Pune-based IT professional grows vegetable without soil, without water in PET bottles
MEGHA MURKYA
31 DEC 2018 ,PUNE – Rudrarup, a Pune-based IT professional, who founded the Maker’s Club about two and a half years ago. Under this platform, several freelancers conduct workshops throughout the week and Rudrarup decided to use it to spread the joy of hydroponics to enthusiastic individuals.
What is Hydroponics?
Hydroponics is a process of growing plants in sand, gravel, or liquid, with added nutrients but without soil. Unlike aquatic plants only the roots of these plants are exposed to the mineral solution which has a balance of macronutrients (Nitrogen, Potassium, Phosphorus) and micronutrients (boron, calcium, magnesium etc.).
Further, the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and Ph balance are checked before growing plants in it.
Rudrarup uses old Chyawanprash cans, yoghurt cans, PET bottles, and even food delivery dabbas, he uses easily accessible home containers to make planters for his soil-less crops. Green leafy vegetables like spinach, mint, cilantro, basil, fenugreek, and others like lettuce, chillies and tomatoes, he grows them all on his balcony.
He learnt this from his father who was a mechanical engineer. His father used to read books on hydroponics and experimented and grew different leafy vegetables without soil.
After graduating when Rudrarup decided to return to farming nearly three years ago, he had lost all touch with hydroponics. He looked for workshops but found none. He spent nearly six months juggling his job and researching about the innovations in hydroponic farming. After which he started his own workshop. Initially, his first workshop had only 12 participants, but now the number had doubled.
His successful experiments have shown how hydroponics is better than regualr farming:
-you don’t have to own land to practice it.
-it completely eliminates the risks of any soil-borne diseases affecting your plants, thus ensuring healthy pest-free produce.
-farmers don’t have to fret over weeding, spraying fertilisers or pesticides, tilling, maintaining soil texture, or other arduous tasks.
-the growth of the crop is twice as fast with hydroponic gardening as nutrients are dissolved in water and directly fed to the roots.
-it uses just 1/20th of water compared to traditional soil-based gardening.
