Hello everybody,

I am a student of industrial design that loves plants and the investigation of hydroponic watering.

So i have started to design a new kind of Windowsfarm by myself, following the steps of the ready-made process.

I am documenting everything in this webpage.

http://veggafarm.wordpress.com

Any advice!???? =) Hope you like it!

Hello,

It was amazing experience of building window farm in our small one bed apartment. I am diving my post in at least 2 part.

Project: Window farm

Window: 57″ by 27″ ( glass area)

Diagram:

Window farm diagram

Components:

1. Thing I used as pots :    $1/each  ( From Dollar shop) total: $8
2. Chains to hang:  $18 ( Economy hardware)
3. Net pot: $5.99/12 ( ebay)
4. clay pebbles  : $7.20/1LB ( ebay)
5. tube : $8 ( amzon)
6. black spray paint: $3.82 ( Amazon)
7. Air pump: $13.55 ( Amazon) ( Hydrofarm Air Pump 2 Outlets 3W 7.8L/min)
8. Timer: $9.75 ( Amazon)  (Stanley 38448 TimeIt Duo Two-Outlet 24 Hour Indoor Mechanical Timer, White)
9. T valve: $3 ( Petco)
10. Vinyl Electrical Tape: $2.20 ( Amazon) ( for decorating)
11. Silicon glue : $4.80 ( Amazon)
12. Water reservoir: $2.50 ( shaws supermarket 2.5G water cane )
13. One way valve: $3.50/3 ( ebay)
    

• Botanicare Nutrients  $16 ( Amazon)
• Seeds $5

total to build: $107.5

Issues I faced:

• Airlift was not happening at first but then By reading on this forum I did three things which solved my issue   1.  Added one way valve in air input as well as water input 2. water input taken from bottom of reservoir 3. T valve kept almost 24-30 inch down the water reservoir
• Water dripping out from some pot so i used silicon adhesive to seal that

I will update second part mainly with completed project with lots of images so that you guys can see what I did.

Ninad

Hi!

Ich habe hier auf Windowfarm und in ein paar Onlineshops (hauptsächlich Conrad ist am ordentlichsten) mal ein bisschen recherchiert was es denn so hat an möglichen Lampen.

Wir wollen was mit 5500-7500 Kelvin (Britta)

Das gibt sozusagen grob die Lichtfarbe an. Und entsprich ungefähr Tageslicht-Weiß/ Kalt-Weiß.

In Wellenlängen ausgedrückt wollen wir ungefähr so ein Spektrum (Thanks @Matthias who found it here)

Wobei Wellenlängen um 400-450nm und 640-670nm am besten aufgenommen werden können. (frei abgelesen)

Wichtig ist es im Hinterkopf zu behalten das unterschiedliche Farbkombinationen und Belichtungslängen besondere Effekte auf unsere Pflanzen haben können. (z.b. früheres Blühen, oder Blühen trotz Winter…)

Lichtstärke

Lichtstrom z.b. 1lm (lumen) entspricht der Leistung einer Lichtquelle. Die Beleuchtungsstärke z.b. 1lx (Lux) entspricht der Beleuchtung einer bestimmten Fläche. 1lx = 1 lm/m^2

Umrechnung von cd (candela) in lm: 2π(1-cos(α/2)*Lichtstärke(cd)=Lichtstrom(lm) wobei α dem Abstrahlwinkel der Lampe/ LED entspricht.

Bild	Name(Weblink)	Kelvin	Wellenlänge	Lichtstärke	Leistung	entspr. Leistung	Kosten
	MEGAMAN ESL 20W-E27	6500K		1215 lm	20W	89W	7,13€(-10€)
	MEGAMAN® Pflanzenlicht ESL E27 15W	Weiß			15W	75W	8,28€(-10€)
	MEGAMAN ESL23W-E27	6500K		1395 lm	23W	99W	7,13€
	6 SMD-LEDs pro2,5cm Strip (rot)24V/DC	rot	623 nm (nicht ganz 640-670nm)	< 480 lm pro LED? (< 2880 lm)	0,48Wpro 2,5cm		1,92€
	6 SMD_LEDs pro2,5cm Strip (blau)24V/DC	blau	470 nm (nicht ganz 400-450nm)	< 480 lm pro LED?	0,48Wpro 2,5cm		2,13€
	1 SMD LED Uf=4VIf=20mA	blau	455nm (näher an 400-450nm)	0,025 lm			0,85€
	1 SMD LED Uf=3,2VIF=20mA 11mW radiometrische Strahlung	UV	400nm (im 400-450nm Bereich)	UV nicht sichtbar			3,67€
	SMD-LED Geh 1 SMD-LED Geh 2 SMD-LED Gehäuse 3 Uf=1,85V If=20mA	rot	660nm (Im 640-670nm Bereich-> Peak!)	0,314 lm			0,11€0,13€
	SMD-LED Uf=1,85VIf=20mA	rot	650nm (Im Peak Bereich!)	0,314 lm			0,12€
	SMD-LED Uf=1,85V If=20mA	rot	640nm (Im 640-670nm Bereich)	0,471 lm			0,22€
	SMD LEDUf=2V If=20mA	rot	632nm-645nm	0,079 lm – 0,63 lm			0,34€
	60 SMD-LEDs pro Meter12V/DC	6500-8000K		300 lm (pro LED?)	4,8W		8,90€/m
	60 SMD-LEDs pro Meter12V/DC	6500-8000K		900 lm (pro LED?)	14,4W		16,90€/m

To be completed

Wenn ihr noch gute Komponenten entdeckt füge ich sie hier gerne hinzu.

Warnung: die Lampen/ Bauteile wurden noch nicht von mir getestet! Nur recherchiert was es denn momentan so auf dem Markt hat!

Leider wird die Tabelle nicht ordentlich dargestellt sodaß die Spalte mit dem Preis abgeschnitten wird… ich vesuche da noch was zu verbessern aber das dauert noch bis ich dazu nochmal komme

viel Erfolg die Ziska

It’s been almost a year since I lasted posted on here. Now I’m back with a little video update below. I bought a new air pump because my last one back siphoned due to the fact I didn’t have it elevated higher than my reservoir…oops! The new one has four air outlets, so I’m thinking of setting up a horizontal system on the other side of my window sill.

I’m open to any advice or comments! Here’s the video update link…

http://j-memory.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/mov015.mov

Hi,

I’ve just recently found out about windowfarms and I want to get started building one as well. I have three huge windows,  all together about 5m wide and 1,8m high, the only problem is that I don’t have any direct sunlight and I can’t find any place to buy the right CFL bulbs. I’ve read on the website that I need bulbs with a light temp of >5500 K but when I google this I can’t find a single website that sells them. And are there any other requirements? Like wattage maybe?
So does anyone know a website or a store, preferably in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where I can get some of the right lightbulbs?

Many thanks in advance!

Tom

After receiving the DIY kit I started assembling my window farm only to discover that the air pump included did not work at all. No air was emitted from the pump when plugged in. It was extremely difficult to open up the casing as all the screws were in too tight. 3 out of 4 did unscrew eventually but the last one wouldn’t budge and eventually became stripped. Resigned to the fact I would have to buy a new pump, I was still curious to have a look inside and understand how it worked so I force popped open the casing. Not sure exactly what the magic recipe was but opening up the casing got the pump to work perfectly. My hypothesis is that there was not enough air flow inside because it was too tightly sealed.

No painting, I’m using socks to protect the roots from the sunlight.

Sock on.

Sock off

This place has no electric power near by.
I’m trying to let it work with just a solar pump.

Greetings from The Netherlands.

The air pump only produces bubbles and does not lift water slugs to the top of the column. I’ve tried crimping the valve in the reservoir but it only works for a few minutes and then the water fails to climb to the top. What can I do to further close the valve or otherwise address the issue? Also, should I close the valve entirely with duct tape or something else? Thanks for your help!

I still do not have a windowfarm. Too many other projects, I guess. One recent project was to show how a gravitational vortex power plant works for the local mini makerfaire. There was no electrical socket near my booth so I moved outside and used a 15 Watt solar panel connected to a 12 volt DC bilge pump to work my model. The vortex power plant model developed a surprising amount of torque so maybe if scaled up it could work a little mini compressor for supplying your airlift needs? An electrical engineer said that neither the solar panel or the bilge pump would be damaged by low wattage in the morning and evening through the system (the water prevents thermal runaway) and this was confirmed by the company who made the bilge pump! So, now, what we need to do is either adapt that system to produce air under pressure. (a little trompe) or find a low watt 12 volt dc compressor that will not burn out in low watt situations. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPh4GymUGSg
Brian

Hello Windowfarmers!

I was just introduced to this idea through my brother and now we are planning on getting started. The first step is to pick the right pump. I have no experience as a gardener, nor as an engineer, but none the less I am determined to make this work. Somewhere I found someone linking to this pump and I would like to ask you farmers what you think the capacity of the pump is? How many pots will it be able to support?

http://shop.petworld.dk/product/luftpumper/luftpumpe-cr-10.aspx#top

If I understand it correctly it’ll pump 72 litres per hour. I think it sounds like a lot, but as a rookie I found that it would be best to seek the advice of my fellow farmers.

Apart from that, it looks like the pump has two vents going out. Is this understood correctly? Does this mean I can start out by making one window farm, for example the 2.0 system and then if it works out, and I want two farms, connect another 2.0 in the other vent of the pump?

The last question is if any of you knows if this pump is going all the time and how much noise it makes?

I hope you can help me and I’m looking forward to hear your answers.

Best greetings

- Morten