by fitzhughshaw
Growing roots
7:44 pm in Plants, questions, Seeking Advice by fitzhughshaw
I eat a lot of roots; carrots, potatoes, and onions. I’m wondering if there’s a way to grow these in a window farm, as I’d like to be able to grow the majority of my own food in a window farm. Can I use a two liter soda bottle and nearly fill it up with dirt?
Thanks for any help.
Root veggies are the one thing that’s not well suited to a drip hydroponic system like this. Here, we are trying to minimize the size of the plants’ roots while maximizing the energy going to the top part of the plant to grow edible leaves and branches or fruits. Hydroponics lets you grow a lot of plant up top with a compact root system because you are delivering everything the plant needs to its root hairs. We want a compact root system so we are not taking up all of our windowspace with heavy voluminous soil. Thus, we are growing the most possible edible food per cubic foot of sunlit space. If you want to grow root vegetables, you are trying to do the opposite: grow a big root ball. Root veggies need a firm medium to press out against as they grow and they need lots of room. I’d say- grow root veggies in a bucket of dirt or sand. Texas A&M university has some good howto panphlets online for how to grow root veggies in sand using a totally different kind of hydroponics. You might google them./ Good luck. B
Bucket farms is probably what your looking for. Most people use a 5gallon bucket filled with soil to give a large enough growing medium while still capitalizing on space.
Here’s an example:
http://www.pasturemanagement.com/Howtobucketgarden.htm
Another:
http://www.3mutts.com/bucket-tomatoes.html
I’d probably use gravel at the bottom of the first container for extra drainage. Or maybe use one bucket with holes in the bottom to let water out.
Your also probably looking at a drip non-recovery water system as well. HomeDepot has some very inexpensive kits for lawns that would work well for this too.
Perfect for patio’s or balcony’s but not really indoors. Unless you have a basement or something with a lot of growing area. Might be possible to design something for windows though. I can’t image you’d get very high yields because most of the food produced would be in the container.