i wanted to remove plastic from the equation so this is built entirely from fda approved materials.

i used food grade silicone tubing in black to reduce algae, food grade silicone sealant to connect tubing to bottom pots, terracotta pots that i sealed with beeswax, gaskets made from cork coasters, net pots made from foodgrade silicone muffin pans, a 5gal antique stoneware butter churn for a reservoir, stainless steel rod as a support for the tubing in the reservoir. i got seeds from organicseedpeople and started them in plugs around 2 weeks ago. they been under cree daylight leds from homedepot. i transplanted them to the wf 2 days ago and they seem to love it! no wilting or shock, in fact just the opposite.

in this window are 2 columns with 5 pots each. i have 4 windows of this size all facing east and, as you can see, a lovely view of a brick wall so next up will be filling all my windows with plants; not only will it be more productive but it’ll improve the view too.

cherry tomatos, basil, catnip, cree led supplemental light

basil, parsley, catnip, pepper

parsley

cherry tomatoes, basil

arugula

Just got my first column of my window farm (without the window) up.  I took a slightly different approach with suspension opting to use vinyl coated galvanized wire rope.  It’s a little pricer and harder to work with, but I think it looks good and it is very sturdy.  I also decided to use Nalgene BPA free water bottles.  I was looking for something made of plastic 4 rather than the Nalgene which is a custom 7 but initial tests have been good on this co-polyester, plus I like the look of the bottles.  Warning if you are going to use them, they are THICK.  I used hole saw blades in 3″, 1.75″ and 1.5″ sizes.  If you can’t find the plastic grit and instead need to use the tooth variety for wood and metal just remember to get the pilot in and then reverse the direction of the blade, should cut like butter without getting caught.  I also used a different mechanism for the bottom air feed, since I couldn’t get a bike tire or special order part, just some silicone caulk and everything came out good.  I’m going to get the other half up as soon as I am sure everything is working well.  Still need to do a few things like secure the lights, but for the most part it seems to be working well.

Sorry for the poor quality pictures all I have is my phone with me.  I will post better pictures later.

I was asked by Andrew Carter to do some testing of plant material to see if any unwanted molecules worked their way up the root system into the plant.  I haven’t received the samples yet, but I’d love to keep people up to date with the testing process and where I am at.   I will be posting again tomorrow with the details of the research I’ve done so far and the testing methods I plan to peruse.   I just wanted to introduce myself to the site, and open lines for any specific questions people might have!