By Ritah Mukasa
There is a variety of planting media in greenhouse gardening. While some farmers use well-mixed soil, others opt for soilless options like peat moss and composted materials.
On the other hand, Ronald Musisi finds shredded coconut husks (coir), more convenient.
Musisi is a farm manager at Uganda Martyrs University (UMU) Nkozi main campus in Mpigi district.
He is in charge of the university farm that has a big greenhouse where he grows tomatoes and green peppers. The plants are healthy and they are harvested all the time.
The coconut husks are in white bags which are arranged in straight lines inside the greenhouse.
Musisi says the bags are imported from the Netherlands and each goes for sh20,000.
“These bags are affordable and convenient. Each takes about three plants and if you handle them well, they can last two seasons, which is a whole year,” he says.
The bags help to avoid diseases since they are soilless and sterilized according to Musisi.
Dennis Sewagudde, another greenhouse farmer who uses coconut husks says, this planting media allows the roots to breathe hence keeping the plant healthy, unlike other growing materials that tend to compact the roots and suffocate them.
“You just have to water the plants regularly,” he says.
At UMU, they installed an automated irrigation system.
