I learned about this project through the feature on TED, and have just pledged for a four-column windowfarm through the kickstart page.  Now I want to spread the word.  Has anyone created a PDF or other poster or handout that can be used to let people know about this?  My mum would put one up in her flower shop (she’s very excited too, and is helping me to pay for my farm as my christmas present) and there are a few other stores I’d like to show them to — an organic cafe and a specialty kitchen shop come to mind immediately, and there are a few more.  It’s getting hard to pass on information to people who you only know in real life, and don’t have any e-mail contact information for!

If nothing exists yet, would it be okay for me to create a PDF, and share it here for other people to use?

Hi, everyone.

I’m a newbie and right now am just going through the site to get ideas for my future window garden. I really like the idea of using a pole to mount the containers a la Dave’s Manhattan Windowfarm. I’m also interested in using non-plastic containers to hold the plants, and I’m wondering if anyone has considered using cylindrical glass funnels. I’d like to find something with a shorter stem, but you get the idea.

I thought I might be able to wrap the funnel in felt or other fabric before clamping to the pole in order to protect the roots from light as well as the glass from whatever type of clamp I use to attach to the pole. What do you all think?

I’m new to this and have yet to make my own windowfarm; born, bred and living in Reykjavik, Iceland.  The idea of using my time and resources to grow my own vegetables, greens and fruit is very exciting to me.

But after researching the articles here a little, there is one BIG thing bugging me about the whole thing.  Why use all those synthetic materials to grow food?  Why not try to design a system that uses natural materials like glass, wood etc. as much as possible?  Best would be to use only natural materials, of course!  Don’t know if that is practical though.

What are your suggestions and ideas on this issue?  I would love to get some feedback on the use of natural materials only.

First, some background. This is my first window farm. I have no prior experience in hydroponics, but have grown many aquatic plants. I started making a DIY window farm following the directions of a single-column, 5-bottle hanging V3 window farm. I found that the bicycle needle airlift method just was not as reliable as I had hoped. It would sometimes work, and other times, I would find it not working at all. I researched the site and found that others had set up a t-valve airlift, and it seemed like the way to go. The other guides did not seem to include all the information I needed to get it set up for myself, so I decided to try it anyway. Below, I’ll tell you what I used. I will also say that if this method seems ridiculously simple and it looks like it’s so short that I might be missing something, it’s because it is ridiculously simple and I’m not missing anything… I think.

Parts needed (in addition to the other parts used for the V3 hanging window farm):

Standard aquarium airline. I went with black silicone, because it looks nice and will stop algae from growing in the airline. I bought 25 feet, because it was cheap and I will probably use more when I add columns later.

T-valve. I purchased a metal t-valve from PetSmart. They have plastic ones for even cheaper.

Silicone glue. You want to make sure you get silicone glue that is 100% silicone. I got mine at a hardware store, but they also often carry this at pet stores/fish stores (for aquarium repair). The 100% silicone will ensure that there are no additives that could leak into your water and plants.

Steps taken to add the t-valve airlift to my V3 hanging window farm:

1. To make the sport cap airline connector, first insert 1″ of airline into the sport cap of the water reservoir.
2. Inside the sport cap, use the silicone glue to glue the airline in place. Make sure to form a complete seal. It must cure for at least 3 hours before you can get it wet. I recommend you let it cure for 24 hours before doing anything else with it.
3. Measure/cut 1.5 feet of airline from the cap, and connect this to one of the two straight ends of the t-valve.
4. Connect your airline from your air pump to the perpendicular end of the t-valve.
5. Using your remaining airline, connect one end to the remaining straight end of the t-valve.
6. Run this airline to the top of your window farm and into the top bottle. Secure using zip ties or what ever you prefer.
7. ???
8. PROFIT

Look at my awesome diagrams:

I have decided that I’m just going to buy the presta valves or the bike tubes that contain them. I just can’t figure out what to buy!

Will this work?

How about this?

What about this?

There seem to be different sizes and I don’t know one from another and it isn’t specified in the instructions.

Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

I just ordered and received a Petco #9902 pump, unfortunately it doesn’t appear to be adjustable according to the website.

http://www.petco.com/product/109838/Petco-Air-Pump.aspx

Unless I’m missing something, there are no knobs or dials to turn anywhere on this thing.  The bottom of the device has the model number AC-9902.  Not sure if this is the same thing as the instructions, but the link above is EXACTLY where I ordered it from.

Rather than argue with Petco, or try to find another pump, I’m simply going to find some inline control valves I can use in order to adjust the airflow.  I’ll post my results (including pictures)!!  Hopefully this will make any pump a good fit for this project.

-bk

I’ve completed the construction of my Windowfarm, so in the grand tradition of the Windowfarms community I’d thought I’d share some photos and my tweaked design

Materials

1 x 2 liter soda bottle
5 x 1.5 liter bottles
5 x 8” wooden dowels
1 x 4” metal pipe holder
1 x 11 ft large tubing
1 x 3 gallon bucket
11 ft PCV pipe
1 x 10 lb bag of cement
A bunch of zip ties
5 x 3” grow cups
4 x 4” aquarium tubing
1 x aquarium pump
1 x T connector
1 x silicon glue from Home Depot
1 x bicycle inner tube presta valve
Some other stuff I missed

Posts read (where ideas were taken from)

Reservoir and t-lift system (no needles): http://our.windowfarms.org/2011/04/16/the-science-of-airlift-plug-flow-is-the-way-to-go/

Lighting: http://our.windowfarms.org/2010/04/15/super-simple-light-system/

PCV Pipe Setup: I can’t find the link but I do remember I watched a video and a bunch of Swedish/Dutch/Norwegian/German guys showing off their setup in their greenhouse. There are the ones that gave me the idea of inserting wooden dowels through the bottles to support them on the PVC pipe.

Lessons Learned

1. When cutting bottle holes (which dowel is put through to mount to PVC pipe) make sure that you don’t place them in such a way where you block the bottle cap of the bottle above it. If you do the water (without the aquarium tubing) will run onto the wooden dowel, into the hole in the PVC pipe and down into your bucket and/or floor
2. Don’t skimp on the hole saw drill bit which puts the holes in the bottom of the 1.5 liter plastic containers. You’ll slice your hand off (or come close) with a razor.
3. Let the silicone gel that you apply dry overnight prior to using it.
4. You can use larger tubing to encase the smaller tubing with plumber’s tape and silicone gel to stop leakage.
5. Prior to building be sure and plant your seeds in rockwool, or whatever medium you use so that when you are done with the delivery system you can transplant right away.
6. Be sure and secure you pipe to the celling so that it does not fall over when weight is added (as shown in the picture).
7. When drilling holes in the PVC be sure and drill perpendicular to the pipe (mine are a little off which causes the bottles to be off keel).

Next Steps

Repeat timer

I’m waiting on my timer to show up from Amazon so that I can make a repeat timer
http://our.windowfarms.org/2011/09/13/35min-repeat-timer/comment-page-1/#comment-6486

Grow Lights

I also have to mount the final light to my hanging light system and make sure that they are close enough to each of the plants to have a benefit. I wanted to make my own reflectors (which I did out of soda cans on this site) but they get way too hot for comfort so I’m looking for an alternate approach.

Transplant Plants Grown From Seeds / Cutting From Garden

I have already planted seeds (after soaking them overnight) and they have really grown. I’ve used one of the lights on a different extension cord and it sure does make a difference (they’ve sprouted already) and also harvested some mint from my outdoor garden which I plan on putting in my garden as well.

As you can see from the photos the system worked out pretty well. If you have any suggestions to make this design better please feel free!

Pump

The petco pump that I bought for $20 is quite loud so I think I’m going to get a smaller $10 pump and see if it will pump the water up – quieter.

Entire Setup

Base

Top Secured to Ceiling

Reservoir (setup for easy removal and cleanup - just unwind the grow wire and pull out)

Single Bottle With Dowels

My Grow Setup

 November 17, 2011 Update

Here is an update of my windowfarm 

setup

mint

chives

basil

Basil

 Reservoir using presta valve method with 2 metal, 2 neoprene washers and two nuts (and silicone gel)

I am lucky enough to have 11 ft celiings so I’ve designed a system which is 9 feet tall. I’m having an issue getting the water up to the top and have come across the t-joint method, but am having trouble understanding what t-joints I need, how large the resevoir needs to be and the setup of all the material once put together.

Does anyone have detailed instructions on how to do this and/or know of where I can look? I am a step-by-step guy so it’s hard for me to look at pictures and reconstruct it.

Thanks!

My setup

Attention New York City residents or to those who happen to be in town!

We are throwing a garage sale, potluck style at our storefront space in Williamsburg and want to take this opportunity to meet our local windowfarms enthusiasts. We have a lot goodies (used and new) in the basement that you can buy for cheap! So if you have built a windowfarm, want to build a windowfarm, or simply want to check out what we do in person and meet awesome people such as yourselves, then come over!

Bring your special dish(es) to share, beer (or cocktails) to drink, and we will do the same.

Location:
Storefront (the one with windowfarms on the window)
355 Bedford Ave.
Brookyn NY 11211

Date:
Sunday September 25th

Time:
6pm – 9pm.

Please RSVP by Friday September 23rd. You can do so by emailing us at info@windowfarms.org with ‘Potluck Sunday’ on the subject line.

Thanks so much for your support of the Windowfarms Project. We look forward to seeing you all Sunday! In the mean time check out the list of things we have for sale below, maybe they might get you excited.

***NOTE: Everything for sale is only to be purchased and picked up on site.
We simply do not have the man-power to ship any of these.

Parts:
Rigid tubes
Air pumps
Water pumps
Solar air pumps
Painted/drilled planter bottles
Aluminum tracks for hanging
LED lights
Grow lights
CFL bulbs
Plastic reservoirs of several sizes
Aquarium tank
Clay pellets
Seedling trays
Net cups
Seeds
Hanging cable (wire cable)
Plumbing parts
Timers
Light sockets, wires, cords
Tiny spoons
Tiny envelopes
Drip emitters
Nutrients

Tools:
Lock cutter
Swaging tool
Plastic sealer

Furnitures:
Doors for tabletop
Plant shelvings
Expandable white table
Office chairs

Janina and I made this window farm - it's not completed yet, but we are working on it.

This is a picture of my first window farm. It took some time to figure out which bottles are good for this purpose (I am living in Berlin, Germany) but I decided to use regular water bottles from the German discounter Lidl – they are cheap (0,19 EUR for the contents (water) and 0,25 EUR deposit) and I the store is close by. My friend Janina and I planted tomatoes, parsil, spinach and hot peppers today and I will go and get the plumbing tomorrow. I will keep you informed how it goes.