As part of Hotel Nikko Bali Benoa Beach commitments to support a healthy lifestyle by serving fresh, healthy, and natural ingredients to our guests, we have implemented hydroponic cultivation at our Nikko Farm.

The hydroponic garden is located at Giorgio Restaurant’s outdoor terrace. It is built vertically using a lightweight steel frame of hollow pipes with a diameter of 8 cm. Each pipe is 2 m long, with 80 holes where the plants are placed. As protection from rainwater and direct sun exposure, these vertical plants are covered with plastic fiber. This self-contained irrigation system is used for delivering water to the plants enabling cultivation.

Hydroponics is a way to skip the soil and sub in a different material to support the roots of the plant helping to grow directly in nutrient-rich water. We ensure that the water pH is not more than 7 and not under 6 with the ppm itself is at 1,100, and this level is checked once a week. The irrigation system pushes water through the pipes from a sealed container 24 hours a day.

This vertical crop has started in early March 2021 and will be harvested three times. After the third harvest, the water in the container and each pipe must be cleaned to maintain the sustainability of the hydroponic farm.

In addition to the hydroponic produce cultivation at Nikko Farm, there are also several vegetables and herbs grown in the soil. Such as; eggplant, kale, cherry tomatoes, mint leaves, basil, chilies, oregano, dill, rosemary, celery, etc. We use liquid organic fertilizer made naturally through a fermentation process to produce a solution of spoilage from leftover vegetables and fruits. The method is quite simple, the kitchen staff collects the fresh leftover vegetables and fruits into a container which is designed specifically for fermentation. When it is fermented, it will produce a liquid. Every 1-liter liquid will be mixed with 10 liters of freshwater and immediately able to fertilize all plantations at Hotel Nikko Bali Benoa Beach. We also use natural ingredients made from soaked garlic for 24 hours in fresh water to protect the plants from pests.

“Sustainability and health are the core values of our commitment. Whereas most of the vegetables have been shipped from afar, and have lost nutritional value along the way, we can now create a hyper-local food system and serve it fresh directly from the farm to the table. Moreover, when you’re growing vegetables hydroponically, you don’t have to hit pause for several reasons or risk crop loss from inclement weather“ said Masaya Hasebe, General Manager of Hotel Nikko Bali Benoa Beach.