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Denver, CO
Public Group active 3 weeks, 6 days agoWindowfarms and indoor agriculture in Denver, CO and the surrounding area
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David started the forum topic Has anyone in Denver Colorado attempted to make a window farm? in the group
Denver, CO: 3 weeks, 6 days ago · ViewI have not yet attempted my own but I do plan on making a window farm in the future, first a far I will be making a 3 tier colum that will be freestanding. I haven’t decided what kind of plants I want to grow in it yet, but I do want to try something [...]
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David joined the group
Denver, CO 3 weeks, 6 days ago · View -
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Denver, CO 2 months, 1 week ago · View -
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ian posted an update in the group
Denver, CO: 1 year, 1 month ago · ViewDoes anybody in the group know of agrihouse? I think it is an aeroponics company from Denver. I also think there is a farm or two out there using the aeroponic systems by agrihouse.
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ian joined the group
Denver, CO 1 year, 1 month ago · View -
Blake Goldberg joined the group
Denver, CO 1 year, 3 months ago · View -
Michael Lind joined the group
Denver, CO 1 year, 3 months ago · View -
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Denver, CO 1 year, 3 months ago · View -
Rj Dollen posted an update in the group
Denver, CO: 1 year, 5 months ago · ViewNice. It’s cool to see some Denver people. I found this site, through GOOD magazine while looking for some cool shipping container ideas. Anyway, I was taken back a little bit by this because I have been working on very similar ideas with my 6 year old son Kyler. I was shocked to see that anyone else had thought of this and blown away by how many people were involved. Very cool. Our ideas are a bit more manual and one-off at this point but still worth in the scope of things. I could see having a big window garden at home, but wouldn’t get away with it at work. We also use the bottles a bit different. Anyway, very cool.. more on our versions here http://www.kylerco.com/
Interesting concept. It’s even more minimalistic hydroponics, and not using any electricity.
(A standard WF that’s without power for more than a couple of hours during the day ends up as a collection of dried goods… )You can easily improve your design with a single extra bottle bottom.
Take one bottle, remove it from the ’full’ bottom, and place it on the empty ’spare’. Then do the ’pour and squeeze’ operation without having to worry about the ’quickly’ part. The now empty bottle bottom is then shuffled onto the next bottle.
At the end of the line, the empty bottom can be taken away to be cleaned to avoid algae buildups.
(All the bottle bottoms will eventually reach that position)
Thanks for the comment and the suggestion. Not a bad idea at all. Part of what we are doing is making this so simple a 6yo could do it…. and he can. I help out with the cutting of the bottle but the rest of the work is done by him and his 3yo brother. The extra bottom would be a nice addition for them. They get a little worried about catching the water before it gets on the floor.
Algae is my biggest worry right now. I haven’t had any problems yet but my attention is on the algae issues with the clear bottles. I am not a big fav of the tape look or painting bottles with toxic paints. So we are trying new things. We’ve also got some different ideas and approaches using old t-shirts that we are documenting as they develop.
I really appreciate the info.
Cam
Kylerco.comWhy not use cardboard?
Just stand the entire assembly in cardboard tubes.And yes, the tape look is… not good…
Tried that on my first WF attempt.
Incidentally, a single layer of duct-tape isn’t enough to keep the light out, and when you put two layers on top of each other on such uneven/curved surfaces, the second layer really highlights the wringles in the first layer. Messy.Again a good idea. We do intend to sell these one day to people to lazy to make their own and we have considered how to make the packaging used to ship the thing part of the actually product. I am a little worried about finding a reliable source for getting these materials too. We are trying to keep this all recycled and reusable as we go. A self imposed standard of sorts. I can get used water bottles but used cardboard tubes… that is a harder find.
I have to tell you, having a 6yo to bounce these ideas off of is brilliant. Just as soon as his eyes glaze over a little bit and he tilts his head slightly I know that I have taken it too far. We will get there for sure, but for now we are keeping it silly simple. Sadly I have found that my 6yo cares much more about reusing, recycling and reducing than most grown adults. I think that the more complicated this becomes for someone to put together and use the less likely they are to embrace it. Currently our very simple working version is simple and easy enough to be done by just about anyone, just about anywhere.
I love the window farm idea but I think it has a certain curve that it caters to. For me and others like me, I love a project like this. But for someone who doesn’t care for all of this as much it’s a lot of work for something that isn’t as pretty as they’d like. Trying to find that balance is more important than other admit I think.
Sorry, bit of a soap-box moment there. In short… great idea.
thanks,
Cam
Kylerco.comThe corrugated cardboard in thee box you plan to ship them in?
Just score them slightly on one side and they roll ’easily’ into a tube.
Or you could get the corrugated cardboard that only have two of the three layers it normally has. It comes in big rolls and is used for packing stuff.Even normal paper can be used if it’s layered and rolled up.
Fun for he kids! Roll it up, glue it together, then paint it.
Again with the smarts. If I had to guess what you do… something in IT.
I submitted a post with this image in it.. not sure it will get approved but it shows how the ”1cut” bottle works. No holes drilled or cap left on. It might give you some more prospective to our little project. http://cl.ly/eeb116fe06a835236eeb
and you thought the last one was simple.
Bingo!
I’m like a potatoe; can be used for anything. I’m a server admin, set up networks(sometimes pull cable to get it done), set up and fix PCs and help users with their problems. Oh, and at home I collect vintage computers, mess about with microcontrollers, RC gliders, and have been known to code HTML in notepad.
Did I mention that I can drive a tractor(with asorted dangerous cutters and grass-collecting machines) and milk cows? (Not very well, though. )That ’1cut’ bottle looks interesting.
Don’t worry about your post, it’ll be approved… Eventually…
(It may take a week or three before the admins notice, though)
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Rj Dollen joined the group
Denver, CO 1 year, 5 months ago · View -
Tyler Blazina posted an update in the group
Denver, CO: 1 year, 8 months ago · Viewhello all, i invited myself into your group because you seem to be the closest place to me (billings, montana) that is particapating. i can’t seem to find the poland springs water bottles anywhere, and come to find out they are a mainly east coast company. i am just trying to get started and wondering if you have any suggestions of how to find these bottles or if there is a good alternative bottle. any help is appreciated.
Any bottles in the 1 – 1.5L range will be just fine as long as it has somewhat sturdy plastic walls.
(Don’t want them collapsing if you tighten the cable-ties too much, do we)
From what I can see, the advantage with the Poland bottles is the narrowing at the middle which gives a nice edge to hold the net cups.I’ll be using 1.5L soda bottles, at least in my first test setup, and small plastic ice cream cups.
(The cups are smaller than the diameter of the bottles, so they’ll end up nestling in the neck of the bottles)
Arrowhead bottles here in Oregon have the narrow waist similar to Poland Spring. Do you have those in MT? Otherwise, you can try punching holes in the straight sides of any bottle and then the net cup, and using a bamboo skewer to support the whole shebang.
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Tyler Blazina joined the group
Denver, CO 1 year, 8 months ago · View -
Shannon posted an update in the group
Denver, CO: 1 year, 8 months ago · ViewAny news from the Denver windowfarming front?
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preston sheldon joined the group
Denver, CO 1 year, 8 months ago · View -
Shannon posted an update in the group
Denver, CO: 1 year, 9 months ago · ViewGreetings, Denver! I’d love to hear about everybody’s window-farming adventures. I just started this process, and I’m looking for some tips. I went to a hydroponics store and got totally overwhelmed, but I’m still committed to trying a small window-farm.
Just finished ours, check out our post for pictures and info, if you have questions just ask!
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Shannon joined the group
Denver, CO 1 year, 9 months ago · View -
Patrick B joined the group
Denver, CO 1 year, 9 months ago · View - Load More
