It is now December 2025.
For a long time, I have not written anything on this blog, after I posted a copy of 'Mi Ultimo Adios', partly as I am currently brushing up on my Spanish. Really, only now I appreciate the depth of how Jose Rizal has learned, and not only Spanish, but in totality, 26 languages, and as per details in history book, usually served as interpreter for fellow passengers when traveling.
Not to mention that the vernacular in my childhood town is steeped in Spanish, just like in Zamboanga, where Spanish was interspersed, married with the local tongue, creating a unique dialect.
So what has been happening lately? What's going on?
Kids grow up, they leave the next. As one saying goes:
There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
That is not always easy, I mean, as a parent. Kids have a more dynamic and flowing energy, but adults tend to be more lethargic and phelgmatic, not easily welcoming and adapting to changes. But life happens.
It is just fortunate that some children are younger than the others. We still have somebody around.
And yes, we look forward to the 'nietos y nietas'!
And for our own future, to see how life will unfold, by God's grace and mercy, would we be granted many more years ahead of us, to plan and to go on, busy with something, few or many, to keep us going, moving, even though slowly, doing things to keep our aging bodies still agile and functioning. Otherwise, we waste away immobile.
I have been a planter since my childhood days, I remember going around the plot of land we were taking care of with my mother, planting different kinds of ornamental plants as hedges, and getting the satisfaction of seeing them grow into woody fences, green, yellow, red, orange, you name it -- a plethora of colors rising from the ground! That was like 50 years ago, and my parents have moved on. Blessed be their memory. They live on in their sons and daughter, in their grand children and great grand children. And so on.
I've learned a lot more things from then on. And I thought that planting was simply that -- take a seed and put it on the ground, water, et voila! Not so. Just like people, plants have needs, basic requirements, and then there are specifics. So I've learned. Even the water itself, there has to be a certain acidity for plants to thrive, so I've gathered from all those Youtube videos that I have been watching lately, and even the nutrients that's supplied to different stages of the plants growth. So it is with people.
I guess I am being nostalgic. Hey, it's not that long ago already, just a couple of months only, but rearing children, how they are treated, goes by age. And when they move out...
Why did I ever bring up my childhood memory of planting? Oh, I know. Right now, I'm just so engaged with learning all about hydroponics. Although it is not a new thing, it is to me. And well, as I'v e said, I thought planting is very simple. It is not. Nothing is simple about planting. Or growing. You have to have enough of basic knowledge, and on to learning more if you want to push through with planting, growing.
For example, I've had a number of potted plants in the balcony, a 2m x 3m space where I can put my plants. Would you belive it? I would throw in seeds of all kinds into 1 pot! I'm just happy that they germinate and grow! But no, as I have learned lately, and I hope it's not too late, that plants have their own water requirements, nutrients needs, soil type, and even on water, the nutrients for growing, flowering and fruting plants are not the same! There's also the pH (5.5 - 6.5), EC (1.5, 1.5, 2.0 to 2.2) and 3rd of the trio is TDS. I've learned all these lately.
I'm a sentimental person, and I hate to disturb and uproot my plants, but to 'correct' the worng I have done, disruptive actions I have to take. Most helpful to me is ChatGPT, another thing that I am learning, so I made use of the free version, then when I needed to have images, I had to switch to a 1-month trial Plus license. If you are a heavy user, you can go for the Plus Pro version.
So from there, I asked a lot of questions about plants, those that I have currently, those that I plan to grow, my plan for the future, God-willing, that I'd be putting up my own hydroponics at my backyard, for personal consumption, then to small-scale production, and so on.
I'm imagining that when all my hair has turn grey, I'd be strolling around the greeneries, and on school holidays, ¡mis nietos y nietas irán a visitar a su abuelo y abuela! ¡Estupenda!
Telling the next generation stories of their ascendants will give them a good grasp, strong roots, and how their own parents, our children, made it in their lives, carved their own niches, and succeeded. That will inspire them to go and do it on their own -- wings! Well, you wouldn't know how far you've gone if you don't know where you have begun, and you won't be going anywhere without wings. So both are important: roots and wings.
It took some time after I separated each kind of plant, putting similar types into one pot or two, which is the first step to making it right with my plants. Then watering is adjusted, and even the nutrients itself, which I never applied, or I should say, using pellets, I haphazardly used without any schedule at all, or even the amount used, and removing the pot pans so water don't get stuck under the pots. I thought that was helping the plants, leaving water stuck at the pot's bottom, but no! Then there is also removing suckers, tendrils, leaves, those that don't matter. So nutrients all go into those that do.
And now, each plant in its own pot, its own watering schedule, its own nutrient, and did it work? Yes!
On top of that, I've also bought a very cheap hydroponics kit, just so I can have a feel of what hydroponic growing is all about. Going through all the information and gleaning all that knowledge from the YouTube videos without putting them into action is like reading Arnold Schwarzenegger's body-building book and not lifting a single plate of weight. And yes, experimenting is good! Normal process is sowing in a different medium, then transferring and hardening, and then finally, on to the system itself. Cocopeat is the usual medium, but my kit came with foam. So I'll make do with that. I tried the 2-step method, sowing then hardening, but with 2 cups, I tried direct sowing into the system itself. So many things to do!
I hope all these experiments and tests work out well. Nonetheless, even when they do not, I will keep on. I will keep on trying and doing, until I get what's right for my own specific target. What do I intend to do differently? I will use all natural means. No dependence on electricity. No, that doesn't mean no electricity used, but it will be solar-powered. The supply of nutrients will be nature-powered, sun-driven, which will not be affected by power failures.
I'm considering ram pump design and Heron's Faountain, to name at least 2.
This is the very reason why the farm or garden I envision will carry 'hydroponics + engineering'.
Then, I will be creating my own YouTube channel. I'd have to start, take the frist step, complete the thousand miles, and go beyond. I will go back to my roots, and take my new flight from there.
Till then!
