Planting vegetables at home

MIRI: As a mother and chef of the house, it has become this reporter’s routine to buy groceries every week. Amid the slow economy, increase in fuel price and climate change, I have witnessed the rather drastic price increase of fruits and vegetables.

The idea of growing my own vegetables did cross my mind but I was often held back due to many reasons, including the hassle of handling soil, expensive fertilisers, pesticide control as well as the amount of time and energy needed to take care of the plants.

To James Phe, who first tried out the soilless planting method more than 20 years ago using a hydroponic starter-pack, planting vegetables at home is easy but yet at the same time, requires a lot of patience and effort.

“The problem with soil-based gardening is that I have to worry about the weeds and soil-borne pests that require me to constantly fertilise the soil. If I use commercialised gardening methods, my aim to plant organic vegetables would fail terribly.

“Not to mention the heavy digging, the composition of soil, the amount of water required etc.,” Phe told The Borneo Post during an interview recently.

Phe said he did some research on hydroponic gardening methods which require continuous monitoring on the amount of water and sunlight for the vegetables to grow.

“Without the need of using soil which is substituted by liquid nutrients comprising nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and trace elements, hydroponics requires a shorter time to grow plants and less pesticide.

“Cost-wise, it really depends on how one wants the hydroponic system to be set up. In a full specification, the initial cost for the whole set is pretty high. For an automatic watering system, electricity is required to support the system.”

For the first 10 years, Phe grew many different kinds of vegetables like tomatoes, mustard, lettuce and eggplants as well as fruits using hydroponic systems which his wife helped to mind.

After his wife passed away, he buried himself in his day job as a manpower supplier in the oil and gas industry and his gardening hobby was put aside along with his many memories of his wife.

“I retired more than a couple of years ago, and since I had nothing to do, I figured that perhaps, it was time for me to pick up where I had left off.”

This time, Phe said he ventured into the technology of aquaponics, a method he found to be much more efficient compared to hydroponics.

“Aquaponics is a combination of aquaculture and hydroponics technology by growing plants and fish in one integrated system. My experience with hydroponics makes it easier for me.

“The fish waste provides an organic food source for the growing plants and the plants become a natural filter for the water, supplying clean, purified water back into the fish tank.

“Within the system, microbes convert the ammonia from the fish waste into nitrites as food for the plants. This is not only a great way to capitalise on the benefits, it also helps cut down the cost of maintenance and saves water,” he said.

However, the fish had to be taken care of first, he said.

“The environment may not be naturally healthy for the fish; therefore there is a need to use medicines like antibiotics to protect them.”

As fertiliser, he said he uses highly nutritious fish affluent instead of toxic chemical solutions to grow plants.

Another advantage of aquaponics is it uses much less water compared to soil-based gardening and also hydroponics, he added.

“It cuts down gardening chores by more than half, and I can focus on feeding my fish and harvesting the plants,” he said.

Higher ammonia may occur in the fish tank caused by fish urine and waste. In such conditions, Phe uses clay pebbles to serve as a bio-filter to efficiently convert ammonia to nitrite and then nitrate.

“Clay pebbles are also used as a growing medium, substituting for soil and also for producing useful bacteria for the plants.”

The clay pebbles, according to Phe, also keep the plant roots moist and well-aerated.

Every now and then, Phe receives visits from students wanting to learn about aquaponics.

Most recently were students from PACTS Education Clubhouse. He showed them the system he built from scratch and proudly showed them the healthy plants he had grown.

Phe’s gardening capacity stops at his home, as he plants vegetables for own consumption.

“Urbanisation and continuous housing development have reduced the availability of land. I highly recommend hydroponics or aquaponics to those who want to have more organic and healthy vegetables.”

His experience taught him that Miri’s water quality is good for aquaponics.

“Though the hydroponics gardening method was introduced here more than two decades ago, there are still people who are hesitant towards it. Some claim that the vegetables do not taste as nice as soil-based plants. It is actually up to one’s perception and acceptance,” he said.