Newly invented device to grow vegetables for sailors  

市民研究出“种菜机” 长期出海有望吃上青菜

一个1.5米高、直径50厘米的菱形柱体泡沫上，长满了绿油油的青菜。青菜的成长靠的不是土，而是棉花和水。这个新鲜事出现在北海市民苏先生家的楼顶，他将这个自己设计的靠电维持生产青菜的设备叫做“种菜机”。[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- A garden technician in China's Guangxi province invented an electric "soil-less cultivation gadget", to provide fresh vegetables to sailors as they travel the sea, gxnews.com reported on Wednesday.

The hexagonal column-shaped device looks like a pail, with its upper half equipped with an ultrasonic nebulizer, and lower half containing a water tank.

Vegetables are grown on a floral foam board covering the surface of the pail. There were 288 Chinese cabbages planted on the surface of the gadget.

Su, the inventor, is a 48-year-old gardening technician in Beihai city, Guangxi province. He said it was a news report he came across early this year that inspired him.

"The report said that sailors on fishery patrol vessels had no access to fresh vegetables for months, when they carried out missions in Nansha Islands, so I decided to invent a soil-less cultivation device to help them solve the problem," he said.

"Vegetables cultivated by the machine feature thicker roots, which could help those vegetable absorb nutrients better. The root diameter of the vegetables is two to three times that of normal plants."

The cost of making the machine is about 2,000 yuan ($329.40), and growing vegetables on the machine for one month may cost two kilowatt hours of electricity, five to six kilograms of water, and nutrient solution valued at about 10 yuan.

Su said he is still working on optimizing the machine to boost its productivity.