Vertical Design Question
5:47 pm in made from scratch (without a kit), Other Cool Urban Ag. Stuff, questions, Seeking Advice, Uncategorized by Vertical Pioneer
I want to build a window farm, only, a three dimensional one. This would be called a vertical farm model. I want to know if you guys have any design ideas that you could share with me? It would be about 6 ft tall and 2 ft wide, with three 2 ft levels. Should I make reflectors to increase yield? I will definitely use hydroponics. I will probably use either beans (bush variety) or peppers. Maybe both. I will try to make it as air-tight as possible to keep the heat in this fall and winter. And I will not install any grow lights, thats cheating in my book. I’m not an architect or engineer, so I wouldn’t know what the best kind of design would we. If you’ve never heard of a vertical farm, then google it. It’s a really intriguing concept. My model would go in my backyard where there is a reasonably good amount of sunlight.
I have an outdoor project called a pallet garden. The project playlist is http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL00C41C26C91A76BB&feature=view_all and it is going extremely well. I started it August 11th. Feel free to borrow from that.
Also I have dripper irrigation. It started out pretty complicated but now it is really simple! And it is working awesome. http://www.instructables.com/id/The-AMAZING-TCMTECH-dripper-irrigation-for-rainbar/ Feel free to take whatever you need from that too.
Brian
Thanks for the advice! Your method is quite interesting the way it combines all those techniques into one system. Your videos have inspired me to add a compost level in the bottom( for extra heat), a traditional soil level ( in the top section) and the hydroponics level on the middle section. I’m going to start construction soon. My goal is to have a low maintenance, closed system which will not have to be watered or lit or heated. Thanks again!
Hi, my suggestion is to have reflectors on the north east or northwest (probably northwest) side and reflect the sunlight onto white remay cloth or shade cloth inside your vertical garden. The problem with reflectors is that even if they are flat, they can have concentration hotspots that can burn plants or even buildings. Another problem is that for best results your reflectors need to move during the day and that is a bit hard to do. Compost under sounds good. Probably you need bug screen too. Note that these things are time consuming hobbies and for best results, you need to be open minded and be able to change things as soon as you see advantageous changes. (So try to keep it modular) Brian