February 10, 2012

Hi all!

I was in desperate search of more information for Plants I could grow, and I found quite a measure of information. I will just post all the plants I found information on, but not all of them can be grown hydroponically (like root plants). I hope I will be able to add even more information in time (please help gather more information which I can add) and it would be great to add a section ‘tested by window farms’ or something to verify the information.

Hope you want to help and have fun researching and using this information.

1.      Electro-conductivity (EC) or Conductivity factor (cF) can be expressed as either millisiemens (mS), cF or parts per million (PPM) 1 mS(/cm?) = 10cF = 700ppm

2.      The pH and electro~conductivity values specified here are given as a broad range. It should be noted that specific plant requirements will vary according to regional climatic conditions, and from season to season within that region.

3.      As a general rule, plants will have a higher nutrient requirement during cooler months, and a lower requirement In the hottest months.  Therefore, a stronger nutrient solution should be maintained during winter, With a weaker solution during summer when plants take up and transpire more water than nutrients.

4.      KNOW YOUR CROP.     Plant EC or cF may vary according to the stage of growth. For example, cucumber prefer cF 20 when establishing, and cF 25 after the first harvest. Between and 7 weeks after first harvest, the optimum cF is 17.

5.      For easy growing reference, plants that share broad groupings of low (L), medium (M) or high (H) can be grown together using the same nutrient electro- conductivity, providing middle ground cF and ph are adopted.

6.      The nutrient solution should be discarded at regular intervals. Should there be a requirement to flush the growing bed, the system should be flushed with fresh nutrients (run-to-waste) rather than water to avoid starving or stressing the plant.

 
The Column ‘Light’ is for the Day- / Night ratio needed (or helpful) for flowering
‘Water’ should someday contain Tipps how much Water (preferred in drip her minute or something) or just low, medium and a general description of that range here.
‘Sun’ will say how much sun/ Shadow the Plant likes
‘Tested’ If tested by someone in the commentary and maybe how hard it is to do it (in planing)
‘Groups’ (L,M,H) as described above, ‘Nutritions needed’ would be a suggestion of Nutrition Solution and other Tipps
Something in brackets (9) means a maximum or minimum not the optimal, something in brackets (?) with a question mark means that the sources said different things or suggested  for example that they used the same EC as for the Strawberries. So it is not born out of a sure source.
 

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I came here just in the right time to see cool mods like the t-valve technique (thanks @gaiatechnician), and the way of splitting airlift (credits goes to @kenokazaki) allowing two columns to be watered using only one reservoir and airlift. Read the rest of this entry →

Hello friends!!

I’m from Mar del Plata city, Argentina, and want to share with you my R&D to build up our window farm project.

I’m part of the Zeitgeist Movement Mar del Plata, and we were invited to a  Free Science Expo, in which, besides windowfarming, we exposed other sustainability projects, as solar heaters, earthships and parabolic ovens.

The model was mounted in a metal framework, because we had no windows or walls to attach the wires.

I’ve used twelve 1.5 Lt Diet Coke bottles, with small cups inside. The reservoir is a 20 Lts bottle.

No alligators to hold the bottles to the wires. We holed and linked the bottles with the steel wire, and that was ok to support the weight.

A 5 Watts airpump is used: airlift works like a charm, up to 2 meters.

From a week to today, the plants are growing ok!!

The species we are showing (and growing!) are:

No direct sunlight unfortunately, but the species I’ve picked, are very strong and with the artificial lighting of the showroom looks to be ok.

Everyone knows mint grows like a weed. Well, wait until you put it in a hydroponic system. This plant fills the whole surrounding area with a minty fresh smell.

Golden cherry tomatoes in the Eyebeam windowfarm. These were eaten within the 1st hour of Eyebeam's annual benefit!!

Three varieties of cherry tomatoes have born fruit.

Peppers and strawberries were very flavorful but a little smaller than you see at the grocery store.

At this time of year, the kale, lettuce, and chards are not growing rapidly. They do better in the spring, winter and fall, liking the chill air right inside the window.

The bok choi was luscious !!! That is . . .until it got hit with some aphids and we had to ditch it. Chives are growing too big and starting to go to seed so we need to harvest them and have some eggs!

Edible violas in the Eyebeam windowfarm. I like them in an arugula salad with spicy marinated grilled eggplant and goat cheese.

All of the plants in the Eyebeam windowfarm are edible, even the flowers. We have grown edible violas, marigolds, and nasturtium.