Hello,

I'm interested in growing hydroponic greens mainly lettuce and pai tsai. Target is for home consumption and later on a bit of commercial selling.

I have read that a lot of people use rockwool to germinate and later on use it as the base for the plant itself. I live in the Philippines and I'm not sure where to get it. My main concern is cost.

In the past what I do is germinate the seeds by putting them in a wet cloth and folding it twice then putting them in a container to keep the cloth damp. Then after 2 to 3 days I manually transfer them to little square foams i cut out from old bed mattresses. The problem is during the transfer i manage to kill some of the seedling because of mishanlding or installing them on the foam too high and it dries up.

Has anybody had experience in germinating seeds directly in the foam? Or a really CHEAP alternative to my foam technique is appreciated.

Feel free to comment or ask questions.

Here is a pic of those pai tsai that survived my "manhandling" them during the transfer. hehe The round brown things are hydrocorn.

Here is a bigger pic of my self made ebb and flow nursery from tuna fish styrofoam.