In the WindowKit parts list, i read that the current choice for CFL lights is because they’re cheaper.

For me, the money is definitely an issue, but my main concern here is succes (i’m terrible with plants, and all my money would be wasted along with my enthousiasm if my first batch fails). So i wouldn’t mind spending some more on a couple of LED bulbs, if that helps. My first questoin, obviously: Would it? Would LEDs be better than CFLs? Or only some (type) LEDs?

When they say they’re cheaper, i assume they mean the purchase costs. How would the cost of the electricity compare?

I’m thinking about putting the entire window farm between the window and the curtain (that i’ll move a bit away from the window, into the room), but i obviously wouldn’t want to ignite my curtains until my veggies are ready. ;-> Did anybody try this? Can anybody give me advise on the distances that are both safe and good for the plants?

Do plants care about having exactly 1 day per 24 hours? I think i would prefer to turn on the extra lamps in the middle of the night when i’m asleep (adding an “extra day” to a 24 hour cycle), rather than “prolonging” the day, brightening the room when i’m still in the living room. Would they notice?

Even better would be if the light is cumulative rather than the “hours of light”. What i mean is, would the plants be fine with getting twice as much light during the day, instead of twice as many hours of light?

Hello again!

I’m back to pick up where I left off in my last post “What about those who can’t afford to build a window farm?” I said I was going to try and think about cheaper and easier ways of building+ running a window farm, and here what  came up with so far. I found some structural and methodological adjustments to the building process, and some ideas (that I still need to look into) for the maintenance part. I wish I had a little more knowledgeable about hydroponics though, since I have ideas that I’m not too sure would work. I’ll post’em out here though and hopefully someone with more expertise in the field can let me know what they think.

All right, so some of the more expensive tools and parts can definitely be spared. First of all, you don’t actually need a drill to make holes in the bottom of all bottles. Some bottles, like Aquafina bottles or the Poland Spring suggested bottles are horrible to work with since they have such hard bottoms. Yet, other types of plastic bottles have bottoms that can easily be cut into so if one can find bottles of this nature, a drill isn’t needed. Nonetheless, something like an xActo knife will still be needed but these are considerably less expensive than a drill (I bought one for 4 dollars).
Secondly: chains, hooks, zip ties and these things aren’t really essential either. I found that the frame (off which the bottles hang) can be made by using thin flexible wiring and your average nails. From here I’ve come up with a downsized list of essentials one could use to make a cheaper WF. This is based on a two-column window farm, equipped with three plants per column.

The Cheaper Window Farm Necessities
-6 plastic water bottles with easy to cut bottoms! Free
-2 reservoir plastic water bottles with easy to cut bottoms!  Free
-xActo Knife   4$
-a couple of nails  2/3 $
-Spool of thin (but sturdy) and flexible wiring. Comes in colors too. 4 $
-Plants  (cost depends on which you want but I got mine for 10$ tot)
-Net cups (free at your friendly neighborhood nursery)
`    -Pebbles / clay pellets???
- Air Pump and tubing?????

As is noticeable, I’m still uncertain about necessity of the last few items. I know hydroponics is all about a continuous water system, but the cost & maintenance of the pump worries me. Is there any way one could pour water through the system once or twice a day and still achieve healthy plants?
Furthermore, is it crucial that the plants grow in clay pellets or can they survive in pebbles (like little rocks one can find in a park or something)?
I’m wondering about these since if they could be spared and substituted for, the WF would cost much less. If they can’t be though, maybe one could build a non-hydroponic WF with just some dirt & watering instead.
The ‘frame’ of a non-hydroponic WF would be fundamentally the same, but without the pump and hydroponic parts. The plants could be placed in dirt and watered daily instead. What do you guys think about this?
I’ve also been wondering about possible homemade nutrients solutions since those can be expensive too. I intend to do some research on that and see. But until then, do let me know if any of you have some ideas about this stuff!

As always, thank you! Ciao

Hello everyone, I have just joined the community this week after seeing this on a TED video. I teach high school engineering and technology education. I emphasis sustainability in my classes and love to experiment with sustainable ideas, so this is right up my alley. I will be building a set-up in my home as well as my classroom. I have been thinking about some possible modifications.

The air pump ideas looks great, but what about a zero electricity design? I was thinking about how old hospital IVs work (before they had automatic pumps). A nurse would hang an IV bag, set a drip rate and the iv would run using only gravity. Maybe we could do the same thing here? It would mean moving the “feed bag” daily I would think, but if there is an easy quick release system on the bag it would be doable. As a gardner I like to check my plants everyday anyway. If there are any medical people out there maybe you can weigh in here.

I have a student in my after school TSA (Technology Student Association) club, who wants to build one of this as an aquaponics farm (small scale with goldfish). I will post picture as I (and she) starts to build. I love this forum and idea of encouraging local agriculture! I have spent the past three days reading through this site.

So, as a rebel wannabe and annoying being that I am, I came up with a model for my future windowfarm.

The main objective of this model is to avoid the use a pump as I don’t want to use the money I’ll save from buying veggies to pay more in the electric bill

I got my inspiration from Lousie (http://our.windowfarms.org/2011/03/06/testing-a-waterclock-dripper-system-based-on-brians-plans/) a great idea to keep the tank pressure constant (hence the dropping frequency constant) is to use a float valve, but as I said, I don’t want to waste a cent, so I came up with a float valve of my own, using a bottlenose with a ping-pong ball inside, it should keep the water from falling into the secondary tank (this part may be tricky but I wont buy that float valve)

The other part of my idea is that I don’t like things hanging, it makes me feel everything is going to fall apart and I want my plant to be safe, so I decided to make shelves for the bottles, but they’re hard to make, so I thought that, If I cut off the bottom of the bottles and fold the plastic outwards, and then cut a piece of the folding so a twisted wire can go around the bottle, then the bottle itself will be its own shelf. And taking things further, If I make the same (maybe adding something instead of folding the plastic) with the net pots then I can take off every bottle with their plants without having to dismount everything YAY!! modularity FTW!!

But I’m not sure things will work out, I’m new with this, the last time I ever planted something was a carrot in primary school and I think it died, so I leave here some schematic I made with my crazy mspaint skills, so you can visualize things as I do and maybe give me some feedback on this.

PS: I don’t mind moving the water up when the tanks are empty, it’s nice to have some activity around the plants other than killing them

PS2: The whole idea is based on reducing costs, materials and work (I just can’t understand how the airlift thingy works)

PS3: I’m sorry if I’ve butchered English :O

PS4: THANK YOU!!

Guys and Gals-

We just launched a Kickstarter campaign to make new non-waterbottle windowfarms.

This is the first evolution of the R&D-I-Y design that has evolved through our mass collaboration into a manufacturable version that we can make available to the rest of the world!

They will use a version of the T-valve approach with components from the pharmaceutical industry. We are replacing the water bottles with new cups that mimic the water bottles but are cheaper to produce with safe, recycled plastics. The reservoir is going to be bigger and easier to fill, clean, and adjust. It will mimic the water bottle reservoir in its ability to funnel organic nutrient sediment to the intake for recirculation. They will hang or stand, making positioning easier for folks who are allergic to drills!

I want to let you know that this is in no way a move away from the recycled material windowfarms. The DIY versions are my personal favorite, but they just are not a good fit for everyone.

This will help fund badly needed work for the community. We need to migrate to a new website because this one is broken, not easily searchable, always getting spammed, and it generally drives me crazy. We also need to make updates to all the instructions that fold in all the awesome improvements you guys have made, which is also a lot of work.

I would really appreciate your help promoting the new windowfarms to the newcomers who have been waiting to join our ranks. Please help me welcome them!

I hope you are all going to have a great Thanksgiving (you too International Windowfarmers!) and you are all a large part of what I have to give thanks for.

-Britta

Hello every one I am new to this site and I like to sahre give a nic

Share information:

Solar air pump works with bateries to!

I cant wait to start my own windor farm!

God bless and have fun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZeVb7DzUOE

Hi all,

I just completed my first window farm and wanted to share my experience.  Just as I decided to get one of these together, I had an assignment to create a video about the environmental subject of my choice, and this seemed to fit perfectly. Here’s what I came up with: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fif-hNj47M.  I used several images from this site, so if I used one of yours and you want it removed, then please let me know.

I was particularly impressed with Dave’s Manhattan Window Farm design (http://our.windowfarms.org/2011/01/07/my-manhattan-windowfarm/), and used it as a starting point.  In the interest of simplicity and energy conservation I decided not to use lights or a pump, at least to start.  I don’t live anywhere near a hydroponics supply store, and was unable to find nutrient solution, net cups, clay pellets, or rock wool.  Instead I used Vigoro all purpose soluble plant food diluted for indoor plants, cheap plastic plant containers that I already had and a mixture of vermiculite and pebbles.  I figured that the vermiculite would retain moisture better between manual waterings anyway.  I wanted as large a space for roots as possible, so I used 2L soda bottles, which I regularly use.  I could only find 2″ split ring hangers but they turned out to be just large enough to hold the neck of the bottles and keep them close (but not too close) to the shower curtain rod.

I bought some romaine, arugula, and red leaf lettuce from Lowe’s so I could include actual plants in the video, and for the instant gratification, but in the future I will be using seed, of which I have plenty, to start one with herbs and another one or two with things like beans and peppers.  I waited too long for the first watering and I lost a few leaves because of that and damage sustained during transfer, but otherwise they’re looking good ten days in.  Since, I have been watering with 2-4 cups of solution every 2-3 days.  The red leaf is growing really well, while the romaine seems to be struggling a bit.  The arugula is a little bigger, but has not changed much, although they have all grown.

Here are some pictures:

Day One:

Day Ten:

I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to this project.

04.21.2011 Edit to add:

I lost one (the smallest) of three of the romaine plants to what looks like root rot but the others seem to be doing well-

and unfortunately the arugula looks like it’s going to seed already

I made another video and basically I ran out of pipe and ladder and because of that I couldn’t pump any higher but I am curious. How high can you go? I went 13 ft but there was no problem whatsoever pumping that high! So, maybe, if you have a 2 story house or an available high place you could find out how high it is possible to go? So the contest rules are in the picture below and in a video
(You might get some extra hints and ideas if you watch the video)
Basically you use your aquarium air pump, and a T joint set at 2 ft below your liquid reservoir height.

Contest rules for unbelievably high airlift powered by puny aquarium air pump

So the rest of the post is from a couple of days ago and has a little different version of the video. (I am too Lazy to write a new post)

I made a new video about the pulser pump and Eileen suggested that a “pulser pump nano” (a smaller version) might be useful. The pulser pump is my little “invention” from over 20 years ago. Anyway, I no longer live near a river so I cannot do a nano. But because of my involvement in windowfarms, I can at least test how high a tiny pulser pump can pump. Today I used the T-joint method and an extendable ladder to go pretty high. With an aquarium air pump and 22 inches of submergence, I pumped to 13 ft high today! I bet it can go a lot higher but thats it for me.
Here is the video (which may be of some use to windowfarmers)

Just wanted to let everyone know that I found a simple outdoor timer with single outlet for $1 and some change . It only has 30 min intervals, but not bad for less than $2

I did a little video today about lowering the airspeed through to windowfarm to vary (and sometimes increase!) the rate of airlift.  Depending on your tubes the rate can be quite slow and still give you good pumping. Check it out because I think it can help people to understand a bit better and to get things right first time.
Anyway here are some pictures that I took out of the video.

2 outlet air flow regulator valve

This is a little aquarium valve and bottom pic shows the adjustment knobs

You can either use it to regulate air to 2 t joints or just leave one open to the windowfarm and have the other one just a bit open to let some of the air escape.

Below is a head for connecting a tube under the reservoir. You might need a bit of gauze or window bug screen in the bottom to stop crud getting into the tubes.

Head for watering plants. Snip off the top and use the "neck" to attach tube

And you also can use this thing for aquariums as a bottom reservoir.

Aquarium attachment for tubing

And finally I am going to show you a pic of the bubble in the tubing.

plug of water

If you reduce the airflow into the t-joint and into the tube, sometimes the water flow increases. This is because the type of flow changes from churn flow to plug flow.

Plug flow can be quite slow sometimes. As the plugs of water rise, it changes from many short ones to a few long ones.

Watch the video to get more information.

Thanks Brian