A citizen turns his house into a “reserve” for hydroponics

The citizen, Obaid Al Shamsi, turned his yard into a hydroponic farm. He grows plants and trees in water in innovative ways inside a glass house that he made and designed himself. He reaps fresh vegetables from it every day to meet the family’s needs, and distributes large quantities of the produce to friends and relatives. Al Shamsi stated that he launched… The project is called “The Reserve,” stressing that it saves 90% of the water used in agriculture.

In detail, Al Shamsi began hydroponics experiments on many plants about a year ago, and was able to succeed in growing more than one plant and seedling in water, in addition to inventing devices to measure the percentage of salts in the water, which made all the plants he planted grow and bear fruit throughout the year.

In hydroponics, he relied on organic solutions in the reserve that he created in his home garden on an area of ​​16 square metres. He imported seeds and seedlings from various Arab countries, in addition to local seedlings to enhance the values ​​of sustainability in agriculture, and began testing their cultivation in aquariums without adding any chemical fertilizers. Until he was able to produce sweet-tasting fruits, free of chemicals.

Al Shamsi told “Emirates Today” that he is currently working on creating a concentrated organic fertilizer from the moringa tree according to studies and experimental research that he is conducting himself, and currently he is seeking to popularize the idea of ​​indoor agriculture by launching a project that provides in every kitchen a hydroponic growing system for leaves such as watercress and parsley. Lettuce, and other leaves.

He pointed out that his home garden currently contains hundreds of seedlings and leafy plants in the process of growth, including those that are fruitful and ready to be picked, pointing out that he gave the name “the reserve” to this small farm, adding that it is considered one of the unique farms of its kind in the country, which grows plants in innovative ways. A fully automated system in the water.

He pointed out that his private reserve provides all the conditions for growing plants at any season of the year, without waiting for their original season, as he planted all kinds of seeds, including tomatoes, corn, figs, peppers, lemons, bananas, strawberries, and many other crops that are rarely found in the country.

Al Shamsi continued: “I succeeded in growing fruits, leaves, plants and trees that grow in rainy and hot countries, by allocating a suitable environment for their growth in the (reserve) in the correct manner, and currently it gives good production, sufficient for the needs of the home and relatives,” noting that thanks to the techniques he invented, he succeeded. In achieving a distinctive result that he did not expect.

He explained that he works in the Ajman Municipality, and the idea of ​​developing the municipality began when the UAE Innovation Month was announced by the country’s leadership. He pointed out that agriculture is a hobby of his since childhood, and he has been working all these years on developing a system to save water and reduce salinity levels in irrigation water. What made him invent a device for distributing water to crops grown with water, after mixing it with non-chemical organic solutions, and the result is natural fruits in multiple and varied shapes and colors, pointing out that his project was able to provide Water consumption in irrigating plants is 90%.