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If I may, I recommend starting with either an aquaponic system OR a windowfarm that uses store-bought hydroponic nutrients. Getting two ecosystems to be in a symbiotic relationship is a monumental task for a beginner. You can always add one system onto another. If you definitely want to start with aquaponics I would jump off of this site and join in one of the aquaponic forums. In general, the windowfarms project is not trying to expand scope to aquaponics right now because most apartment dwellers are not going to ALSO take on a fish tank. We are trying not to get into scope creep. We will probably continue to treat aquaponics as either very advanced or somewhat ”off-topic” for this site and will not promote it heavily here. Too much tweaking would need to be made to our how-tos and we simply cannot handle all the questions beginners have about this. Seriously, it’s not that we don’t love aquaponics (I’ve got a saltwater live rock system going!), it is just not appropriate for our community of largely beginner urban apartment dwelling vertical hydroponic food-growers. We gotta set priorities and boundaries or the community will be all over the place. Yeah?
In reply to - Bernard Muniz posted an update in the group Aquaponic WIndow Farms: Yes, I have no hands on experience though. I was wondering if you had any suggestions on where to begin. · View -
maya commented on the blog post Water Bottle Suspension 1 year, 10 months ago · View
For future reference everyone, if you want to attach a photo to your post, click the little sun (??) icon above the text box. It will open a window that lets you attach images.
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In reply to - Paul Bonser posted an update: Here’s a video of our airlift system: http://vimeo.com/9995366 We put it together this weekend. We weren’t sure if there was enough flow coming out at the top of three bottles, so we just used two, which is fine since I’m not sure if there’s enough room in our kitchen window for another [...] · View
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maya wrote a new blog post: Interest in Installation help? 1 year, 10 months ago · View
Another suggestion for an income stream to support the Windowfarms Project mission that would simultaneously provide local jobs and green collar training is a mobile installation crew. I have gotten messages from at least ten individuals- including one senior citizen in Manhattan- requesting such a service. We already have one awesome local highschool kid on [...]
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maya wrote a new blog post: Airlift Troubleshooting 1 year, 10 months ago · View
So, here’s the thing about collective R&D. It isn’t pretty. Just like science, a lot of times, things don’t work out right at first and sometimes they never do. But you learn a lot as you try to fix them. We are all working through this together and these things will be awesome and foolproof [...]
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maya commented on the blog post How to: Three-Plant Air Lift Window Farm 1 year, 10 months ago · View
Hi Annbird and all. This is Britta writing as Maya (we are working through glitches on multiple fronts at the moment. Please go easy on us- everyone here is volunteering!). First, if you have not done so already, notice that the post up top is updated and there is a new version of the how-to [...]
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maya commented on the blog post Wick System
Hi there,
It might be that your yarn is some kind of synthetic material… when we built the single-cell hydroponic kits, we used wool yarn… I think it’s critical to use natural fibers, and it might be that wool is really the best one. Not sure though.
Good luck!1 year, 11 months ago · View
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Maya commented on the blog post Loud airlift, excessive gurgling?
Bennett!
Somewhere in this website is a post about a “silencer” fashioned out of an old vitamin bottle.
Do it to it!
Maya1 year, 11 months ago · View
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Maya wrote a new blog post: Windowfarms on Daily Candy NYC!
Check out this video of Britta and Maya talking up the WF movement:
Windowfarms on Daily Candy NYC1 year, 11 months ago · View
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Maya commented on the blog post Not Just for Urbanites!
Yay! Have fun building the system — post photos of your process/product!
1 year, 11 months ago · View
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Maya commented on the blog post What should I plant?
all kinds of basil thrive in WFs, as well as chives, thyme, mint, parsely… cilantro is a little trickier (it’s always tricky to grow cilantro in my experience) and rosemary is pretty much the only herb that really does not like these systems. Most kinds of lettuce do great, bok choi does great, chard… [...]
1 year, 11 months ago · View
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Maya commented on the blog post Using Naked Juice Bottles, Also, General Questions…
Windowfarms have been developed with the 1.5 liter water bottles in mind largely because the cinched “waist” in the middle of the bottle is the perfect cradle for a typical hydroponic net cup. If you can figure out some way of suspending your plant/pellets) that works with the bottles you want to use, then [...]
1 year, 11 months ago · View
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Maya commented on the blog post Using Naked Juice Bottles, Also, General Questions…
Windowfarms have been developed with the 1.5 liter water bottles in mind largely because the cinched “waist” in the middle of the bottle is the perfect cradle for a typical hydroponic net cup. If you can figure out some way of suspending your plant/pellets that works with the bottles you want to use, then [...]
1 year, 11 months ago · View
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Maya commented on the blog post How Much Space for Herbs?
Hi Katy,
you shouldn’t have a problem with the 2 inch cups — plants grown in hydroponic systems develop their roots differently than soil-grown plants… since the nutrients are in the water, the roots don’t need to explore very far to food. The roots will grow through the bottom of the cup and into the lower [...]1 year, 11 months ago · View
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Maya commented on the blog post First Windowfarm in Israel!
Hi There,
So great to hear that there’s a Windowfarm in Israel! Sorry your photo isn’t up — for some reason the site had trouble uploading it. We’ll try to figure it out and get it uploaded properly. We’re looking forward to hearing about your progress!1 year, 11 months ago · View
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Maya commented on the blog post I need advice on pump size.
Hi There,
It seems like you need a pump that pumps 633 gallons per hour, and your reservoir needs to be 49″ long (this is according to the worksheet in the How To for Reservoir Systems). Check out this post for more info… http://our.windowfarms.org/2009/11/16/reservoir-system-minimum-pipe-width-the-formula/1 year, 11 months ago · View
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