Botany lab nine: A visit to the hydroponic facility

On 5 March the botany class visited the hydroponic facility.


Class photo at the facility.

The process begins with rockwool. Rockwool is shipped in from abroad, but coconut husk is potentially a local substitute.


Holes have to be made in the rockwool.

The grow lights in the germination area are on for 15 minutes every hour.


Seeds are put in the holes and then the seedlings are germinated under the grow lights.


Germinated lettuce. Some seeds come from Pohnpei state agriculture, others are shipped in from abroad.


Spec sheets detail the pH for the water for different plants.

Macro and micronutrients in various fertilizer compounds. 


Table of parts per million of solutes recommended for different plants. 

The above meter determines only overall parts per million of solutes, not individual NPK levels.

The fertilizer currently in use was a local on island purchase. 


The weekly schedule.


Once germinated, the plants are moved to nursery tray start growing.

A seedling in the nursery 

From the nursery the plants areoved to the main system racks.


Devron, Joana, Lee Sandra in the germination area


Benselyn looks back at the system racks.

The water recirculates with aeration occurring as the water returns to the pump. Roots need oxygen.


Devron and Thomas view the System 3 rack. These rack labels assist with tracking plant age and harvesting schedules.

The roof was recently replaced. Translucent roofing was replaced with transparent roofing. The lettuces grow better under full sun.

The translucent sheeting is still over the bok choy area behind the main greenhouse. The Bato or Dutch bucket system is a bucket based hydroponic system. Bato is a Dutch plastics manufacturer which made hydroponic buckets. 

Bato buckets allow the growing of plants whose roots are more extensive and which would clog up a pipe based hydroponic system. Here cucumbers are being sprouted for the Bato system.

Kaetani views the line of Bato buckets.


The Bato buckets are fed by a common line and the water system is recirculating.

Joana stands by the fan. Unlike lettuce, cucumbers will need to be fertilized to produce cucumbers. The fan will assist in this. 

The Bato buckets will include hydroton, clay pebbles, also referred to as Light Expanded Clay Aggregate (LECA). Hydroton have air-holding capacity and help prevent deoxygenation zones from developing. 

Out in the back greenhouse is bok choy.

This us a slightly different type of pipe and system.

Seedlings.


Close-up of a bok choy seedling.


Water recirculation for bok choy. Aeration occurring. 

My thanks to the Center for Entrepreneurship and a special thanks to the team at the facility for the excellent and informative tour!

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