Yesterday my daughter and I built a 3 column hydroponic vertical window garden using a 20 gallon fish tank as the water reservoir. In the middle of the fish tank, I squeezed a length Of 3″ PVC tubing. I bore 3, 1&5/8″ holes into the tubing. I used this as the base for my three 6′ columns of 1.25″ PVC tubing. I used a submersible pump. connected it to 1/4″ tubing and used it to get the water up six feet. I then used Ts to try and bring the water to each column. 

It looks alright, but it has a few problems: The problems I am having: 1.The caps at the base of each plastic bottle do not drain well enough, so many of the planters become water logged. 2. I have not yet had success getting the water to all 3 columns simultaneously. 3. In addition I probably shocked an number of my plants. I’m going to play around with it, and see what I can do to improve things.

First timer at window farming.

Should I get a steady flow of water or droplets out of the air lift?

How much water should I get from the air lift?  My actual flow is about 200 ml per hour or 50 ml per 15 minutes.

Finaly, why use an air pump instead of a liquid pump?

thanks

Pierre

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 everyone,

This is my first windowfarm. There are lots of things I need to improve so any recommendations and suggestions are more than welcome.

I used a football pump needle for the airlift and my farm is like 190 cm high.

Hope you like it!

Hi

Just started my first windowfarm. It has been running for about three weeks. In the past couple of days I started noticing white stuff on some of the pebbles. Is it mold or minerals? Should I do something about it?

Thanks for the help.

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.

I have one of the manufactured systems (I was a Kickstarter supporter) and have to say it’s incredibly awesome!! My older water bottle one made it’s way quickly to the recycling bin!!

My issue is that the output of water at the top of the airlift spews droplets all over my window. It makes one heck of a mess. I ended up taking a pill bottle, cut off the bottom half, then drilled a hole in the lid just large enough for the airlift tube, and this has helped stem much of the mess.

The issue is that when the bubble of water gets to the top/end of the tube it is actually a bubble and it *pops*, making a little mess of droplets (2-3 of them) spray out. I don’t see another way around this from what I’ve done, but it’s apparent you have to let the bubble burst, and containing it inside a larger sealed vessel as I’ve made is the way to go.

What have you done to help this issue?

Hi!  I want to set up a window farm to grow some herbs, mainly. Well, at least for right now. To get my feet wet.

I live in Japan, in a building made completely of concrete, built  most likely in 1950′s or 60′s. There is no central air just a small, expensive, electric air-con/heater installed over the balcony window. Right now, it’s winter in Japan. So, needless to say, I am typing while hiding under the cheapest source of heat, a heated table. (I know, I am leaving a carbon footprint but I can’t function with cold digits or nose) Anyway, I am wondering if I can still attempt a window farm system if the average temperature in my apartment during winter is about 1C (or 35F) the lowest being -4 C (28F)(usually) and in summer it can reach about 35C (95F). I have no way to regulate the temperature in the air-con room, efficiently or cost effectively.

I have more questions about how to find appropriate plant nutrients but I am also certain I can continue to peruse this site to find that information.

Any advice sent my way would be appreciated!

Thanks!

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.

Hello Lovely Windowfarmers,

I started my window farm project back in the middle of October, and now that the flowers are blooming, I thought I should finally get my act together and share my experience.

Easily the most cumbersome part of the entire project was the 2 weekends spent gathering materials. Here is a cost breakdown of what I spent and where for anyone looking to price out getting started in Canada:

Hardware Store:

• Bead Chain and connections - $45
• Paint – $6
• Power Bar Timer – $22
• Clear 3/8″ ID, 1/2″ OD Tubing – $9
• Clear 1/2″ ID Tubing – $5
• Hanging Hooks x 8 – $5
• Hole Saw – $9

Aquarium Store:

• Air Pump – $27
• Air line tubing – $7
• Check valves x 4 – $12

Hydroponics/Garden Store:

• Growing medium cubes x 100- $20
• Growing baskets x 16 – $10
• Clay Pellets- $13
• Maxikap Liquid Fertilizer- $9
• Seeds- $25
• 36″ Growing Light x2- $80
• 24″ Growing Light- $40

The total cost of the system without the lights ended up being about $224 dollars, and with the extra lights needed in the dark Canadian winter the total cost came to $344.

The construction of the system was relatively problem free until I was attempting to get the airlift system to work. I had originally purchased inflation needles to create the air pressure needed to lift the water, but the system was refusing to cooperate. I ended up fashioning my own system of tubes to create the pressure differential necessary:

The end result that works perfect in the system is 7cm of air line tubing (OD 3/8″) inserted into the largest size of tubing (ID 1/2″), which creates enough pressure inside the reservior bottle to lift the water 4 bottles high.

Once construction was finished I ended up with this:

I started off the system with Sungold tomatoes, Chocoalte cherry tomatoes, summer squash, kale, strawberry, bell pepper, cilanto, beans, and basil all from seeds except the strawberry which was a clipping saved out of the garden at the end of the season. The kale, cilantro and basil kicked the bucket quite early, since I believe I put them in the system a little young, and they did not enjoy being dripped on. The summer squash and a bean also suffered a fatality. They seemed to simply lose the will to live, after I cleaned the window with vinegar and lemon juice. The plants were caught in the crossfire. These failures were replaced with green beans, cayenne pepper, spagetti squash, yellow pear tomatoes and snow peas.

Baby Sungold Tomato

Baby Chocolate Cherry Tomato

Cayenne Pepper

Sungold Tomato

Snow Peas

There are a couple of alterations I want to make to the system. The most urgent of which is how I am going to support a spagetti squash if any of my pollenated blossoms decide to fruit. Also, I want to change out my tubing system for a t-lift air system with black tubing so there is no need to clean the tubes of algae, and the reserviors will also require less frequent filling. As well I am searching for a different medium than water bottles to build the system out of, perhaps along the lines of a mechanics oil funnel, if I can find the right size.

Heres hoping to see the fruit of my labour soon! There are sungold tomato, spagetti squash, green bean, chocolate cherry tomato, and cayenne pepper blossoms currently, so its a race to ripeness!

Happy Farming Everyone! (I would love to hear any feedback you have)