Hydroponics Project (Gracia Lee, Evangel Teo, Kimberly Kiong, Tabitha Chiam)

Set-up:
4 tiny pots
5 chilli, 5 cucumber, 5 spinach and 5 Kangkong seeds
1 styrofoam box containing 9 litres of tap water mixed with nutrients

Results of project:
Chilli padi- only 2 seeds germinated out of the 5 planted but did not continue to grow after that and no chilli padi was harvested at all.
Japanese Cucumber- all the seeds germinated but it grew very slowly and only after one month, did 2 flowers appear and then slowly developed into cucumbers after weeks.
Spinach- all seeds germinated in about a week and grew fast. It was harvested after a month.
KangKong- all seeds germinated in 5 days and grew very fast. it was harvested after 3 and a half weeks.

Chilli padi:
The group felt that the other seeds did not germinate because they were spoilt or were eaten up by birds that flew past the shed. Therefore, only the 2 other lucky ones germinated. In the project, we could still tell that it grew the slowest beacuse the 2 that germinated grew really slowly and after the project ended, there were still no flowers that could potentially develop into chilli padis. Also, the height of the seedling remained at about 3 cm throughout the entire few months.

Japanese cucumber:
The plant grew tall fast but took a long time to flower. Later, as the project was coming to an end, we saw 2 cucumbers and 1 yellow flower developing after not checking on our plant for a long time.

Spinach:
It grew fast since it was planted and could be harvested after a month which was faster than the cucumber but slower than the kangkong. It was probably faster because there was no fruit and could be directly harvested as a whole plant.

Kangkong:
It grew the fastest as compared to the rest of the other plant types and was harvested after 3 and a half weeks. It was about the same as the spinach in terms of height and looks.

Reflections:
We learnt how simple it was to grow vegetables using the hydroponics kit and learnt how it could be implemented in the growth of crops in Singapore. Though everything grew in just one styrofoam box, it grew fast, without maintenance.

Reflections on hydroponics (Gracia Lee 2-1)

When we started on the hydroponics kits given during class, it was very difficult to set it up. That is because we had to fill up the entire styrofoam box with 9 litres of water mixed with a certain amount of nutrient that must be measured carefully. This is to allow the seeds to germinate and for the plant to grow properly. After that, the japanese cucumber, kangkong, pinach and chilli seeds are planted in tiny pots and left alone at the school's shed to grow. The seeds germinated in about 5 days time and no maintenance was needed. For example, we did not to replenish the amount of nutrients or water in the box and only needed to visit it once a week to check how well it's growing. The first crop ready to harvested was the kangkong, followed by the spinach then the japanese cucumber. However, the chilli padi did not really grow at all. Its seeds germinated many weeks after the germination of the other kinds of seeds but there was no progress. The kangkong and spinach grew easily and could be harvested fast because it was not like the cucumber that needed a bloomed flower to develop into the vegetable itself. The box used also did not take up much space in the shed and many other groups could also place theirs there. To save more space and to look neater, I felt that we could make use of a shelve to put the boxes though it might be hard to check on the plants later on. However, this can be done, as it requires very little maintenance such as not needing to water the plant or fertilising it manually. From growing the hydroponics, I learnt that it is a fast and good way to grow vegetables in Singapore since we do not have much land available here. Also, hydroponics is a form of high-tech farming. This, it is better than the traditional way of farming and requires little maintenance. The crops are grwon fast and saves space. Therefore, I feel that growing hydroponics in Singapore is a good idea and should be implemented further in other countries and seen more often in Singapore. Overall, I enjoyed the hydroponics-growing project, foung it interesting and lernt many useful pointers from it.