i wanted to remove plastic from the equation so this is built entirely from fda approved materials.

i used food grade silicone tubing in black to reduce algae, food grade silicone sealant to connect tubing to bottom pots, terracotta pots that i sealed with beeswax, gaskets made from cork coasters, net pots made from foodgrade silicone muffin pans, a 5gal antique stoneware butter churn for a reservoir, stainless steel rod as a support for the tubing in the reservoir. i got seeds from organicseedpeople and started them in plugs around 2 weeks ago. they been under cree daylight leds from homedepot. i transplanted them to the wf 2 days ago and they seem to love it! no wilting or shock, in fact just the opposite.

in this window are 2 columns with 5 pots each. i have 4 windows of this size all facing east and, as you can see, a lovely view of a brick wall so next up will be filling all my windows with plants; not only will it be more productive but it’ll improve the view too.

cherry tomatos, basil, catnip, cree led supplemental light

basil, parsley, catnip, pepper

parsley

cherry tomatoes, basil

arugula

I had lots of trouble with seedlings, and especially the part where you don’t kill them. I tried some (not all) of the rituals involving paper towels, rock wool, sand, coconut hair, etc. The seedlings need attention about twice every day, just to check the humidity. If the soil/medium dries out for a couple of hours, the seedlings die. Given the fact that i’m often away for a day or so, this caused a lot of infant plant mortality.

Then one day i had some unoccupied pots in the farm and some of the seed packages come with LOTS (hundreds?) of seeds, so i just threw a couple of seeds in the farm directly. What did i have to lose, right?

We’ve been told to give the little plants pure water without nutrients (or they’ll “burn” – anybody else ever thought that sounded strange?), they need some structure to attach to etcetera. Turns out we’ve been lied to (or i/my plants have been very lucky)! ;->

I had basil, chives and hemp (not the smokey kind), grow like weed (eh…) by planting them directly in the clay pellets in the window farm. Granted the chives didn’t live very long, but neither did the ones i sprouted in my “seedling school” and transplanted later. I just filled the cups with clay pellets, up to 1 cm under the upper edge, threw in some seeds and then fill the last cm with clay pellets.

Perhaps there’s stuff i’m not taking into account (one of the reasons for me to report here), but i do think it brings these advantages:

• no growplugs needed,
• no growplugs, soil or dirt in the farm (which started looking really gross/muhsy after a while)
• no extra attention required for the seedlings, the windowfarm will auto-water
• no painfull transplantation (even being very carefull when moving little plants into the farm, i’m sure they hate being moved!)
• speculating here, but i think the plants adjust to hydro quicker when they ‘grow up’ in hydro.

Hi Friends,Finally after weeks of preparation ,my window farming setup was ready …..lot of problems on the way like water not moving up,problem in drilling holes,the hydroponic soil was not available. But in the end everything came together & the farm was ready…Now the next goal is get some plants in it…

My first try

I got this idea about using coconut shells as plant containers, instead of water bottles, mostly because I though it would look good. I have been working on my first WF for a while now and about a week ago I finally got everything working – or so I thought.

To my great surprise and disappointment all the coconut shells broke after having had water running through them. Some just had a few barely visible cracks in them, while others had big open cracks, and looked like they were about to burst open.This made me have second thoughts about the use of coconut shells.

A couple of days later, though, I found one of the extra coconuts I had bought, in case some were damaged along the way, and discovered it had cracks similar to the ones in my WF. This coconut had just been lying in a bag since I brought it home, so now I am kind of confused about the whole thing. My theory, at this point, is that the coconuts I got were ‘bad’ in some way.

What do you guys think? Could it work with other coconuts, and if so, is there anything in particular I should be looking for when picking out new ones? Any advise you can give will be very welcome.

I would also like advise on how to waterproof coconut shells. I used a non-toxic mineral oil to coat the insides of the shells, but maybe I should have used some kind of lacquer instead?

Happy windowfarming to all of you.

Maj

Coconut shell WF

Cracks in the coconut shells

Comparing the cracks in a coconut shell from the WF to one that had just been lying around

So, anyway I have been making pallet gardens and I airlift the water up to them and around and cycle it back to a reservoir just like in windowfarms. But it is a pallet so the water has to be spread across the pallet. I made a “flip flop” to do this and it fills up from the airlift pipe and then dunks the water out along the length of the pallet. Maybe that could be adjusted to work with just one airlift tube supplying 2 or 3 or 6 windowfarm columns? and video is at Flip Flop Video

This is a  step by step process of how I built my window farm. It has only been running for a few days so I am not certain that all of the kinks have been cleared from the system but so far it seems to hold up. I took inspiration largely from Rama’s build http://our.windowfarms.org/2010/04/26/our-hydroponic-window-farm-experience/#comment-4112#comment-4112

I had to make some specific adjustments due to my specific needs and also I am based in Australia so some of the materials mentioned in the different instructions are not available here or are a bit different. I have currently started off with a 2 column set up however I believe my set up can easily be increased to any size. I fact once I test this one out for about a Month or so I will likely add a few more columns.

Materials

• 6mm (internal size) Vinyl tubing enough to go from the lowest point to the higest point of your set up with a bit to play with and multiplied by the number of columns you want to make, in my case 2
• 4mm internal 6mm external size (has to fit snuggly inside the above vinyl tubing. Air tubing I got around 5m and still have some left over for future use.
• Fairly thin chain around 6m (needs to be built so that you can undo and reassemble the links)
• 27L container in my case a white plastic rubbish bin
• Infinity AP-750 Air pump this has 2 speeds and 2 outlets. I think the one recommended by the site would be better but wasn’t able to find at the time, but have since found it so will use that next time.
• HPM  D817 7 Day timer for setting the on off times of the pump
• Transparent plastic bottles in my case 10, with this build i suspect any container of that approximate size would work.
• masking tape
• white spray paint any colour would do I assume.
• Clay pellets
• Net cups to match the size of the bottles
• Flairform Green Dream 1 Hydroponic mixture from local hydroponics store

Other materials

Glue Gun, Drill with 6mm and one larger drill bit to match the size of your chain, and sharp hobby knife kits or similar sharp tools.

Steps

Step 1. Take 1.5 L bottles of water in this case they are some random bottles I found in a discount store that cost me $1 each. drill 6mm holes in the bottom of the bottle and in the lid. Drill holes the appropriate size for the cain at the base about 2cm from the bottom of the bottle and again near the cap approximately 2.5cm from the ledge of the cap. Don’t drill holes near the cap for the bottom bottle of each column.

Step 2.Cut opening on both sides of the bottle both starting approximately 2 cm from the centre line of the bottle leaving 2 uncut parts approximately 4-5 cm thick on both sides.

Step 4. Cover bottom half the bottle in masking tape and paint the top half with spray paint, give it 2 coats.

Step 5. Once the bottles are dry string the chain through the holes of the top bottle and hanging from a pole while each of the other string through the bottom of the previous bottle into the base of the next bottle as show in the pictures.

Step 6. pass the vinyl tubing along the chain and tie it onto it using cable ties or thin wire.

Step 7. Follow Rama’s suggestion. Which is poke a ball pump tip into the vinyl tubing about 3-5 cm from the end and thread the thinner airline tubing into it up to the point where the ball pump tip is. Also attach about 3-5cm of airline tubing to the back of the ball pump tip. I had some problem with air bubbling out of the ball pump tip but i found if i had the back of the tip facing down in the water as show in Rama’s diagram it stopped bubbling.

Step 8. At the top of the set up thread some airline tubing into the Vinyl tubing and poke it into the top of first bottle all the way down to approximately where the mesh pot will sit.

Step 9. Unscrew the bottle caps which have a 6mm hole in the top of them cut pieces of airline tubing to run from the cap of the previous bottle to the mesh cup in the next bottle. Thread about 1/2cm of the airline tubing into the cap and use the glue gun to stick it in place (don’t cover the hole). The glue gun doesn’t hold it in place perfectly but so far I have not had much problem with them popping out or leaking. The last tube should be long enough to go back into the bottom container.

Step 10. Put the plants in the pots without any soil and hold them in with the clay pellets. Then put them in the bottles

Final Step. Hook everything up to the air pump plug the air pump into the timer which I set for 2 hours on 2 hours off during day light ours and off during the night. Fill the tank with water and add nutrients check the PH which according to the company making the fertiliser should be around 5-6.5.

Questions and issues.

Here are a few issues and questions I have.

How much on/off time should I have? I have set it to 2 hours on 2 hours off during day light hours but I have no idea if this is too much too little etc.

I have a strange gurgling sound in one of my columns and have no idea where it is coming from I can hear it somewhere near the top of the set up but have no idea what is causing it not sure if anyone has an answer for this. Kinda annoying too.

• Just answered my own question on that one. I found a small piece of dirt lodged in the entry point of one of my tubes. I.e. on the inside of one of the bottle caps.

How often will the nutrients have to be added and will the water have to be changed in my current position changing the water will be a major hassle.

Anyway hope this is useful to someone and hope to get some feedback on some of the issues I’m having or on how I could improve this set up.

Cheers.

Starting from Scratch-ish

A few days ago I started building my first window farm.  Bottle plant holders are the only recycled part of this system – everything else I was able to gather from a local commercial center.

I generally followed the instructions to create a Version 2.0 Windowfarm.  It is a fairly simple process that filled me with new ideas for my next column.

Below is the windowfarm after the first afternoon.

Bottle tower and Reservoir-base

Airlift Issues

I ran into a problem with the airlift, which I understand is common so I’m posting my solution. The airpump was blowing bubbles back into the reservoir.  I had seen different recommendations on the airlift (t-joint, needle, each with variations) so I tested different models with no success, proving the airlift design wasn’t to blame.  Additionally, I found that I got the best results using the t-joint setup.

I began thinking of other potential causes… I had bought the recommended Petco air pump but without the adjustable dial, so maybe I was feeding too much air pressure into the system… I tested different air pressures by squeezing the hose and running the pump, all eventually bubbled back into the reservoir.

Solution

I was able to resolve the issue by attaching 1-way valves to both the air and water lines feeding into the airlift.  The non-adjustable pump works fine.

Additionally, the t-valve is positioned ~1.5 feet below the bottom of the reservoir to create pressure and feed water down the tubing.  Below is a picture of the exchange.

Water & Air exchange at the t-valve

It works quite well now.  After the initial gush of water, it pumps out ~2ml every 2-3 seconds, which seems enough by sight.

A Work in Progress

Finding solutions and innovations while building my window farm was one of the most rewarding and exciting parts of this project – always spurring on new ideas for my next column.

Currently, I am using the petco pump w/o knob to feed 4 planters.  I would suggest changing the recommendation for the pump type to be less specific..

I created a tube-in-cap drain for each planter by drilling a hole in the center of each cap using scissors.  Wrap the end of a 2-3 inch section of tubing in plumbers tape and twist it snug into the cap hole (the cap drains best when the tubing is nearly flush with the inside of the cap).  I then secured the outside cap/tube joint with duck tape and screwed it onto the bottom of the planter.

Cap-tube drain

I created a simple silencer by connecting a section of 1/4″ ID tubing to the end of the feed tube.

 Simple Silencer

Below are pictures of my first column now.

 Crash course column

After I completed the column, I grabbed some small plants I found at the park and unrooted a small vine that has been growing as a potted plant through fall and winter in the same window as the windowfarm now sits.  I know the vine grows in the micro-local limate of the windowsill already and anything in the dog park has to be pretty hardy.  I’m treating this column as a crash course of windowfarming to learn the basics and work out the kinks before I move on to something more serious.

Note on Syphons

I did not cut a hole in the bottom of my reservoir, instead opting to maintain the bottle structure and use a syphon to feed the water to the air-water exchange and up to the plants.  As I am sure ya’ll have experienced how unwieldy the tubing can be, which creates complications for maintaining water suction necessary for a syphon.  To solve this, I used a small binder clip and two screws to create an anchor for the tubing.  First I clipped the clip on to the end of the tubing going into the reservoir, then I placed a screw into each wire “butterfly wing” of the clip, and dropped them into the water.

Below is a picture of my raised anchor in the reservoir.

Syphon Anchor

Thanks for checking out my grow-op.

Please feel free to comment, I welcome your feedback, questions, and support.

My current setup

So I’ve decided to go with a relatively big leap in getting started.  I had a vision for how and where I would have my windowfarm set up and decided to just got for it.  I got a 7′ x 7′ x 2′ wire shelving unit rated for over 3,ooo pounds per shelf (for future expansion into aquaponics).  I got 2 4′ grow lights (2 4′ bulbs each), Sunblaster 42 if I remember correctly.  I also got a pair of 2′ x 1′ x 6″ dirt planters for plants that cannot go into the columns and for excess successful starts.  On either side of the shelf, I placed reflective liners to send some stray light back to the plants.  As you can tell in the picture, I also went for 8 columns of the windowfarms on top of it all.

The plants this time are just starting out still, with one survivor from a previous (Frankenstein-type) setup prior to having the shelving and most of the rest of the stuff.  For plants I have red salad bowl lettuce, bloomsdale spinach, lacinto kale, sugar daddy peas (in the dirt planters), green bell peppers, and genovese basil.  The spinach and peppers seem to be having a harder time with things so far, but I’m trying to see how they do in the long run.  The kale just got planted as well, so I’m waiting to see how many starts are successful.

The pumps are running on an every 2 hours schedule and I am using the Botanicare CNS 17 nutrient solution (only this, so far).  The lights are on for approximately 12 hours a day, but sometimes longer since I have a few days a week where I’m gone for longer than that.  I ordered an outlet timer for the lights since I needed one that specifically had the grounded outlet.

Here are the problems I am having so far:

• Mildew starting to form on some (but not all) of the grow plugs.  Not sure how big of a deal this is or how to fix it yet.
• Casualties (mostly from the spinach starts right now).
• Slow growth.  This might be just a perception, or unreasonable expectation on my part, but I had the understanding things would grow faster than normal in a hydroponics setup, but maybe it’s not as significant as I had expected.

I would appreciate any advice anyone might have on improving my chances of successfully pulling this setup off, help with the problems I am having, potentially better plants to use, or just opinions/encouragement.  Also, any help in gauging reasonable exceptions from production from this setup would be greatly appreciated.  I would prefer to harvest only as needed from each plant without killing it off until it needs to be replanted.

Orignal post here:

http://our.windowfarms.org/2013/01/02/stand-from-threaded-rod-and-mdf/

I made a ring out of 1/16″ [1.5 mm] thick steel tonight for the top of the stand:

The three unused holes will be for centering/suspending the stack of 1.5-liter bottles. The top bottle is being temporarily centered using masking tape till I design and make the final solution (I need to make the cutouts in the top bottle too). Thinking maybe raise the ring up and bring three rods down and inward to a central externally-threaded bushing that would pass through a hole in the top bottle and have a little collar that threads on to hold the bottle:

Plenty of time for that – plants are still sprouting. Here’s some lettuce that started coming up the other day (about 3/4″ [19 mm] tall):