by rebecca
Choosing Containers
5:17 pm in How-Tos, Materials and Resources by rebecca
The main factors to consider when deciding what to use as containers:
They should be made out of material that is lightweight, waterproof, easy to suspend, easy to cut holes in.
The containers need to be designed to position water flow so the roots of the plant are always exposed to the water/nutrient solution. This does not mean that there always needs to be water dripping or flowing around the roots – some growing mediums can retain the water for some time.
If you’re using net cups in your system, the container will need to fit them. There are various sized net cups. Concievably you could skip the net cups and grow your plant directly in something rockwool. Remember, however, that the roots need room to breathe, and so the container should have space around the growing medium so the roots.
The containers should be opaque or have an opaque cover on them so the plant roots are not exposed to light. The water bottle on the left is not yet covered. We’re working on designing paper covers. We’re considering fabric as well, but it may let in too much light.
The suspension system you use will depend on the containers. We used heavy-duty fishing wire for our prototype but a rigid suspension system might work better, especially when the plants get heavy. Perhaps steel rods, aluminum pipes or wood.
- The fishing line is hung from hooks drilled into the top of the window sill. Ian suggested using a chin up bar to suspend everything from at the top of the window instead of drilling into the wood. Gabriel points out that a cheaper alternative to a chin-up bar might be some threaded pipe from the hardware store. They sell metal pipe cut to length and threaded on the ends, which screws into plates that are screwed onto the window frame. So some holes in window frame, but only in two places vs. a series as with hooks. Very strong.
Aesthetics: Clearly this window farm will become a pretty major feature in the room, and you’ll want something you’ll love to look at. The containers could be modernist white plastic, bottles covered with wood veneer or paper with handmade drawn patterns, ….
We used water bottles as containers, with net cups inside holding the clay pellets and plants. The water bottles (Poland Spring or Deer Park 1.5 liter “eco-shape” bottles) are inverted, with holes cut out of them using a box cutter, so the net cup can be slid inside, where it rests in that indented part of the bottle.
Many hydroponics systems use PVC pipe in round or square shapes. In a window farm, you could suspend these pipes at angles and have the water consistently pumped through and trickling from one level to the next. The photo at the right shows a setup with what looks like 4″ PVC. There’s an instructable on how to make it here.
Square PVC pipes are also possible. These types of systems, with long pipes, are called NFT (Nutrient Film Technique). The water flows through the pipes constantly (if you’re using clay pellets or another medium that doesn’t retain much water), or periodically if you’re using something like rockwool for your plants.
Check out instructables for other people’s DIY hydroponics designs. Not many are vertical, but they may give you ideas for materials.
I love this sculpture by Ken Rinaldo. Transparent glass in a window farm would mean too much algae growth, but blown glass like this with elegant root covers inside the glass itself could be gorgeous.
I really was impressed with this, but I do have one question. We are constantly told that plastic water bottles when exposed to the heat of the sun leach chemicals. Would this not be cause for concern when you are growing edible plants?
It is a concern. Rebecca and I worked with a group, Food and Water watch, that has done a lot of research on the effects of plastic leaching in water bottles. Thus far, I believe it has only been shown to be in trace quantities, but it would definitely be great to make systems out of something other than water bottles for this reason.
I’ve been using windows to start plants early, with 40 oz drink containers in a rack. For more details, check my comment in the “About Window Farms” site. They are good for several years and readily available.
Excellent idea, Douglas. We will have to try that out on our next planting!
Love it…linked to it: http://www.mmmstuff.com/index.php/archives/food/the-urban-survivalistenvironmentalist-window-farms/
Thanks for the great blog post. I can see your a good blogger! We will add this story to our blog via our IT guy at http://www.hydroponicswholesale.com/blog, as we have a audience in las vegas that will read your article.Thanks Jeff homemade nutrient solutions in hydroponics.
I like the idea of using glass, mostly for sterility for the plants. However, I haven’t figured out a way to do this in a cost effective way yet, if anyone has any ideas?
Algae would be a problem if it stole too much nutrients or made the plastic containers less opaque. Once the leaves appear then it is not a problem.
Tierra Marasse: About using glass. I think it would be a good idea to ask aorund at collective culture house if there are any glass artist who blow their own glass, and if they have any misshaped glass they cant sell or going to throw away, then youre in good luck!
Already on the way for my local culture house in Norway!
I’m just beginning work on a window farm project with some friends and we are looking at possible alternatives to plastic. Glass has been high on our list of options but there are many drawbacks to the use of glass. While glass bottles have the same shape advantages as plastic water bottles, glass is heavy, difficult to modify and fragile (just a few qualities that are opposite those of plastic). That said, I’m actually VERY familiar with working with glass (I’m a glass blower) and it would be easy for me to modify existing glass or even make new glass vessels to suit my needs. However, I greatly appreciate the windowfarms.org goal of making the design of these systems as easy for the average person to build as possible so I’m resistant to using my glass working experience as a driving force in our design.
I will post more as our group explores container options.