HYDROPONICS (DEEP WATER CULTURE)

Hydroponics : Hydroponic is a method of growing plants using nutrient-rich water rather than soil.

There various type system of hydroponics:

Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)
Deep water Culture (DWC)
Flood and Drain
Aeroponics
Drip irrigation
Vertical Hydroponics
- In Vigyan Ashram has two systems:
- 1.Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)
- 2.Deep Water Culture ( DWC)

Nutrient Film Technique: Nutrient film technique is a hydroponic technique where in a very shallow stream of water containing all the dissolved nutrients required for plant growth is re-circulated past the bare roots of plants in a watertight gully, also known as channels.

Deep water Culture: In a deep water culture method, also known as the raft method or floating system, the nutrient-rich water is circulated through long canals at a depth of about 20 cm while rafts (usually polystyrene) float on top. Plants are supported within holes in the rafts by net pots.

19/11/24

This Project DWC was given to me by prasad sir.

Lettuce is being produced in DWC method in Vigyan ashram, Before the project was given to me, the lettuce plantation was done. For the first time I was going to take the measurements of the trees, first of all three trees in each sheet were tied with three different colored rubber bands so that the trees from which the readings were to be taken could be identified.

(Note: Yellow colored rubber band – 1st , Red colored rubber band – 2nd , Green colored rubber band – 3rd)

20/11/24

Today I measured the height of lettuce leaves and roots and checked the EC & Ph in tank A, B, &C with the help of EC meter.

Tank C	Root height (cm)	leaf height (cm)
1	18	16
2	23	18
3	23	16

Tank	EC	PH
A	1673	6.83
B	1776	7.10
C	1990	7.93

Then the damaged lettuce leaves were removed.
1.583 kg from Tank A Bad leaves were removed and 2.29 kg of leaves were removed from tank B

22/11/24

As the EC in tank A and tank B fell below 2000, 50% dosing was done in tank A and tank B

	Tank A	1650 liter water	Tank B	1580 liter water
1	Calcium Nitrate	214.5 gm	Calcium Nitrate	205.4 gm
2	D.A.P	43.725 gm	D.A.P	41.87 gm
3	Potassium Nitrate	511.5 gm	Potassium Nitrate	489.8 gm
4	Magnesium sulphate	342.375 gm	Magnesium sulphate	327.85 gm

23/11/24

	EC	PH
A	1928	6.91
B	2093	7.19
C	2045	8.19

Since the EC in tank A is less than 2000, 25% dosing was done in tank A

	Tank A	1650 liter water
1	Calcium Nitrate	107.25 gm
2	D.A.P	21.86 gm
3	Potassium Nitrate	255.75 gm
4	Magnesium sulphate	171.187 gm

24/11/24

EC and PH readings after dosing are as follows:

Tank	EC	PH
A	2076	6.75
B	2106	7.02
C	2079	8.09

Lettuce was harvested and given to the kitchen

27/11/24

Tank C	Root height (cm)	Leaf height (cm)
1	23	28
2	24	24
3	16	15

The water sample was taken to the soil lab to determine the TDS level in the borehole water. The TDS was measured with the help of an EC meter and found to be 124 PPM.

Here are some other TDS level for drinking water :

50-150 ppm – considered excellent for drinking

150-250 – considered good

250-300 – considered fair

300- 500 – considered unsafe

Above 1200 ppm – unacceptable

3/12/24