by BionicMel
My blog
1:02 pm in Completed Window Farms, Getting Started, How-Tos, Projects in Process, Uncategorized, Version 3.0 Modular Airlift Columns by BionicMel
Hello everyone,
I just wanted to link anyone who is interested to my blog.
http://melissawindowfarm.blogspot.com/
I’m slowly putting up all my photos… I just finished my second column today, but I wanted to post in chronological order haha, so it might be a while before I have it all up there.
I am working on a few articles right now about hydroponics and window farms, and I plan on making up an airlift tutorial.
Have a good day!
Melissa
Looks good. Thanks again for the IKEA clothes rack idea.
Looks nice.
My first attempt was a free-standing model, too.
But I used a PVC tube with an inner diameter slightly larger than the neck of my bottles, a ‘y’ pipe joint and a ‘knee’. Near the bottom I cut the pipe, added the ‘y’ and the knee to get a pipe piece pointing up close to the ‘stem’ which the bottom bottle plugged into. Then I taped the bottle to the ‘stem’, put the next bottle on top of that and so on. The airlift tube went inside the central stem pipe. Nice and ‘clean’ design. Except that it was unstable as heck and threatened to tip over all the time….
Spraypainting is an art… Which I really don’t know…
I’ve been told, though, that many thin layers is the trick. Also, to keep moving your hand in an even motion and at a constant distance from the object you’re painting. Press the button BEFORE the nozzle is in front of the target and keeping it depressed until after it is moved away. If there’s areas that’s not properly covered on the first coating, leave them for the next coat. Trying to coat them while everything is still wet will just cause runs.
(I should probably try to follow those guidelines myself, one of these days… )
Anyway, whatever you do to cover the bottles, DO NOT use duct tape. It looks horrid. Trust me.
(That was also tried on my first farm… )
Maybe a normal paint that you brush or roll on would give a better result?
(You may have to rub the surface with sandpaper, though, or use a quick coat of gray primer first, to make it stick)
I like your compact installation. I was looking for something like this for starting a windowfarm in my classroom.
@Trygve Henriksen
Hahaha, oh man the idea of lots of thin coats is the worst for people like me who are impatient!!
Also, I totally used white duct tape on my new column and I think it looks pretty classy!
-Melissa
Thin coats go on very quickly.
(If you feel too impatient, bribe someone to do it for you.)
Also, the duct tape may look classy now, but wait a week or two until the edges gets dirty…
Duly noted!!
I was even thinking of knitting cosies, or using fabric as they did in Dakar…
Looking good! What ever came of your strawberries?
@James: They are germinating SO SLOWLY!! I only had 5 sprout. Last night I teased them out of the soil because it was getting slimy on top, and replanted them in fresh soil.
They had better be tasty strawberries, because they are taking their freaking time haha. I’ve stopped buying seeds from places like Canadian Tire and I’m starting to collect heirloom. These strawberry seeds are McKenzie brand.
Is it unusual for strawberries to take a really long time…?
Also, my stevia seeds sucked, and I only got 2 sprouts. One of them has its first set of true leaves and the other is just the seed leaves still. I put them in my new window farm but it’s super cloudy today, I hope they make it.
@bionicmel Just a note on using this goofy web site, everyone has a name and a unique identifier and they may or may not be the same. Use the unique identifier in the messages. So for example, James’ is really @jamesnutter. Click on people’s picture or name and you will see it.
@bionicmel I think strawberries do tend to take a little longer, but I have only done clones in the past so I am not sure exactly, but they are definitely a longer germination period. Thats unfortunate about your stevia, I just picked up Burpee signature/heirloom/organic or something of that nature, and 3 of 3 sprouted, and I would imagine you should be able to find those if you are looking for new seeds. Put a little extra light on it if you are worried, even a floor lamp with a cfl is better than nothing.
@ajinil Thank you so much!! I was wondering how to do this!
@jamesnutter yeah right now the strawberries are under a bunch of cfls in my shower downstairs. Today is nice and sunny, I cannot wait to get home from work and check on my little stevias. When I was washing the soil out of the roots I definately dropped the bigger of the two stevia down the drain, but luckily I rescued him from the sink trap!