INTRODUCTION

Hydroponics can be briefly defined as cultivation of plants without soil (Savvas

D., 2017). In short, hydroponics, a Greek word meaning “hydro” (water) and “ponos”

(labor) is the method of growing plants in different types of substrates (chemically inert),

sand, gravel, or liquid (water), in which nutrients are added, but no soil is used.

Furthermore, in hydroponics, the nutrients are dissolved in water and the solution goes

into the plant roots, which uptake the water with minerals toward different parts of plant

(Bridgewood L., 2003; Jones JB Jr., 2005).

Moreover, with hydroponics, there is a better opportunity to place the fresh

produces in the market since their average nutritional quality and consumer’s

acceptance are higher (Mehra S., et. al., 2017). In addition, growers reported that with

hydroponics, some of the negative impacts of conventional agriculture are avoided

including high and inefficient use of water, large land requirements, high concentrations

of nutrients and pesticides, and soil degradation accompanied by erosion (Treftz C,

Omaye ST., 2016; Horrigan L, et.al., 2002) issues that are much more in the nowadays

concerns of consumers.

Currently, bio-extracts, or bio-fermented or bio-decomposed matter, play an

important role in the promotion of self-sufficiency agriculture due to their low cost,

reduced impact on soils and moderate chemical fertilizer input. In contrast, agricultural

residue from chemical fertilizers and runoff can pollute surface and water ecosystems

after harvest. Therefore, bio-extracts or bio-ferments are one option to combat the

pollution problem. Furthermore, bio-extracts and bio-ferments are solution compounds

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produced by introducing plant and animal residues to sugar or molasses, which are the

carbon and energy sources for the microorganism fermentation and decomposition

processes. The decomposed compound (a brown liquid), which contains many organic

compounds, gives immense benefits, with an effective enhancement of cultivation. Even

though bio-extracts can be used in the place of an equivalent portion of chemical

fertilizer, albeit with insufficient macronutrients for plant growth, the small number of

microorganisms present in the bio-extract allows a transformation of unavailable

nutrients to available nutrients for continual plant growth. However, even with more

available nutrients, bio-extracts are still composed of other ingredients and in particular,

plant hormones that regulate plant growth (Department of Agriculture, 2004).

According to Noviaria, S. (2015), if farmers want to implement and use the

golden snail as organic fertilizer (MOL) of golden snail, it will reduce the production

costs that farmers spend, and of course the natural balance will be maintained, over

time pests can be controlled and not be the main enemy and to be beneficial to farmers,

and actually not just a golden snail mask that we can use to MOL in there are still many

we can take advantage of one of the bamboo shoots or bamboo is still filthy, from this

bamboo shoot you can also make MOL bamboo shoots, and certainly very useful for

organic farming. An animal that has a high protein content that can be utilized to create

MOL or Micro Local Organisms for the purposes of fertilizing plants in the vegetative

phase.

Hence, in the research locale, there has been a claim from the local farmers on

the infestation of pest snails that significantly destroy their crops and hamper the growth

of their cultivated plants as some points. Thus, the researchers opted to innovate a

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process that can turn this pest into becoming a source of fertilizer. This is an outright

shift of the role of this organisms in favour of the local farmers. Several studies made

mention on the potential of this organism as organic source of farm fertilizer yet

combining this with other similar potential fermented plant juices is still an area that is to

be tested by this research conduct.

Generally, this was conducted to determine the growth performance of pechay

(Brassica rapa) applied with liquid fertilizer from the bio-extract of golden apple snail

and fermented water spinach grown in hydroponic culture. Specifically, this research

was conducted to determine the significant difference on the growth rate of pechay

(Brassica rapa) applied with different level of concentrations of bio-extract from golden

apple snail and fermented water spinach in terms of plant height, diameter of shoot,

number of leaves, and width of leaves.

This study will be highly beneficial to the local farmers especially in Barangay

Tabu, Ilog, where agriculture is the leading source of income in the community. An

environment-friendly, low-costs, and effective liquid organic fertilizer that will help our

local farmers in producing organic-based products that are not harmful to the

consumers and the environment. Furthermore, this research will also become the

bases of pechay (Brassica rapa) through hydroponics given that several agricultural

lands are converted to industrial edifices, public and private buildings and residential

due to a fast increase of the human population.

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 MATERIALS AND METHODS

A. Research Design

This research study applied Experimental Design particularly the Completely

Randomized Design (CRD) with four treatments including the control group replicated

three times having a total of 12 experimental units. The growth rate of pechay as

applied with different level of concentrations of Bio-extract from golden apple snail and

fermented water spinach is the sole focus of this experimental study.

B. Materials

The Golden Apple Snails were collected in the nearby rice fields along Brgy.

Tabu, Ilog, Negros Occidental, Philippines, while the water spinach were gathered in

Sitio Kawayan, Brgy. Tabu, Ilog, Negros Occidental, Philippines. Apparatuses such as

the 500 mL beakers, 2 mortars and pestle, 200 mL graduated cylinder, were borrowed

from Tabu and tape measure ware used in measuring the height and width of the

pechay plant. The research National High School Junior High School Science

Laboratory which was used for measuring and storing the solution during processing.

Tools such as ruler as well included the use of a small pale and dipper in washing the

specimens and other materials. Wooden plant box was used as the primary

experimental set up covered with a Styrofoam serving as opening for the individual

experimental units. Small plastic cups was also used in securing the soil substrate to

help the rice plants stand erect during the experimentation. Finally, Brassica rapa was

the specific variety of pechay plant used in this study.

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C. Procedures

This section presents the methodology and the specific processes involved in the

conduct of this research.

C.1 Making of Bio-extract from Golden Apple snail (Pomacea canaliculata)

The snails used in this study was cultured “in situ” in one of the local rice fields at

barangay Tabu. From the pink brittle eggs until 60 days old, the snails were cage using

fine fish nets making it secured from the entrance of other organisms hence also

preventing them from going outside. Thus, the snails were secured to have the same

age, species and origin making it more reliable as experimental resource.

Preparation of Bio-extract from live Golden Apple snails (Pomacea canaliculata)

was conducted at Tabu National High School’s Junior High School Science Laboratory.

The snails were washed and rinsed with distilled water to remove unwanted materials.

Using a cooking pan, the shell was heated over an electric stove for 20 minutes until it is

completely roasted and easy to pound. The shells was pounded using a mortar and

pestle together with the entrails. Hence, in every 500 ml of bio extract, a 400g of brown

sugar was used to start the fermentation process. The output was then set aside for 10

days to undergo the fermentation process and ready for mixing with the fermented

water spinach solution.

C.2 Preparation of the Fermented Water Spinach (Ipomoea aquatica)

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 A substantial amount of water spinach was collected from Sitio Kawayan, Tabu,

Ilog, Negros Occidental. It was made sure that only the young and fresh leaves and

stems were included in the mincing and pounding thus producing the desired amount of

extract. The extraction of fermented water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) was conducted

in the Junior High School Science Laboratory of Tabu National High School. The stems

of the water spinach was minced using a knife and mixed together with the leaves. The

chopped stems and leaves was pounded using a mortar and a pestle until the desired

texture was achieved. Then, in a 500 ml of extract, a 400g of brown sugar was added to

ignite the fermentation process of the extract. The solution was then set aside for 10

days until complete fermentation was done.

C.3 Generation of the Concentration Levels

At the end of the 10th day of fermentation of both the bio extract and water

spinach solution, they were mixed in a certain proportion to meet the needs of this

research. The following presents the content per treatment:

Concentration Snail Bio Fermented

Distilled Water
Levels Extract Water Spinach
Treatment A 5% 5ml 5ml 90ml
Treatment B 10% 10ml 5ml 85ml
Treatment C 15% 15ml 5ml 80ml
Treatment D 100ml

From the table, it can be deduced that the fermented water spinach is constant in

all of the treatments. The bio extract however is increased by 5% interval from treatment

A to B and B to C. With this volume increase, the distilled water was decreased as to

the increased of the bio extract to accommodate the consistency of the amount of

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solution per treatment which is 100 mL. Treatment D did not received any solutions

hence considered as the control set-up.

C.4 Hydroponic Set-up

The Hydroponic experiment was carried out at Tabu National High School Junior

High School Gulayan sa Paaralan Area. The set-up was completed using 3 wooden

plant box with 48 cm x 32 cm dimension covered with Styrofoam with 4 holes separated

at 10 cm. This holes becomes the entrance of the individual pechay plant in the

experimentation. The pechay plants were planted in a plastic cups with 10 grams of soil

so as roots can have medium to support the plants in standing erect. It has been

secured that the cups has several holes so as the solution can penetrate the roots of

the pechay plants. Each cup of soil was placed with three seeds for germination. Two

days after the emergence of the first leaf, the researchers culled out the other 2 pechay

plants leaving only one plant per cup seeing to it that this plants has almost equal

growth. One day after the culling process, the concentrations per treatment was poured

in the set-up and the plants were left for a day to stabilize. The counting of the specified

time interval commenced after the stabilization of the plants at 5 days interval in a total

of 3 intervals. Addition of the 100 ml worth of solution was also done every beginning of

the next time interval. Finally, the researcher sees to it that pest cannot attack the

pechay plants by putting natural insect repellent such as lemon grasses near the

experimental set-up.

C.5 Data Collection

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 The data were gathered every end of the specified time interval (that is every end

of the 5th day). Growth parameters such as plant height in cm and width of the three

outermost leaves were gathered though a ruler. Plant height refers to the distance

between the base of the plant and tip of its heist leaf while the diameter of the leaf refers

to the distance between the leaf margins of the tree outermost leaves.

Plant shoot diameter were gathered using a tape measure. Plant shoot refers to

the circumference of the base of the pechay plant as represented by the cluster of while

leaf bases. The complete number of leaves per pechay plant are identified through

manual counting.

C.6 Statistical tools

The results of the data gathered across the specified parameters were describe

through mean as statistical tool; the significant differences of the means were captured

through one-way ANOVA.

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 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This portion presents the results of the data on growth parameters of rice plants

and its corresponding discussions

Table 1. Growth Response of Pechay Plant across the 3 time intervals

Parameters Treatments End of the 5th End of the 10th End of the 15th
A 12.00 15.33 18.67
Plant Height (in B 12.73 15.57 20.67
cm) C 13.00 16.20 22.67
D 10.00 15.00 18.33
A 7.20 8.57 11.37
Diameter of B 7.73 9.00 11.57
shoot (in cm) C 8.03 9.27 11.97
D 7.00 7.73 11.07
A 3.00 4.00 6.33
Number of B 3.00 5.33 7.00
leaves C 4.00 6.00 8.00
D 3.00 5.00 7.00
A 8.00 10.00 13.00
Width of leaves
B 8.00 11.67 13.33
(outermost 3
C 8.67 12.57 15.67
leaves)
D 7.67 9.33 12.67

The table reveals that there is a steady increase in terms of growth parameters

such as plant height, diameter of shoot, number of leaves and width of leaves across

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the different time intervals as specified on the mean scores. The longer the time, the

better the growth response of the pechay plant.

Meanwhile, in terms of treatment concentration levels, pechay plant has as well a

consistent increase of growth performance alongside with the increase of concentration

levels. At the end of the 3rd time interval, Treatment D (control) obtained the lowest

growth rate followed by Treatment A, then Treatment B making Treatment C having the

best growth response result. This shows that in the absence of the fermented product

applied to Treatment D the growth of pechay plant is stunted. Meanwhile, Treatment C

having received the most of the concentration of the fermented product revealed the

most favorable growth rates as compared to other Treatment concentrations.

Table 2. Significant Difference on the Growth Response of Pechay Plant across

the 3 time intervals

Parameters F-value p-value Decision Interpretation

Plant Height (in 1404.702
.000
Reject Ho Highly
cm) Significant
Diameter of 15233.333 .000
Reject Ho Highly
shoot (in cm) Significant
Number of 794.000 .000
Reject Ho Highly
leaves Significant
Width of leaves Reject Ho Highly
(outermost 3 480.284 .000 Significant
leaves)

Results reveals that all of the parameters of growth result a p-value of 0.000

interpreted as highly significant. This means that there is pronounced increase in terms

of pechay plant’s height. At the end of the last data gathering the plant become taller

than from the previous time intervals. The plant as well increase in terms of shoot

diameter alongside with the increase of number of leaves. This data result is directly

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proportional since an increase in the number of leaves also means the increase in the

diameter of the plant base. Meanwhile, the diameter of leaves also increased as the

length of time interval. This means that as the plant matures, the leaves as well widen

to accommodate production. The result is logical since the plant is growing as the time

lapses. This would generally increase the parameters data with time.

Table 3. Significant Difference on the Growth Response of Pechay Plant across

the different Treatments

Parameters F-value p-value Decision Interpretation

Plant Height (in 95.717 .000
Reject Ho Highly
cm) Significant
Diameter of 694.528 .000
Reject Ho Highly
shoot (in cm) Significant
Number of 67.167 .000
Reject Ho Highly
leaves Significant
Width of leaves Reject Ho Highly
(outermost 3 51.026 .000 Significant
leaves)

Results shows that all the growth parameters of pechay plant obtained a p-value

of 0.000 interpreted as highly significant when compared against the treatments. It

implies that growth rates of pechay as with the specified parameters is highly influenced

by the concentration levels of bio-extract and fermented water spinach. The data further

shows that the increase of the concentration levels as well produces better growth

performance such as higher plant, with wider plant base, more leaves produced that is

as well wider.

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 CONCLUSIONS

From the analyzed data, the following is concluded:

The pechay plant increase in all of the specified growth parameters such as plant

height, diameter of shoot, number of leaves and diameter of leaves alongside with the

increase in time and concentration levels used as intervention in this study. Therefore,

using the fermented bio-extract and water spinach is effective in facilitating the growth

of the pechay plant. Higher concentration of this fermented product is also concluded to

be the most effective provided that ample time for growth is given for the pechay plant.

The fermented extract is effective since it produces the desired nutrients for pechay

plant to grow as evidenced of the pronounced difference of growth rates across the

concentration levels, however analysis of the specific contents of this fermented product

was not included in the scope of this study. Hence, it I recommended that this

fermented extract be used by local farmers in growing vegetables in hydroponic set-ups.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The accomplishment of this masterpiece was made possible with the contribution of the

different people who provided the researchers with their needs and been a part of their success.

The researchers express their warmest gratitude to the following individuals: To the Almighty

Father who had given them strength and determination in surmounting all the hardships

encountered during the conduct of this study. To their beloved parents, for endless moral

support and assistance beyond measure. To all whom, in one way or another, shared their

knowledge and skills in making this endeavour a success.

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References

Bridgewood L. Hydroponics: Soilless Gardening Explained. Marlborough: Crowood

Press; 2003. p. 144. ISBN 9781861265609
Department of Agriculture. 2004. Basic Scientific Data of Bio-extract Solutions: Part 1.
Quick Printed Offset, Bangkok. 51 pp.
Mehra S, Leng TW, Yamashita Y. Are Singaporeans Ready for Hydroponics? 2017.
Available from: http://www.aci-institute.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Insight-
_Singaporeans_ hydroponics_Shyamli_WeeLeng_Yuko.pdf [Accessed: November
20, 2017]
Noviaria S., “Percentage and Identification of Nematode Worms on Masons (Pomacea
canaliculata) Around Campus Bogor Institute of Agriculture Dramaga”, Essay,
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Bogor Agricultural University, Bogor, 2015.
Savvas D. Hydroponics: A modern technology supporting the application of integrated
crop management in greenhouse. Food, Agriculture & Environment. 2003;1:80-86.
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b334/0b0d3ac38b219eac05e3390dc680f0d47741
.pdf [Accessed: 17 November 2017]
Treftz C, Omaye ST. Hydroponics: Potential for augmenting sustainable food production
in non-arable regions. Nutrition & Food Science. 2016;46:672-684. DOI: 10.1108/
NFS-10-2015-0118

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APPENDIX

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