The lecture on blog writing was taken by Suvarna madam in Vigyan Ashram
How to write a blog about our projects? how to login? create account and login images of our project at blog and we disccussed about vermi wash composter topic and other general topics related projects and also gone through privious students blogs and it was our second day in the ashram (19/July/2022)
INTRODUCTION
Verm wash is an organic drainage obtained from units of vermicompost. The water that contain some amount of bio slurry passes through the vermiculture, resulting in washing of the live and dead earthworms, soil microorganisms and decomposed organic matter, carries all the dissolved substances. It is rich in dissolved nutrients and amino acids and therefore, is a good source for plant nutrients in organic agriculture
NEED OF PROJECT
Vermi wash plays an important role in the plant growth and development, contribute to initiation of rooting , root growth, plant development, promotion growth rate and improvement in crop production increasing the soil organic ,matter and increase in nutrient content
ADVANTAGES
1) it acts as biofertilizers, restores soil nutrients, stabilizes soil, and enhances soil fertility at a long-term period.
2) it attends to social issues and recycles waste.
3) it is shown to be a profitable enterprise as a circular economy.
OBJECTIVES
- To refurbish the old compost wash system.
- To monitoring the system regularly.
- The worms should sustain
- To get the washed water and to give it to the plants and observe the growth of the plant
REQUIRED MATERIAL
Mechanical
1.MS sheet
2.Steel rod
3.Crate
4.Polysheet
5.PVC pipe
6.Reservior.
Electrical
7.18-WATT Submersible Motor/Pump
FLOWCHART
2D DRAWING
We made an 2d design on plain sheet to prepair the system in workshop.And our design looks like this
EMPATHY
The system was some difficult to handle.
1.The water we spread on crate it was fall down not in reservoir.
2. The space where we wanted to spread the water was small so our hands could not get inside the section as there was a crate near the roof.
3. So we again designed system by doing some wildings and fitting screws
Dixit Sir and we all discussed on Simple national renewable sources. eg. Sun, Photosynthesis. And also discussed about how sun is important in our life. After that we gone though the process of admission and also they told us about the rules and regulation of Vigyan Ashram. Then we visited all the location in Vigyan Ashram and collected the information about the vegyan ashram.
After the discussion Dr.Dixit given us topics for presentation and my topic was gasification
Bill of material.
After that projects were given to us by the Dr.Dixit and the project assigned to me was of Vermi wash composter by bio slurry method.
- we overviewed the Vermi wash system.
- Then we gone through the blogs of other students to know what is Vermi wash
- after getting some basic knowledge of it we started working on it
PROBLEM
1.The water we were pouring into that crate was falling down.
2.Due to the small gap between the roof and the crate for spreading water, the hand did not go inside the system.
3.System was small in height
SOLUTION
We done some modification in the old system.
Done wildings were it was necessary to do. After that we increased some height of the system and the old system was manually operated and we done it automatically by installing the DOAT timer and allowed ton flow the water 16 time in 24 hours.
After that we recognized the motor is not in the condition then opened the motor cleaned it with fresh water and wiped it with the clean cloth and installed the mater to the system and mater system to run again. But the motor was stopping continuously. then we bought a new motor and installed it in the system then there was no any problem in the system.
Preparation
- Collecting Dry Leaves (Brown bio mass) and putting in Crates
- putting Crates in vertical order on Vermi wash setup
The brown bio mass wet so we left it in the system as it is for some days to remove the water contains from the bio mass. We were just watching every day the condition of the bio mass is it requires any other supplement for getting dry.
There was an exhibition in the ashram on 29th & 30th of July 2022 on the Condolence meet of Dr. S. S. Kalbag sir who established Vigyan Ashram the center of Indian Institute of Education (IIE) Pune in 1983. We started preparing for it. and also observed the Vermi wash system is it become dry or not. The bio mass present in there carets were not fully dried so we lasted be as it is for some more time. We shifted our system in the polyhouse and reassembled it. continuously monitoring was necessary. And also learned to operate the DOAT time
we again moved the system from the polyhouse to its position and after that we collected the information about the worms from were to buy it how much it will cost to us and and gone at place named JATEGAON which is almost 16 km away from the ashram for bringing the worms. After bringing them we put them in a tray and lated bee after some time we moisture the tray in very low amount so that the works can be able to live
We collected the dry bio slurry from the bio gas plant which is the out let or the remained part of the bio gas .It is very necessary in my project. This slurry is very help full for the growth of the earthworms. it has necessary nutrients for the worms and the worms can live in the mixture of bio slurry and moist soil easily.
Preparation of Mixture
we collected the dry leaves or brown bio mass in three carets and put it on the system so that moisture contained in the leaves can be removed and give bio slurry liquid to 3 carets and lated to dry again. After that we bought earthworms around 1 kg.
Today we only observed the system and situation of the system is it dry or wet is the earthworms are growing properly or not. after the observation we told to Dr.Dixit that the earthworms are growing but the bio mass still as it is. it is not becoming blackish in color. so he told us to just give it bio slurry liquid and observe it for more 10 12 days
helped in marketing and cutting workshop
After that we attended the meeting in the memorial hall
Observed the system is it dry or wet
After that we have put the earthworms it 3 carets separately
Helped in workshop
collected bio slurry and given to all the 3 carets
we separated the carets from the system
after an hour we again put it in the system in verticals position
after that helped in workshop to other interns
Group discussion on the topic Nitrogen with Dr.Dixit
Observed the system
Collected and given bio slurry
Helped Samarth to do welding and making stand for the slurry bag
Dismantled the metal rack
Gone in village to bought some polish paper
Polished it with the help of polish paper
Discussion on general topics with Dr.Dixit
After the discussion i observed the Verm wash system and rotated some water for about 15 minutes manually beacuse my timer is not working
done only observation and daily rotated water for 15 minutes form 18/08 to 01/09
- added 30 liters of water in the tray
- given water for 15 minutes manually
- after that I collected that water in a 30 liters of tray
- after that I took some 500ml of wash water to check the TDS
- after that i maintained the TDS of the 500ml of Vermi wash water
- pH of the Vermi wash water is=7.3
- TDS of vemi wash=1680
- EC=3367
- after maintaining TDS =1001
- I added about 620ml of water to maintain the TDS of 500ml of wash water.
The flood and drain system was given to me. Previously this system was handled by AJAY PATIL. Now this system or the project is hand overed to me.
So I studied about the system read the previous students blogs and got some knowledge about it.
Today I discussed with Dr.Dixit sir about which plants should be planted in the system.
The system was not well maintained. So I firstly removed it’s net and the extra bars over the system and there was so material were on the system so I removed that all.
Review by Kulkarni sir
Added 5 litters of bio slurry in Vermi wash system.
Circulated water for about 30 min in Vermi wash system
After getting the Vermi wash I measured the pH, TDS and the EC of the Vermi wash
Washed the flood and drain system
Studied about the system
Circulated water in Vermi wash system for about 30 min
Braked the bricks and put in the system’s bucket
Discussed with Dixit sir about which plants should be planted in the flood and drain system and after the discussion we decided to plant 2 chilly plants 2 plants of tomato and 1 plant of pumpkin
After that I meet to the bhanudas sir who is the incharge of agriculture and asked him about the plants then he said we only have the plants of chilly now and other plants to be bought from the market
There was no pump and timer was available so I don’t planted the plants early because the plants should be given water after every half an hour so it would become so difficult to me to run after every 30 min to put the water in the buckets.
Circulated the vermiwash in the vermiwash system for about 30 min
After Circulation of vermiwash we collect it in the 25 litters of tray after I took some sample of the vermiwash in the bottel and gone to check the tds ec and the ph of the vermiwash in soil lab.
TDS= 1239 EC= 2471 PH= 8.4
After that I maintained the TDS of the wash to the 1000. To maintain the TDS I have to add the normal water in the vermiwash. I added around 30 litters of water in the 25 litters of vermiwash to maintain its TDS.
After maintaining the TDS of vermiwash I collected the 25 litters of the vermiwash in 97 litters of big tub which is present in the polyhouse and also added 30 litters of water in it and checked the TDS of it and it was 1000
Braked Bricks and put in the buckets previously putted bricks were Braked very small so I have to make the media again. I have to use the bricks media instead of soil to grow the plants
Taken 2 3 trails of it to check how much time does it requires to get all 5 buckets to full and it is about 58 sec.
Prepared the bill of materials of flood and drain system
After that approved by the Suvarna mam.
After the approval of bill of material mm told to make the sketch of the system
After the sketch i planted the plants in the flood and drain system
2 plants of chilly 2 plants of tomato and one bucket was empty because there was not availability of the pumpkin plant
Discussed with the Suvarna mam about the timer then mam asked to used the Arduino and relay so mam gave me the Arduino and timer. after that started doing coding with the help of mrunal
after some time we completed the coding so we uploaded it in the Arduino but the program was not working properly.
observation of the vermi wash system
ARDUINO & RELAY
Arduino UNO Program
#define relaypin 5
unsigned long value = 0;
long value1 = 0;
void setup() {
pinMode(relaypin, OUTPUT);
Serial.begin(9600);
}
void loop() {
digitalWrite(relaypin,LOW);
//Serial.println(“MOTOR ON”);
for(value1 = 0; value1<=80; value1++)
{
Serial.print(value1);
Serial.println(“motor on “);
delay(1000);
}
digitalWrite(relaypin, HIGH);
value1 = 0;
for(value = 0; value<=1800; value++)
{
Serial.print(value);
Serial.println(“motor off “);
delay(1000);
}
value = 0;
}
I have to take 3 4 trails everyday because the climate is not same every day. Sometimes the buckets requires 100 sec to get full and with the 100 sec sometimes the buckets are overflow. So I need to check it daily and if the buckets need less time to get full then i have to do change the time and again needs to upload it in ther Arduino.
Prepared another coding for the Arduino and relay
Checked the connectivity in relay and attached the motor and power supply to the motor and to the Arduino
Taken trails but the motor was working even when the Arduino’s power supply is off. So we have to change the program again.
Studied about relay and got some basic knowledge of relay by Suvarna mam. And checked the Relay’s Volt and connectivity using multimeter
Made an Another program for Arduino
Also made an algorithm of the system
After that I changed the chilly plant with the gavar plant because on this day Dr.Dixit And Ranjith were came for the observation in polyhouse and both of them saw my flood and drain system and observed that the chilly plant is having some bacteria growth so they suggested me to try to grow gavar plant.
Circulated Verm wash to the flood and drain system manually for around 8 9 times
Circulated water in Verm wash system for 30 min
Prepared new program and uploaded it in the Arduino
After that attached the motor and relay and Arduino together to take some trails and to check is it working or not
After some trails we noticed that the motor is not working properly and the motor was getting start after the delay of 1 min and stays on for half an hour and after 30 min motor gets off for only 1 min.
I told mam that the relay is not getting current to the so mam gave me new relay and Arduino.
Uploaded program in new Arduino
Taken some trails but it was not working properly
Mam came to check and told to upload the old program and took trails. The motor was again started after the delay of 1 min and gets started for 30 min and gets off for 1 min
After trails I told to Suvarna mam about this, mam made new program and gave me and asked to upload and to take the trails.
Uploaded the program in Arduino and took some trails and observed that it was getting start and getting off again and not starting again after delay of 1 min
on this day I told Dixit sir about the growth of the gavar plant that the gavar plant is not in good condition
After that I taken manual trails of the system and calculated how much time does the system’s bucket required to get full.
Attached Arduino in the system
Helped Vaishnavi in her project
Circulated Vermi wash in Vermi wash system
Weekly Review
After that changed Arduino’s program timing from 50 sec to 70 sec
Taken 3 trails
weekly Review
Measured TDS before maintaining the TDS of vermiwash and dilute of water.
Maintained the TDS of the Vermi wash which was present in the 97 litters of tub
Given pesticides to the system’s gavar plants
Observed the flood and drain system
Completed the bill of material of metal rack
Tried to attach the old motor to the lateral
Had an discussion with Dixit sir about the growth of gavar plant. I told to sir that the gavar plant is not suitable for the vermiwash and he suggested me to remove them and to take observation on 1 chilly plant and 1 of brinjal.
Replaced the gavar plant with the brinjal plant
Observed the flood and drain system and took the observations
Observed the flood and drain system
Measured the TDS of the Vermi wash in 97 litters
Observed the flood and drain system
Bought a new 18v pump from the market
Had brinjal on the system’s plant
Circulated Vermi wash in Vermi wash system
Prepared 2d drawing of the system
Observed the flood and drain system
Circulated the water in Vermi wash system
Observed the plants growth in flood and drain system
Helped vaishnavi in her project
Prepared the sketch of the box
Prepared rough diagrams of the box.
Prepared the model on the cardboard paper
Firstly printed on cardboard paper to take the trail
Then made the box with the help of laser cutter of the acrylic material
assumed the box parts and assumed it with the help of gum/ glue
Observed the flood and drain system
Attached the box to the Arduino
Taken trail but the program was deleted and the motor was not working
Added Vermi wash in Vermi wash system
Measured TDS of Vermi wash TDS=1120,PH=8.4,EC=2164
Maintained the TDS of it to 1000
After that stored it in a 97 litters of tub and added some amount of water in it
Took measurements for the solar fencing
Uploaded program in the Arduino with some changes
Added 1 ml of micro nutrients in the 97 litters of tub because of magnesium deficiency in chilly plant
Observed the flood and drain system
Took information about the plants curly does plants does curl l.
Measured TDS of the Vermi wash present in 97 litters of tub
Observed the flood and drain system and told to Dr.Dixit sir so he told to remove the Vermi wash and add the fresh water in 97 litters of tub
Added 5 medium sized buckets of fresh water
Again observed and adjusted the pipe in flood and drain system
Measured TDS of fresh water ,soil lab water and the Vermi wash.
Observed the flood and drain system
Circulated Vermi wash in Vermi wash system
Observed the flood and drain system
Circulated Vermi wash in Vermi wash system
Observed the flood and drain system
Circulated Vermi wash in Vermi wash system
After that removed the carets from the system to check the growth of earthworms
The worms are in good condition and they are alive
There was brown bio mass in it. Now it is been decomposed
Today was our technical review
firstly i observed my flood and drain system because some times there is power cut off or the main supply remains off.if it is off then the Arduino also gets of. If the supply not comes then i pour water in the system manualy.so i check it daily. After that I took some trails and the water was falling down from the buckets so I removed the Arduino and changed its timing.
Observed the flood and drain system.
These are by 2 plants of tomatos.The plants are not so healty, but they are growing and becoming bigger in size and also getting matured.
This was my 4th time to plant the chilli plants in the system. The plants were not healthy and they were growing till 4 5 meter and the getting dead. So I noticed the daily observations. In above picture the small plant can be seen dead and the 1st plant can been seen healthy. These is the comparison between 2 plants which were planted on the same day. The right side plant is getting dead day by day.
The BRINGAL plant is healthy.but it has white spots on the leaves and also having less growth.
Observed the flood and drain system and also the growth of the plants. Also observed if the buckets are getting full in time or not. But the buckets were not getting full it was remaining 15%. So I removed the Arduino and again changed the timing.and took some trails but then also the buckets were not getting full. Then I removed arduino from the system and took the trail manually and noted down the time with help of stopwatch. After I took the Arduino with me and changed the time again and attached it again to the system with the motor.
After that I took some more trails and it was working properly.
There was a Diwali Holidays from 21/10/22 to 26/10/22. On 27th of October I came and observed the system.
Problem
There was power cut off in the polyhouse
The plants in the system were not healthy
The plants were likely to be dead
The water in the 97 litters of was less than the average
The drip system in vermiwash was not working properly.
Solution
I gave fresh water to the system until i collect the vermiwash. Firstly I took the measurements of the vermiwash system to make the new drip for the vermiwash system. And started to work on it. After finishing that I took some trails and then the drip was working. After that I circulated vermiwash for about 30 min. And measured the TDS of it but it was too low because I were added the fresh water in it.
I circulated the vermiwash in vermiwash system for about 2 hours in a day and measured the TDS and tds was about 1623. After that I stored it in the Big tube so that I can use it afterwards. And maintained the TDS to 1000 ppm.
The chilly plant in my system.
The chilli plant was dead. It was my 4th plant that dead.
Observation
The chilly plant cannot be grown on vermiwash through bio slurry method.
daily observations of flood and drain system and vermiwash system
the Tomato plants in the flood and system was matured and there steams were falling down so i tired them with thin rope
Modified the drip system in vermiwash system
Circulated vermiwash in vermiwash system.after collected and stored it in bucket. Measured the TDS of vermiwash.
Maintained the TDS of vermiwash and stored it in the tube
changed Arduino timing and taken some trails.
Circulated vermiwash in vermiwash system for about 30 min and measured the TDS and it was about 1590 ppm.
The bio mass in the vermiwash system was likely not available because it was decomposed by the worms. So collected bio mass from the ashram and put it in the all three caret
Started making the stand for 3rd system in which tomato and chilly plants will be grown through chemical process.
observed the flood and drain system and the plants.
I observed the Tomato plants carefully and i noticed that the plants are now in flowering stage
Yet all the buds were not fully opened and some of them was just a new bud.
circulated and collected the vermiwash in 25 liters of tube
Measured the TDS pH and Ec of it.
Tds-1064 ppm
pH – 7.8
Ec – 2132
Then diluted it with the fresh water having tds of 350 ppm and maintained the TDS of vermiwash to 1000ppm.
After that I remove d the old Maintained vermiwash from the 97 litters of tub and added the new one.
I sprayed mgso4 on the plants because there was a mageneous deficiency in the plants
How to make it?
Add 1g of mgso4 in 1 litter of fresh water and shake it well.
Observed the flood and drain system and the growth of plants.
Today i noticed that,some of the buds are open now and they are getting matured.
Circulated vermiwash in vermiwash system.
Observed the flood and drain system.
There is some water loss due to the humid climate. So sometimes the buckets requires less time to get and some time it requires more time. So I have to take atleast 3 trails everyday to maintain the water supply to plants.
Also noticed that the water level of the tube is less that average so i circulated vermiwash in vermiwash system to get the vermiwash.after that i checked the TDS of vermiwash which was in Big tube and its TDS were gone up from 780 ppm to 789 ppm, pH 8.44, Ec 1575
After maintaining tds i poured the maintaied vermiwash in 97 litters of tube.
Today i noticed that there were so many buds on the tomato plants and some of them was young ones.
And some of them were just open and remaining were bloomed.
Observed the flood and system and also the growth of the plants
checkede the tds of the tube water and it was about 790 ppm ph was 8.53 and the ec was about 1579.
after i observed that the water in the tube is less than the level so i poured some water and aslo maintained the ppm of water present in the big tube
Observed the flood and drain system. And the growth of the plants.
while observing the tomato plant I noticed that their is a growth in tomato plants. there is growth of new leaves.And they are healthy.
The tomato plants were having new buds and the old buds were opened and some new were just opening.
After that I measured the TDS of water present in the big tube. TDS =778 pH=8.37 Ec= 1559.
After that I observed the brinjal plant and noticed that it also have growth of new leaves and the brinjal plant is also matured.
Observed Deficiency In Tomato Plant.
Since potassium is very mobile within the plant, symptoms only develop on young leaves in the case of extreme deficiency. Some of the leaves show marginal necrosis (tip burn), and at a more advanced deficiency status show inter-veinal necrosis. This group of symptoms is very characteristic of K deficiency symptoms. As the deficiency progresses, most of the interveinal area becomes necrotic, the veins remain green and the leaves tend to curl and crinkle. In contrast to nitrogen deficiency, chlorosis is irreversible in potassium deficiency, even if potassium is given to the plants.
Correction Measure: Foliar application of K2SO4 @1%.
Observed the flood and drain system. also the growth of the plants.
the tomato plants were not standing properly so i bought some sticks and tied it with the tomato plant to make them stand.
after that i observed the brinjal plant and noticed that one of the bud of the plant is opened now and the another were not open yet they were getting mature.
After that we discussed with Dixit about the growing alage on the bricks present in the buckets. And sir told us to cover the upper surface of the buckets with the thermocol ring or with the foil paper.
the thermocol was not available so i decided to cover it with the help of silver foil paper.
Observed flood and drain system and the growth of the plants.
While observing the tomato plant i noticed that there were 2 small tomatoes on 1 plants and the another plant was having nothing.The another plant was just having new buds and some were opened.
Now the plants condition is like this. Wether it is due to the High tds or due to the High temperature in the polyhouse. The tomato plants requires temperature upto 32°C and the brinjal plant requires temperature upto 36°C.
The brinjal plant was having so many new buds and some them were opened fully.
As a observation the tomato plant requires tds between 700 to 800 ppm. And the brinjal requires tds between 900 to 1000 ppm to grow well on vermiwash.
Measured TDS in Tube Tds-940 and i maintained it to 750 ppm
Observed the flood and drain system and also observed the growth of the plants.
Today i noticed that there are many small tomatoes on the plant and much more buds.
Some of the buds were just young and some were blooming and some were having just grown Tomato.
Observed the flood and drain system. And the growth of the plants.
Again tied the Tomato plants with rope because the plant was not having balance and it was not straight.
the tomatoes was bigger in size than yesterday. And there was some new tomatoes and they were around 4-5.
The brinjal plant was having more than 5 buds and 3 were fully opened.
Observed the flood and drain system and also the growth of the plants.
the tomato plant was so helaty and the plant was growing nicely. It was having some new buds on the plant.
circulated vermiwash in vermiwash system.
Checked the TDS of vermiwash present in the Big tube. And it was about 900 ppm after that i added some amount of fresh water in it and maintained its TDS to 700 ppm.
Final observations
- The gavar plant cannot be grown in the flood and drain system
- Tomato plant grows very well in the bio slurry vermiwash
- Chilly plant doesn’t grows in the bio slurry vermiwash
- Brinjal plant grows very good in the bio slurry vermiwash
- tomato plant usually requires temperature between 32°c and the brinjal plant requires temperature upto 35°c.
- tomato plant requires low tds upto 700 to 800 ppm
- brinjal plant requires high tds upto 1000 to 1200 ppm to grow well.
Conclusion
In flood and drain system which is run on vermiwash, we can sustain the plants by just giving vermiwash without using chemical fertilizers. Gavar and chilly does not grows in that system and tomatoes and Brinjal grows very good. The tomato plants grows fast than other plants. Palak also grow very good in the system.In vermiwash system we can sustain and grow worms very well.
