Did anybody try using .5L bottles instead of the 1.5L Bottles? From what i’ve read, i would expect that space is an issue for only some plants.

If the vertical space is the first problem, i could cut off the top of the bottle and space them further appart, put the plant higher in the bottle, so their effective root space is just as big as in the 1.5L bottle.

The advantages would be space, taking less sight in the window, and less weight.

The disadvantages, i don’t really know, there could be many, but i would assume they’re all space-related.

I’d like to think this would make a kick-ass mini-window-farm for maxing out cress and other really tiny plants.

I just finished constructed the thing and something is wrong with the pump. The water doesn’t reach the top of the tube. It pump makes the water bubble up to almost the point where the tube curves around and goes into the first bottle but not quite. The pump is a 6200cc Hi tech for 370 liters/hour. I thought it was more powerful than the one that is in the instructions so maybe there’s a problem somewhere else. Can anyone give me some tips or comments on where I could check for air leakage? Thank you. Here’s some pics:

Administrators? Moderators? Webmasters? I’ve got a couple of things.

• Spam on the main site? Can we crowdsource removing it? Or can we make more moderators away? This doesn’t look inviting.
• Can we hype the Wiki at http://windowfarming.wikispaces.com? I would prefer to have a built-in wiki on this site. I think i can do a good job selling the idea if anyone needs convincing. If i can help in any way, i’d be delighted.
• A bug report (i think…): When i go to @mattycozy’s profile and click “Mention this user”, i get a new post with @yukosato . I think it takes the wrong username. (When i click “preview” on this post, the @username’s don’t work anyway…)

How on earth do you get the inflation needle to stay onto the check valve!?

I have average petco check valves (the ones recommended in the online WF set up) and basketball inflation needles. The two will not stay together and after an hour of functioning they come apart. It’s so sad and such a tease, adivce would be greatly greatly appreaciated!

Ciao ciao

Hey guys!

So I’m in research phase for building my WindowFarm after I saw Britta’s TED talk and I have to admit that I have a ridiculous amount of information swirling around in my head and it’s starting to overwhelm me. I’ve read dozens of articles on here and there are still a few things unclear to me.

Basically, I was hoping I could do a site visit to someone that has an established WF somewhere near my neighborhood (Clinton Hill, Brooklyn) so I can see it in action and get a good visual of all the working parts in person. Would anybody be willing to let me in to see theirs?

I’m thinking of doing a set up similar to Jenna Spevack’s (seen here: http://our.windowfarms.org/2010/05/05/plastic-free-window-farm/) though I may have to cut corners on the no plastic idea. I’m also trying to start off with three or four columns in my GINORMOUS 7.5′ x 8′ living room window. I know that’s pretty ambitious, since it’s my first aeroponic system, but I think the process is pretty straight forward, and I’d rather just get it all done, rather than build the first and then have to scale up later. My research seems to indicate that I should have two separate air lift pump systems so that I have enough lift. Is that correct?

Thanks in advance for all your help and I can’t wait to be eating my very own pak choy!

Hi guys,

I’m a new window farmer and have some questions and thoughts I’d like to present to you all, regarding how we can extend the window farm project to individuals and communities that do not have the resources engage in this movement like the rest of us. I’m very excited by the potential the WF project has to alleviate some of the larger social and environmental issues we are faced with. Yet as I was building my own WF I saw how the currently available designs require many more resources than I imagined.  The tools, time, and money I had to put into building a WF made me realize how individuals without these resources cannot participate in this movement. Drills, air pumps, nails, paint and so forth, come out to be pretty pricey when added up and I feel as though this issue radically diminished the WF’s potential for large-scale change. This is especially true when considering the fact that the earth is rapidly urbanizing and soon most of our growing global population will live in urban settings.
I recently read Planted of the Slums (a paper on future global urban development by the distinguished academic Mike Davis) that shocked me with the expected outcome of current global trends, into thinking how it is critical for projects like the WF to reach out to underprivileged communities. Davis states: “cities have absorbed nearly two-thirds of the global population explosion since the 1950 and are currently growing by a million babies and immigrants each week, [furthermore] the global country side has reached its maximum potential and will begin to shrink after 2020”. The expected outcomes of these global trends will be “ the burgeoning of new megacities with populations of 8 million, and hypercities with more than 20 million inhabitants”. Smaller cities and ‘citized’ towns will also grow, as they will be expected to absorb three quarters of global population growth. This makes me think that there will be an unimaginable amount of people living in tight city spaces, and most of them (as Davis proceeds to point out) will be of lower-income status.  Davis in fact states that we are headed towards ‘a mass production of slums’ as already one third of the global urban population lives in slums. Many of the environmental, social, and public health related issues that will rise from this are freighting to think of.
THIS IS CRAZY, and if we really want projects like the WF to effectively counteract the negative social and environmental consequences of wild urbanization, than we need to do more. I’m curious to hear what you all have to say about this, and what measures you envision we could take to spread WFs and things of the sort. I’d late to make it clear my concern is not only for slums, but for all lower income communities in general. I think its crucial that every one finds ways of self-sustainment and self assertion in our times of incredible dependency on global, capitalistic markets. And the procuring of food should be a first factor in this.
Currently I am myself working on trying to envision cheaper and easier WF set ups, as I am also talking with my school about setting up an organization with funds to reach out to underprivileged immigrant communities in NY state. I’m hoping to be able to aid these politically and economically disenfranchised communities to re-affirm themselves by producing some of their own food.
I’ll post again soon and meanwhile I hope to hear what you guys have to think! Ciao for now

Hi there

I’ve created quite a tall frame for my set-up to hang about 4 columns of plants on, I was wondering whether I could push it to 5 or 6 hanging bottles (following the Gen3 instructions) in each column – or would that risk upsetting the flow of nutrients to plants?

I have roots that have started coming out of the bottles into the bottle below them. What is the best way to deal with this?

I followed the instructions for the v3  4 column window farm, and it instructed to line up the plant holes with the reservoir bottle hole.  I searched the site but could not a definite answer on this:  Right now, I have the plant hole facing away from the window.  I did a google image search and it seems like most people have their bottles with the plant hole facing out the window.  However if I do this, there is not a lot of space for plants to grow out without relocating the whole bead chain suspension farther out from the window.  Plants move toward sunlight, so with my setup, would the plants grow back inside the bottle rather than growing out of the plant hole? 

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?