Comments on Group Blog Posts about Hydroponics thingys (:
Comments on blog post by (http://geographytheearth.blogspot.com/) (Gracia, Tabitha, Kimberly, evangel) :
My group's chilli padi also germinated slowly and not all the seeds grew into plants. even so, it took an extremely long time to grow. after waiting for so long, there was still no fruit. we thought maybe it was because there was something wrong with the seeds, like they were infertile or something.
As for the cucumber seeds, all of our seeds also germinated. in fact, if i compare our cucumber plant to those from the other groups as i've observed, ours grew the biggest and the longest, and at one point had 20 over flowers. i know right. but unfortunately, no cucumber.
similarly to gracia's group's spinach, we harvested them after a month and they seemed pretty healthy and strong.
our kang kong seeds also germinated quickly but after a while, the growing process slowed down a little bit. we aren't sure why though, as other groups' kang kong seemed to have grown quite well.
i think all of our groups agree that through this experience of growing hydroponics plants, we learnt that it is acvtually very simple and efficient to farm using technology.
however, in Gracia's group blog post, they wrote that "it grew fast, without maintenance". i somewhat disagree with the second part. yes, our plant did grow fast but it did require a substantial amount of attention. for example, i had to follow the instructions given on the paper to make a pesticide for the plants. at one point, my group's plants were infested but i used the pesticide so the ants went marching away. i occasionally had to top up the water in the box as well. the roots were very fibrous and long. they probably absorbed lots of water.
i have also learnt that such growth of crops can be used in Singapore as well. this type of farming is fast and simple, though the price of farm chemicals, machinery, research and development is rather high, output per unit area is high and thus i guess the money is put to good use.
Comments on blog post by (http://geography-matter.blogspot.com/) (Kimberley Lim, Jiayu, Nicole)
Unlike Nicole's group's plants, my group's plants grew faster and germinated more quickly. i'm not sure why, but maybe they did something wrong? or we did something wrong to improve the rate of growth. like they put there, after a week, only some of the seeds had germinated. however, for our plants, at least 2 of each type of seed had germinated. I think that the group people should have paid more attention to their plants and regularly check up on them to make sure that they have sufficient water and nutrients and that there are no pests.
I feel that to help the plants to regain strength to stand up again on their own, maybe that could have stuck some chopsticks into the soil so that the plants can rest against it. this would also help the flowing of liquids and food substances in the plant, therefore it will grow faster and better.
Adding more nutrients into the solution might not be the answer to helping the growth of the plants. Adding more nutrients into the plant may cause the water concentration in the solution to be too low. this will lead to the plant being flaccid and flimsy. the plant will therefore be more prone to wilting and dehydration.
I agree with the statement about hydroponics kit being environmentally friendly. they can be used over and over and overwithout having to dispose any rubbish that may impose as a threat to the wellness of the world. and global warming.
I also agree that attaining the right proportions for the solution is tough as the amounts that are re-added into the box are irregular and inconsistent. maybe a way to simplify matters is to consistently and regularly top up, say about 100ml of water each time and follow the right ratios. However, I disagree with the statement when they say that aeroponics is better than hydroponics. i don't think that hydroponics is better either. i feel that they are both of equal efficient and cost. aeroponics will require labour to harvest the plants from a height, however, as for hydroponics, everything is at a comfortable level to pluck. (:
I think that high tech farming might just be the solution for the world to overcome this great obstacle of food shortage. And it might also be the answer to Singapore's quest to be more independent in the production of food.