Improving the design for more polished looks
7:21 am in Getting Started, posts with pitcures!, Projects in Process, R&D-I-Y by Mikko Mattila
I’m about to build my first WF. While I generally love the idea of growing food at home, the free design of WF 3.0 is a bit of an eyesore as such. I wanted to come up with something that’ll still be a full grown window farm, but is still approved by the wife. 
Update: Second Draft
Thanks for the input everyone. I came up with a simpler less work intensive solution: flower pots. I went to a hardware store to look at PVC pipes, and stumbled upon some plastic orchid flower pots. They seemed right size and only cost 1,99 a piece, so I got two for testing. The pots have a dent in the bottom, kinda like wine bottles. See the drawing. This type of construction prevents the container from draining out completely. Not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.
I also decided to try string instead of metal wire, since I couldn’t find proper parts for attaching the wire to the pots. Here’s a picture with initial string based suspension:
Drawing:
First Draft
Here’s my first draft on an improved design. I didn’t bother drawing the irrigation system in detail since it’s not really important in this context. The main idea is that we’ll encase the water bottle, suspension system and the irrigation system in painted PVC pipe. Any other pipe should do as well. My first draft doesn’t depict how exactly the pipe and bottle are attached to the suspension system. I haven’t really made up my mind on how I should implement it. Anyway, the PVC pipe should be sort of fixed into the suspension wire system, while the bottle and the plant are easy to remove. It’s not really feasible to remove the pipe, since the wires and the irrigation hose run through the pipe.
Comments and improvement ideas welcome 
See the next post for construction details and pics.
I think we’ve got the same mission here. (-:
The ‘rod’ through the bottle might cause problems. In the “MAMA”, the chain goes way over the plant. That allows you to pick out the plants (or maybe putting them in in the first place). As a second suggestion, i would exaggerate the height of the outer PVC, becuase you’re looking from a whole variety of angles at the different bottles.
As a social hack, you could invite your wife to spraypaint the PVC aaaaany way she pleases. Trick her into it by adding a compliment about her creativity. Wether she says yes or no, she’d be more carefull criticizing the looks of the WF. (-:
We have pretty much the same mission. (-:
Some suggestions:
1) The bar through the bottle might cause problems. Note that the MAMA has the chain way above the plant, yours could cause problems getting the plant out (or perhaps even putting the plant in, in the first place).
2) Since the bottles are on very different heights, and you might look at the window-farm either standing, or perhaps sitting on a chair or lying on the couch, increase (exaggerate) the height of the PVC.
3) Invite your wife to spraypaint (or whatever) the PVC, insert some corny compliment about her creativity, or how women are so much better with color than men. Whether she says yes or no, she’s much less likely to object to how your windowfarm ends up looking. (-:
(Sorry if this is a double reply, i can’t see my first reply, so i’m posting it again…!)
Haha. I like the social hack suggestion
As for the 1st suggestion, you’re probably right. I’d like to keep the bottle itself as low as possible, which is why I came up with this idea. The rod is removable though, but I guess I’m gonna have to trial and see what works best. I will post back when I have something to share.
The rod could be replaced by a ring around the bottle. Maybe you could just put the rod a lot lower so that it also doubles as a support for the plant pots you put in the bottle. Just leaving it out and putting screws (or anything else, like coat-buttons?) on the inside of the bottle would make it work as well.
You could ditch the bottles altogether and just use a white or black pvc drainage pipe. Bottom can be capped for a reservoir, holes can be cut for the plants, netcups can be inserted and attached in each hole Anyone with a bunsen burner or a bottle of cooking oil can mold the plastic a bit for making the desired openings drip free (well not anyone, but some artistic people or someone with a mold for the perfect opening could do it). Probably pvc is a bad idea but maybe pipes are available in other materials too.
I’ll just say this from experience with the V1 farm, cutting PVC sucks…
I like where this is headed as I am also toying with the idea of using PVC pipe instead of hanging columns. If I understand the design correctly, you are proposing using a PVC pipe cut down its length and suspending the plants in a gutter-ish structure. If that’s the case, then will you orient the open face of the pipe against a window? And if so, how will you access the plants?
I was investigating and developing a design similar to this, as well, and I abandoned it in favor of a more rustic tin enclosure for each pot, but I will say that I think you will probably serve yourself better by forming a lip inside the pipe to set your hydronet in instead of a suspension cable. The removal process will much easier (just lift out, as opposed to having to detach a cable) and it will be more light tight.
Also give some thought to how much light the PVC will block that would normally pass through to your room. Not too much of a problem if you’re only doing one or two, but it larger systems, that’s a lot of shadow.
For a wholly different take on aesthetics, take a look at Jenna Spevack’s Plastic-Free WF:
http://jennaspevack.com/windowfarm/
Hi, Parker, not like a gutter, Imagine a 4 inch diameter pipe that is 8 ft high with 3and1/2 inch round holes in the front of it at 1 ft or 8 inch spacings. Maybe even 4inch holes. so it is still a pipe, and still has strength (because it is all in one piece) but it has enough room to put in and hang net cups in each hole.
Alexander: Oh wow, Jenna’s WF looks a lot like what I had in mind (after ditching the idea of PVC). I’d better take a closer look. Thanks for the link!
Brian: My initial thought was that the pipe would not be in one piece (ie. not rigid). Now come to think of it, if you could find a translucent pipe and keep it in one piece, you’d solve the shadow issue that Alexander mentioned, and you’d have a nice and sturdy construction. Another topic possibly worth studying. I’m gonna go with the flower pots for now though.