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.

Greetings all.

Just as I; I am sure many of you have had problems getting your setup up an running reliably.

I have done some testing with various types of tubing, pump settings, reservoir setups etc.

I attempted a type of pump set up called a “geyser hybrid” which is in my opinion a waterlift with a little more complexity.

                                                                                                                                                              I had some trouble getting this setup to work at all.Maybe with a little more head pressure it would but the end result I was trying to get was more water movement with less air.

Next I attempted the setup with the needles.This works but I am worried about the jury rigged connection at the needle juncture and it proved to be no more effective than replacing the needle with a “T” connector.

It seems to me the point of the needle”no pun intended” is to insert the air further up into the column of water and to reduce the chance that the air may back up and bubble into the reservoir.

As stated in some other articles and online at sites like U tube.Th more head pressure the better the result.Air has a springy quality and when you have sufficient head pressure you can sometimes see air backing up into the inlet tube but it slows and returns the the junction and feeds the output line.

I used a two liter bottle with a fitting in the lid and the bottom cut off.a short section of head(feed)tube.about a foot worth.

A “T” junction. and a discharge tube to the height of about 6 feet.All tubing is semi rigid.i think this works better as some energy can be lost to flexing.My “T” junction I may add was a 1/4 outside dia fitting with a short length of tubing attached to feed and discharge sides to enlarge it to the size of my rigid tubing.the air line is just the standard size purchased at pet stores.

I placed my reservoir at a height of about 18 inches above the floor.or that is with my water starting surface level at 18 inches above ground.This gives a head of 18 inches but I find I don’t need that full head space.It just works better.I may be able to eliminate this with a larger reservoir say maybe a 5 gallon bucket with a fitting in the bottom. In my tests putting the tubing into the reservoir like a dip tube is troublesome and unreliable.

In my future setup I am going to attempt to use compression fittings that snap on and off with ease and fit on the outside of the tubing to make use of the full diameter of the inside of the tubing.and since I am planning on using a larger reservoir I may fit a charcoal filter to keep water from stagnating.

I may add that I am planning on using this to water my orchids and I am concerned about stagnation.

More later….please feel free to give me your input and experiences.

Bye for now.

Phillip

I am wondering now if a larger reservoir may eliminate the need for more head tube.

I made another video and basically I ran out of pipe and ladder and because of that I couldn’t pump any higher but I am curious. How high can you go? I went 13 ft but there was no problem whatsoever pumping that high! So, maybe, if you have a 2 story house or an available high place you could find out how high it is possible to go? So the contest rules are in the picture below and in a video
(You might get some extra hints and ideas if you watch the video)
Basically you use your aquarium air pump, and a T joint set at 2 ft below your liquid reservoir height.

Contest rules for unbelievably high airlift powered by puny aquarium air pump

So the rest of the post is from a couple of days ago and has a little different version of the video. (I am too Lazy to write a new post)

I made a new video about the pulser pump and Eileen suggested that a “pulser pump nano” (a smaller version) might be useful. The pulser pump is my little “invention” from over 20 years ago. Anyway, I no longer live near a river so I cannot do a nano. But because of my involvement in windowfarms, I can at least test how high a tiny pulser pump can pump. Today I used the T-joint method and an extendable ladder to go pretty high. With an aquarium air pump and 22 inches of submergence, I pumped to 13 ft high today! I bet it can go a lot higher but thats it for me.
Here is the video (which may be of some use to windowfarmers)