My First Experience with Kratky Hydroponics
Recreating a taste of home with a recycled plastic bottle, a Yakult cup, and a lot of hope.
One thing I miss deeply from Manipur is an herb called Naoseklei. When I searched for it online, Google suggested it was sweet basil, which instantly made me curious.
I love eating Naoseklei with eronba, or using the fresh leaves to scoop up a spicy chutney of mashed roasted dried chilies and fermented fish. It is one of those simple foods that make me close my eyes with pure satisfaction. Eager to recreate that taste, I ordered two different types of fresh basil cuttings: Thai sweet basil and Italian basil. I simply wanted to see how they tasted and whether either of them was similar to the Naoseklei I grew up eating.
When they arrived, I found that the aroma of the Thai sweet basil was much closer to Naoseklei than the Italian basil, though it still wasn’t exactly the same. The Naoseklei from Manipur has a sweeter aroma and taste — maybe it is a different regional variety altogether.
They looked different, too. The basil I bought had green stems with floppy, broad leaves. But the Naoseklei from Manipur has purple new leaves growing right in the center, greenish-purple tender branches, and pointier leaves with more defined edges.
Even though the store-bought basil wasn’t a perfect match, I still wanted to grow it. At least I would have something that looked and smelled a little like home.
I started by rooting the basil cuttings in a small cup filled with about five centimeters of tap water. I left the water out overnight first, just to let the chlorine evaporate. I placed the cup under my grow light and topped it up every morning. Because the cuttings were so short, I kept the water level low so the leaves wouldn’t touch the water and rot.
After about a week — honestly, I don’t remember the exact timeline because I wasn’t taking it too seriously at first — they started rooting! Seeing those tiny, white roots completely made my day. I got so excited that I checked on them almost every hour, lifting each cutting to look at the progress. I even sat on the floor and ate my meals right in front of them because that’s where I kept them. I was treating them like babies.
But then, careless me!
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One morning, I was shocked to find the basil roots completely dried out and stuck to the side of the cup. They were already about an inch long and almost ready for a nutrient solution. In my rush the night before, I had switched off the grow light but forgotten to turn off the fan. My poor basil!
I quickly poured water back into the cup, but by evening, the beautiful white roots had slowly turned brown, and then black. All I could do was wait, hope, and apologize to my plants. Fortunately, they surprised me by growing beautiful new roots once more. Plants are so resilient!
For my Kratky setup, I used mostly recycled materials. I cut a 1-liter plastic water bottle in half: the upper part held the LECA (clay pebbles), while the lower part held the nutrient solution. I wrapped the bottom half in brown paper from an old delivery bag to block out light and prevent algae growth.
I also built a second setup using a 700 ml ice cream bucket. I cut a hole in the lid and recycled a Yakult bottle to act as a net pot. The narrow neck of the bottle, where I punched holes for the roots, went down through the hole in the lid. To keep the bottle from sliding all the way through, I cut the wider body of the Yakult bottle (from the bottom to mid-length) into strips and fanned them out flat over the top of the lid. Like the water bottle, I wrapped the ice cream bucket in a brown paper bag and sealed it with shiny tape to block the light. It took some time to build, but I actually enjoyed making it.
When I transferred the basil, I started them on a weak mix — just one-quarter of the company’s recommended strength. As the plants grew, I gradually increased the strength by topping them up with a half-strength mix, and finally brought them up to the full recommended strength.
Before I knew it, they were thriving and ready for harvest.
I was actually a little reluctant to cut them at first because I had grown so attached to them. But I reminded myself that this was the whole point of the project! I harvested two tips, minced them, and stirred them into a yogurt dip.
To be honest, I didn’t like the combination at all! I definitely still prefer using the fresh leaves to scoop up a fiery chutney of mashed roasted dried chilies and fermented fish. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.
Looking back, it’s funny how attached I became to a few simple basil cuttings. I even felt guilty when it came time to harvest them. Silly me, haha! But I guess that is the real joy of growing your own food. This was my first successful Kratky hydroponic run, and it has given me the confidence to keep experimenting. I am sure many more mistakes are waiting for me down the road, but I am looking forward to them. After all, every mistake has a story to tell.
