or cover. See to it that all cups are "plugged" in the holes properly.
8. Make sure that the bottom of the cups is touching the nutrient solution by 1/2 inch deep, not any deeper or shallower. If not, add more tap water until desired depth is reached.
9. Examine the boxes for leaks and make the troubleshooting
10. Visit set up every morning as early as you can to catch any insect larva that may eat the plants (the larva is visible in the early morning; after that they tend to hide from the un and maybe harder to find)
NOTES:
1. Expect the nutrient solution level to recede faster when the plants are much bigger that when they were still seedlings
2. For vegetables to be grown for one month, there is no need to make any replenishment.
3. Fro vegetables that will be grown longer than one month, replenish weekly using fresh nutrient solution provided that at least the upper half of the roots remains un-submerged and exposed to the air
4. It is more practical to prepare the nutrient solution in a 200-liter drum instead of mixing the SNAP solution from one styrobox to another