Introduction

Did you know that 4 billion tons of food is produced per year and 1.3 billion tons of it goes to waste, while there are almost 1 billion people who go to bed hungry and about 350 million who are mal-nourished. Sad to think about really. The root cause of it is Capitalism. If money isn't being made, another route is taken. And that is why so many different communities are suffering from these food systems. A profit always need to be made. That's why there is so much inflation and food that was once cost-effective and accessible is now becoming less cost-effective and still accessible. But no-one is able to buy them. And as a result profit margins decrease which then leads to price increase or inflation. And so with this I am creating my own hydroponic system of growing plants without soil and hoping to help people to be inspired to do the same thing and help with the economic unstability and also the severe lack of food distribution that plagues our country. We have a variety of different plants that we can grow such as tomatoes, cilantro, lettuce, kale. And even plants that aren't native to the region you may be in as well. And this is all to help better our food systems that are in place and to help raise awareness of the Capitalism problem we have running rampant through our country.

Background

A little background knowledge for you. I was originally like any other boy in the world. Spending too much time on my Xbox, going outside but not taking advantage of the greenery around me until I met my WBL(Work Based Learning) teacher Mrs.Ferguson. She encoruaged me to take up this course. And as a result my eyes were opened and I was enlightened to the problem in today's world. I want to break the generational curse today of being ignorant. Not by choice but the design of the world today. And to do that I will be growing Habanero Peppers in my own home. And when I am done and cultivated my fruitage I will attempt to make my own hot pepper sauce because there is this scotch bonnet sauce my mom uses when cooking and I thought it would be a cool project. I do plan on growing more variety of things such as Kale, Lettuce, Tomatoes and other plants. And I encourage all to do this because in the long not only are you saving money but you are also enjoying the privledge of eating fresh produce grown in your'e very own home.

Project Overview

Now of course I can't just click my heels and make a hydroponic system magically appear like Dorothy. It takes time and planning and a whole lot of research.

Full Project Plan Available: Click Me

Budget

The budget was an intial $500. This was to buy all the materials nessecary to build my system. After the completion of the build and the start of my germination process. I will recieve an additional $250 to maintian my system.

Timeline

Natural growth time for Habanero Peppers is usually 60-90 days. It can go up to 110 days if you include the germination process. I will be utlizing a seed heating mat which speeds up the germination cycle exponentially. So I will be within that 60-90 day range.

Project Implementation

With the continuation of this project I will soon be adding 2 holes into the yellow lid and adding 2 of my habanero seeds utilizing 4 inch net cups and rockwell. I will be naming one of the seeds I Am Groot and the other will be named Yggdrasill.

Plant Detection and Health Assessment

Materials

My Home Farm System

For my home farm system I will be building a DWC system(Deep Water Culture) and I will be growing Scotch Bonnets/Habanero Peppers.

Challenges

April 26th, 2023 : Challenge #1

Finding enough space to build my home farm system. I had to move some things around to make space for the resivour and other things as well.

May 2, 2023 : Challenge #2

Coding my website to add a Case Study page and making it look presentable and appealing.

June 22, 2023 : Challenge #3

The temperature in my grow tent exceeded the required amount to grow the Habanero Peppers. The suggested amount is 70-80 degrees but my tent exceeded expectations and decided to be 85 degrees. So I have to find a way to decrease the temperature so that my peppers can grow beautifully.