HOW TO SET-UP SNAP HYDROPONICS 1

PJA Santos and ETM Ocampo

Institute of Plant Breeding-CSC-CA, UP Los Baños

A. Establish the seedlings

Materials needed
1. sowing tray – shallow box/basin with holes for drainage at the bottom
2. growing media –aged (not the new one) coconut coir dust or charcoaled rice hull or their mixture; saw dust
(possible with the old stock –not the new ones but not yet tested), fine sand (can be combined with coir dust
and or charcoaled rice hull)
3. seeds (buy from your local aggie store)
4. watering solution (water with SNAP nutrient solution)

Procedure
1. Fill the sowing tray with a layer of the growing
media (about1 inch thick)
2. Level the media
3. Scatter the small seeds uniformly and thinly (the
amount depending on your need)
4. Water liberally as needed (Expect germination in 3
to 5 days)
5. Grow the seedlings for 10 days before transferring
to individual growing cups (called seedling plugs)

B. Prepare the seedling plugs

Materials needed
1. Styrofoam cups (8 to 10 oz)
2. Cutter or knife or hack saw blade
3. growing media
4. seedlings
5. BBQ stick or the like

Procedure
1. Prepare the Styrofoam cups as shown . Use a knife or cutter to make those 8
holes (about 1 inch long at the side and ½ inch at the bottom).
2. Fill the prepared holding cups with the growing media (about ½
inch thick)
3. Transplant the seedlings from the sowing tray. “Dig” a hole in the
middle of the growing media in the cup. . Use the a stick to uproot
the seedlings from the sowing tray with care. Transfer only one
seedling per cup. Make the transferred seedling stand firmly by
replacing the ‘dug’ media to the base of the seedling.
4. Water the seedling plugs carefully and lightly.

C. Prepare the growing boxes

Materials needed
1. Styrofoam boxes ( boxes of imported grapes}
2. Tin can (with open top and bottom) of big evap milk
3. Polyethylene plastic bag (20” x 30”, 0.003 mm thick)

1
This publication is an output of the DA-BAR funded project on ‘Promoting SNAP Hydroponics as a
Sustainable Food Production System for Urban Areas’ being implemented by the Institute of
Plant Breeding, CSC-CA, UP Los Baños. Revised October 6, 2008
 Procedure:

1. Make 5-6 (for small styro boxes) or 8 (for

big styro boxes) holes on the lid/cover of the box
using the tin can as hole puncher (See picture).
2. Use the plastic bag as liner for the bottom
half of the box to make it fit to hold the nutrient
solution

D. Running the SNAP hydroponics system

Materials needed
1. seedling plugs
2. SNAP nutrient solution
3. growing boxes with 10 liters of water each
4. benches or stand (optional) – where the growing boxes will be placed under a shelter
5. rain shelter (optional during dry season) or roof awning facing east for the earliest and longest sunlight
possible)

Procedure
1. For good growth of the plants, locate the SNAP hydroponics
where it will best receive the morning sunlight, the earlier the
better. It should be under a roof awning if not a transparent
shed to prevent the rain water getting into the system.
2. Arrange the growing boxes on the bench (optional) with
covers removed
3. Fill each growing box with about 10 liters of tap water
4. Add 50-75 ml of SNAP A to each box stir well
5. Add equal amount of SNAP B to each box then stir well again
6. Put back the cover of the box
7. Place the seedling plugs into the holes of the cover. See to it
that all cups are ‘plugged’ in the holes evenly.
8. See to it that the bottom of the cups is touching the nutrient
solution by ½ inch deep, not any deeper or shallower. If not,
add more water until the desired depth is reached.
9. Examine the boxes for leaks and make some troubleshooting.
10. Visit the set up every morning as early as you can to catch
any insect larva that may eat the plants (the larva is visible in
the early morning; after that they tend to hide from the sun
and maybe harder to find)

Expect the nutrient solution level to recede faster when the plants
are much bigger than when they were still seedlings. Replenish using fresh nutrient solution when its level
has gone down by more than 1 inch below the cup bottom. However, NEVER allow the level of the solution
to again reach the bottom of the cup; replenish until the solution level has reached about 1/2 inch below the
cup’s bottom.

NOTE: It is more practical to prepare the nutrient solution in a drum and then just distribute the prepared
solution to each growing box and use the left-over solution for replenishing.

For more information, please contact: or E-mail to:

Physiology Section pjasantos@yahoo.com
Institute of Plant Breeding, UP Los Baños eteresaocampo@yahoo.com
(049) 576-0024
or
Director’s Office
Institute of Plant Breeding
UP Los Baños
(049) 536-5287