by Tom M
Passive system feedback
9:22 am in Education, Getting Started, Help the project by testing this, kits, Projects in Process, Seeking Advice by Tom M
hello, my name is Tom and I am a student studying 3D Design. One of my recent projects was looking at hydroponic gardens. Initially my project was focused on people who live in houseboats due to the lack of space and faculties available to them, however as the project developed it became apparent that my solution would be transferable to other environments such as apartments and people with limited space.
I thought I would create a post to get a bit of feedback with people who use hydroponics and probably have a lot more expertise then me!
My final solution was to create a very simple passive system using a cotton wick, which pulls up the nutrient solution from the bottom bottle to the top. Above is some computer renders of my final system, I hope after reading how it all works it will make sense!
The bottom bottle contains the nutrients solution, and the top contains the growing medium (I imagine it to be coconut fibre), with a wick which joins the two together through my joining system.
The main part of the project is the joining system between the bottles, which allowed you to use different size bottles depending on what you had. It works by using a latex skin which you can pull over the bottle top, similar to how you stretch the end of a balloon over a bottle. It also holds the string for hanging the garden, and because it is a very simple system you can have as many bottles as you wanted (or could fit) on the string.
This linking product makes it a lot easier to begin a hydroponic garden, therefore making it more accessible. I imagine that you would be able to buy the linking system with the nutrients and instructions how to grow with hydroponics, as well as releasing open source instructions on how to create a similar system for free so you could adapt to your needs/ expertise.
I would love it if you could give some feedback to this project, any advice to make it better or directions you think it could go in. It was only a four week project, so is definitely not a finished polished product and could be radically improved.
Thanks for reading and get posting
Tom
The design looks good, but will be top-heavy when you swap out the reservoir. (or even if you have a large plant and the reservoir is getting low)
Also, an ‘in situ’ removal/replacement of the reservoir would probably be easier with ordinary screw-threads instead of a silicone coupling?
(In an WF it’s recommended to renew the nutrients about once every week.)
Without aeration in the nutrient solution, you would likely have to change the water out more frequently than a week even.
Design looks great! In addition to what James said about aeration, I’m not sure if a wick system will transport the nutrient solution fast enough to feed vegetables or other water-hungry plants in a hydroponic growing medium, so your plant choice would be limited.
Also, cotton probably isn’t the best material, you’d have to replace it in a month or two. There’s probably some synthetic material out there that would wick a little faster/better and for a longer period of time. The idea of a passive system like that is great, though, and I’m sure there’s a way to make it work.
thanks guys for the comments, they are all really useful. As I said this was not a completely polished projected and you have given me lots of things to think about and change.
I will try and keep you updated on any progress with the project!
Tom