by Batigol
Starting my first Window Farm… Some questions.
8:35 pm in Nutrients, Starting Seeds by Batigol
Hello, I’m starting my first WF. But i have already some questions 
1- i used this “how to” movie to make my WindowFarm: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8shuvMGIvc. I planted my seeds ( tomatos and strawberries) in my bootles with coco coir but i dont know if i should keep the water pump on all day during the seedling or just some minutes?
2- in this first stage (seedling) should i add some nutrients, or use only water?
3- When the sprouts appear should i change the coco coir to clay peebles? or can i leave my window farm with the coco coir?
4-how can i know how much water pump speed should i use?
For now it’s all
Need some help.
Thanks.
P.S. Sorry for my english
I have my pump running 24/7 and I don’t think its a problem. It’s just on a slow drip. Any nutrient solution the plants don’t use just drips through.
Use very dilute nutrients… the bottle will give you the mixing instructions. Just reduce the amount you use. If your plants’ leaves start turning yellow and look like they’re burnt on the edges, dilute it some more with water.
I would put the coco pod (I’m assuming that’s what you started your seeds in) in the net pot surrounded by clay pellets. It would be really damaging to try and remove the seedlings from the coco.
The water pump I have is a really cheap one from a crappy filter for a small fish tank. I really don’t think you need a powerful pump at all. I use a little valve from the pet store to restrict the air flow of my pump significantly to get a nice steady drip.
P.s. your english is very good haha
Hi @Batigol !
I’m not a native english speaker too, as some may notice
Now to some of your questions:
(2) At the first try I added, as I know now, waaay too much nutrients to my seedlings, causing a serious nutrient burn resulting in… nothing
While it may work to add just a little amount of nutrients, all seeds have a small amount of nutrients inside to allow the plant to grow their first roots without additional nutrients. My cucumber seedlings went well with pure water for the start, but YMMV
(3) Don’t know :-/
I used sponges for sprouting outside the WF and then transplanted directly to (smaller) clay pebbles (3-5 mm) like Seramis(tm). That worked for me, I didn’t use Coco at all.
(4) My Farm is in the first season and the water runs 24h, 7 days a week at about 8 drops a minute. My Airlift isn’t running as effective as it should but for now the plants (still young) seem happy.
I hope that helps at least a bit. I cannot answer you questions exactly as I took a slightly different approach. But that’s Research & DIY right?
1 – Most people start seedlings in a seed starter tray and not the windowfarm. They don’t always germinate, and in some cases, they can die as seedlings. I would recommend using a tray and you can water manually as needed.
If they are already in the windowfarm, then run the system normally. If your using coco coir, you probably don’t need the pump to run all day, but it will take time for the nutrient solution to soak through.
2 – If your in the coco coir, your seedlings will have enough to get going and sprout.
3 – Your choice. In this video the author chose to use a different product for the windowfarm, and it seems to have worked well. The coco coir will retain more water then clay pellets, so it will take time for it to soak through. Also, more nutrients maybe soaked up in the first bottle and not pass through the entire system. The coco coir may also act like a filter. Its something your going to have to test.
4 – You only need to run it so the system has a constant drip. You don’t need any more then that. Also some plants like more water, some like less, so you need to research the plants as well.