Growing Green Chillies using Simplified Hydroponics

Growing Green Chillies using Simplified Hydroponics by Pritham 'MetalFarmer' D'Souza

• Green Chillies (Capsicum annuum) is one of the select few crops to be grown in almost all states of India and is largely exported worldwide.
• A green chilli is referred to as ' Hot' due to the presence of 'capsiacin' which is extracted and used in pepper sprays as a non lethal but effect irritant.
• excellent source of Vitamin A and also Iron, Potassium and Magnesium

• since the seeds are small, i sowed them in a plastic tub and watered using the Hydroponic Nutrient 'grow' which quickened the germination.
• as you can see the pics above, i managed to achieve 99 percent germination, which is not even possible in the field (just around 70 percent)

• for this post, i chose 1 plant and transplanted the same to a black colored pot which was made for hydroponics.
• i continued to give it "GROW" nutrient till flowering stage.
• the lush green look is due to the nutrients present in 'GROW'.

Flowering

• once flower buds were seen, i stopped giving it 'GROW' nutrient and switched over to "BLOOM" nutrient.
• BLOOM helps in fruit formation and prevents immature fruit drop and flower shedding.

• chillies take up to 60 days to flower , from the first day of transplanting and take another 30 to 40 days to produce yield in the field.
• here flowering was observed in less than 50 days and the first chillies were produced 3 weeks later.

• to prevent the incidence of pests, i regularly sprayed the plant using neem sprays.
• every morning, one must check the leaves for insect droppings and eggs and if seen must be removed immediately. fortunately i never encountered such problems after switching over to Simplified Hydroponics.

• now i get a regular supply of fresh, pesticide free tasty green chillies every alternate day. since my parents dont like spicy food, i just pluck one or two green chillies whenever required and add while cooking.
• this has stopped us from buying green chillies from the market, and storing them in the fridge for several days before using them. refrigeration dehydrates vegetables (makes them all wrinkled) and now thanks to SH we have a continuous supply of green chillies everyday.

Growing Amaranthus leafy Vegetable using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

Growing Amaranthus leafy Vegetable using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India by Pritham 'Metal Farmer' D'Souza

From Growing Amaranthus leafy Vegetable using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

• Please check to my earlier posts where i have shown how to make the grow tubs and the techniques and practices involved before starting.
  
• Amaranthus seeds are very small and so have to be gently sprinkled. A pinch or two of seeds is sufficient
• Germination is observed in 2 days
  

From Growing Amaranthus leafy Vegetable using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

• lush growth seen in 10 days
• Watering with nutrients should be done once a day, if temperatures are extremely hot, one can move the tub under a shade net or irrigate twice daily.

From Growing Amaranthus leafy Vegetable using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Amaranthus leafy Vegetable using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Amaranthus leafy Vegetable using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Amaranthus leafy Vegetable using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

• Lush green growth seen after 21 days. In field conditions Amaranthus is harvested between 20 to 30 days after sowing.

From Growing Amaranthus leafy Vegetable using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Amaranthus leafy Vegetable using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Amaranthus leafy Vegetable using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

• Harvesting is done by uprooting the entire plant as the whole plant is edible.
  
• Here we encourage stem cuttings keeping the stem 3 to 6 inches above the surface
• This allows lateral shoots to grow so harvesting can be done more number of times

From Growing Amaranthus leafy Vegetable using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

• Harvesting young plants is preferred since the stem and leaves are very succulent and juicy, however its more of a personal preference. Here the Amaranth variety used is 'Bangladesh' and even the older taller plants are as succulent as the young tender ones.

From Growing Amaranthus leafy Vegetable using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

• One plant kept for seed production. Here u can see the formation of the Inflorescence.
  

From Growing Amaranthus leafy Vegetable using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

• Appearance of more flower buds

From Growing Amaranthus leafy Vegetable using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

• Seed Buds seen. The inflorescence is cut off from the plant, sun dried and threshed to get the seeds which are black, smooth and round.
  

From Growing Amaranthus leafy Vegetable using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

• Photo of plant kept for seed production to be re used in Simplified Hydroponics

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All Images and Data by Pritham 'Metal farmer' D'Souza

Growing Okra Bhendi without soil using Simplified Hydroponics

Growing Okra Bhendi without soil using Simplified Hydroponics by Pritham 'Metal Farmer' D'Souza

From Growing Okra Bhendi without soil using Simplified Hydroponics

Okra seeds germination seen on dec 17, 2009

From Growing Okra Bhendi without soil using Simplified Hydroponics

germinated okra seeds

From Growing Okra Bhendi without soil using Simplified Hydroponics

Growth observed 15 days later

From Growing Okra Bhendi without soil using Simplified Hydroponics

Transplanted Seedlings

From Growing Okra Bhendi without soil using Simplified Hydroponics

Jan 31, 2010 fruiting and flowering seen 24 days after transplanting

From Growing Okra Bhendi without soil using Simplified Hydroponics

From Growing Okra Bhendi without soil using Simplified Hydroponics

From Growing Okra Bhendi without soil using Simplified Hydroponics

Maximum growth attained

From Growing Okra Bhendi without soil using Simplified Hydroponics

From Growing Okra Bhendi without soil using Simplified Hydroponics

From Growing Okra Bhendi without soil using Simplified Hydroponics

Developing Fruit buds

From Growing Okra Bhendi without soil using Simplified Hydroponics

Harvesting done every 3 days


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All images and data by Pritham Denzil D'Souza Padval

Growing Cowpea using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

Growing Cowpea beans (Vigna Unguiculata) using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India by Pritham 'Metal Farmer' D'Souza

From Growing Lentils without Soil using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Lentils without Soil using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Lentils without Soil using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Lentils without Soil using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Lentils without Soil using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Lentils without Soil using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Lentils without Soil using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Lentils without Soil using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Lentils without Soil using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Lentils without Soil using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Lentils without Soil using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Lentils without Soil using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Lentils without Soil using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Lentils without Soil using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Lentils without Soil using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Lentils without Soil using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Lentils without Soil using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

From Growing Lentils without Soil using Simplified Hydroponics in Mangalore, India

Watch the Slide Show here





All Images and Data by Pritham Denzil D'Souza