How To: Reservoir System Window Farm
This system can churn-out a salad per week. The window farm described in this How-To is a reservoir system. A water pump on a timer periodically pumps water and liquid nutrients from the bottom reservoir to the top reservoir. There are small holes drilled into the underside of the top reservoir. Small drip emitters with valves let out a constant drip of water and nutrients into a column of plants. Each plant sits in a grow medium in a net cup (a perforated plastic cup commonly used in hydroponics), within an inverted plastic water bottle. The cap of each water bottle has a hole in it so that the water and nutrients can drip from one bottle to the next, from the top to the bottom of the column of plants. The bottom-most bottles are connected to tubing that takes the water and nutrients into the bottom reservoir, where it sits until the pump turns on again.
Download the PDF of the How To instruction guide here. Please note that we ask anyone who downloads the how-to to register on the site and to come back and post as you build, not just when you’re finished. You give back to the project by participating on the site. Bring questions, ideas, results of your testing various processes. This is a mass collaboration on the R&D of these systems.
Wanted to say i’m sorry for the bit of attitude from frustration….i really do appreciate your work and all i’m learning in the process. Didn’t feel as bad that others were also having water movement problems in the drip version. Will post again when i get it to work, the seedlings are screaming for a home
thank you
I managed to get by without using the pump timer, just by moving the water in the bottom reservior to the top one thru the elbow pvc on the end every evening. Seems to be working wonderfully, getting the same effect, i suggest trying it if you don’t want to bother with engineering electronics (like me
).
Why isn’t this working for me?!
Thanks for sharing the information. This is a great stuff of reading,I will pass it on to our audience.Thanking you. Build a hydroponics system
I could only find 8 inch (from top to bottom) bottles, is that going to make a big difference?