Biz student
Monday, April 9, 2012
ULYSSA Marie Torbiso was busy attending to her clients yesterday afternoon. A family from Asturias, Cebu came to buy hydroponic starter kits. After listening to her instructions, they stuffed Styrofoam boxes and cups and potted green tea plants into their car and left.
A moment later, another client came. Torbiso, dressed in shorts and T-shirt, handed the middle-aged man four potted Grean Tea plants and two bottles of nutrient solutions.
Torbiso, a 21-year-old business administration student, runs The Hydro Garden, a business she set up to comply with a course requirement.
The University of San Carlos student, who will graduate in October, started planting vegetables and culinary herbs using a gardening method called hydroponics, in January 2011.
She set up the garden at their house’s front yard and veranda in San Isidro, Talisay City.
During her first three months in gardening, not a single plant survived. “I don’t have a green thumb,” she said.
Unable to make sales, her entrepreneurship teacher gave her a failing grade. “I cried. It hurt.” But she persisted. By April, her customers started coming.
She gives tutorials on Hydroponics, and sells what she called the “Hydroponic Starter Kit,” which contains a Styrofoam box, eight Styrofoam cups, a bottle of liquid nutrient solutions, a kilo of pure vermi cast and a packet of seeds. She sells the kits at P550 each.
Interest
Torbiso said her interest in Hydroponics started in November 2010, after a friend based in Saudi Arabia encouraged her to grow plants on water, which is a common practice in the said country, being a desert. “She told me to give it a try,” she said.
Her accountant parents, both based in Papua New Guinea, gave her capital. She had Hydroponics kits shipped to her from the University of the Philippines in Los Baños.
She searched videos on Youtube for instructions on Hydroponics.
“It’s a new idea here,” Torbiso said of Hydroponics, which is a method of gardening that does not involve soil. “It’s already common in many countries.”
At first, she planned to supply vegetables to restaurants, but she realized it was not feasible. A few restaurants, though, buy lettuce from her.
Torbiso decided to focus on teaching Hydroponics, where plants are made to grow on water enriched with nutrient solutions.
“I want to teach households to become self-sufficient,” she said.
Last month, she gave a demonstration for some faculty members at Southwestern University.
Technique
In Hydroponics, Torbiso said, one can conserve water and make sure the products are safe. She pointed out that foods grown on soil can be unsafe because some soil contains pathogens.
“You can have your garden even when you don’t have space,” added Torbiso, who harvests 20 kgs. of lettuce and 3 kgs. of cherry tomatoes every month.
She said 90 percent of her clients learned about her business through Facebook. She also receives orders from clients in Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod and Laguna.
Her university has given her recognitions for her innovative business and promotional campaign. She also got a grade of 1.0 in her entrepreneurship subject.
“Not everyone has a green thumb,” she said. “But it can be developed with patience.”
istoryan "ulyssa_marie" on sunstar "Biz student’s project creates buzz, earning "
Re: istoryan "ulyssa_marie" on sunstar "Biz student’s project creates buzz, earning "
Originally Posted by ulyssa_marie
Thank you! I only specialize in HYDROPONICS.
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