This was about a week after we set it up. We started the beans & cucumbers from seed in a little greenhouse on top of the fridge. The top two pots are cucumbers and the bottom has 4 green beans.

We hung the pots with some hemp we had in our craft surplus & made the trellis out of the hemp & bamboo stakes. I’ve even made a bow and arrow out of the bamboo!

This is how the middle & bottom pot get watered. There is a piece of bamboo shoved up there to keep the tubing straight.

Here’s the reservoir, made from a cereal tupperware we got at Target & some ducting tape to make it lightproof. We took the little hinged pour spout off of the lid and ran the watering and drainage tubing through the opening. You can also see the timer there, right now we run the water pump for 15 mins every 2 hours from 6am to 6pm. As the plants get bigger we might have to adjust the schedule, but for now it works out.

We use a water pump we had around the house and it works great until the water level in the res gets down to about 25%. It’s a good reminder that it’s time for a refill without having the pump run dry.

Our first sight of beans!

Beans, beans….

….and more BEANS!!

Okay, enough beans. Here’s our first cucumber flower!

We’re getting a lot of male flowers, just waiting for that female! Well, that’s what we have so far. If you have any specific questions on what we used or how we use it leave a comment or send a message & we’d love to share!

Happy Growing!

-The Sanders

The construction part is finally complete! It turned out as good as I hoped, and much better than I expected!

Here are the earlier posts related to the same project: 1st , 2nd (the title said it was complete already, but it wasn’t pretty enough

Here are the first shots. I only have some tiny little shoots in there, but you’ll need to use your imagination on what it’ll look like in the spring. The rockwool needs to be cleaned up a bit and properly covered with pebbles.

Part list (total cost ~100 euros):

• 4 Plastic orchid pots. These are made of Polypropylene, which is (afaik) safe to use with food. The pots also have an inward dent in the bottom, so they will never drain completely. I don’t know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. Be careful when drilling plastic. I managed to break one pot by using too much pressure. (2 euros/pot at Bauhaus)
• 1 Large floor flower pot. This is the same brand as the orchid pots so the color matches perfectly. (25 e at Bauhaus)
• 1 Inner pot. The inner pot is 22 cm tall, so below it lies my actual reservoir. The volume is somewhere around 5-10 liters. (15e at Bauhaus)
• 2 meters of aluminum plastic pipe, 6 mm diameter. One meter for drip pipes and another for the air lift.
• Two meters of aluminum strip. Mine is about 12mm wide and 2mm thick. I wouldn’t go any thinner than 2mm, since the rigidity of the column would likely suffer. (4 euros/meter at Bauhaus)
• 4 gaskets for sealing the drip pipes. The ones I got seem to do the job pretty well: 17mm outer diameter, 5mm inner diameter, 4mm thick. (around 2 euros for a 4-pack)
• M3 Nuts, washers and screws (or bolts) for attaching the pots to the aluminum strip. (Less than 1e total)
• Sera Air 275R Plus air pump with adjustable air flow and two outlets. Came with two non-return valves. (28 euros at a local aquarium store)
• 6mm “colorless” air hose. It’s possible to stretch this over the aluminum pipe using small pliers. (2 euros / meter at a local aquarium store)
• Needle for the airlift (3e at Bauhaus)

Update:

Here’s an additional picture to better explain how this reservoir works. A company called Elho makes these pots. The outer pot is perfect for the reservoir, and the inner pot is good for a bunch of plants.

Note to english speakers: I’m writing this in German as its very localized information (translations and distributors).

Ich hatte auch mit guten Englischkenntnissen Probleme, die Begriffe auf der Parts List nachzuvollziehen, und in Deutschland ausfindig zu machen. Damit andere von meiner Recherche profitieren können, schreibe ich mal eine ungefähre Einkaufsliste zusammen. Das Setup kostet ca. 100EUR, die benutzten Plastikflaschen geben da leicht einen falschen Eindruck. Falls einem das zu teuer ist, erstmal auf die Pumpe verzichten, einfach die Flaschen ohne Pumpe zusammenstecken und jeden Tag von Hand gießen/umfüllen. Alternativ und noch einfacher, der Self Watering Propeller Garden.

Die Werte beziehen sich auf eine v3 Windowfarm mit 5 Flaschen, mit T-Valve Airlift Technik (anstatt Ballnadel).

• 5x 1.5l Plastikflaschen (ca. 3EUR, Edeka/LIDL/ALDI o.ä.)
• 1x Trinkflasche mit Sport-Trinkverschluss (ca. 1EUR)
• 1x Dünger GHE Dünger Set Tri-Pack (20EUR, GKB Shop)
• 10l Substrat Blähton (8EUR, GKB Shop)
• 4x Netztopf 7/5 (0.30EUR Stück, GKB Shop)
• 1x Silikonkleber (7EUR, Zoo Royal) (für die Zuleitung aus dem Wasserbehälter) 
• 2m Aquarienschlauch 4/6mm (3EUR, Zoo Royal) (für Luft- und Zuleitung, nicht für Steigleitung)
• 1x Elite Sicherheitsventil (2EUR, Zoo Royal) (für Luftschlauch, auch “Rückschlagventil” genannt)
  Sicherheitsventile mit Feder sind nicht zuverlässig mit einer Luft+Wasser Kombination, ich bekomme trotz Ventil Wasser in den Luftschlauch. Einfach weglassen und Pumpe höher hängen (siehe mein Safety post) 
• 1x 1 Eheim Luftpumpe Air Pump 100 (22EUR, Zoo Royal) (leise und regulierbar, ein Anschluss)
• 1x Schlauchverbinder 4 mm T-Stück (3EUR, Conrad)
• 1x Schlauchverbinder 4mm l-Stück (3EUR, Conrad) (sinnvoll zum Kombinieren von Schlauchlängen)
• 3m LDPE Schlauch 6mm (1,50EUR, Conrad) (für Steigleitung, geringerer Wasserwiederstand)
• 1x Mini Tageszeitschaltuhr (3,50EUR, Conrad) (für Pumpe)
• 20m Angelschnur 0.3mm (ca. 5EUR, Ebay oder Baumarkt) (für Aufhängung)
  Alternativ: Krokodilklemme mit Schrauben, oder Seilklemme/Simplexklemme und 1-2mm Drahtseil  
• 1x PH Wasser Teststreifen (ca. 4EUR, Ebay)
• 1x Sprühlack (ca. 7EUR, Ebay oder Baumarkt)

• 1x Mini Tageszeitschaltuhr (3,50EUR, Conrad) (für Lampe)
• 1x Tageslicht Energiesparlampe E27 23W (8EUR, Conrad)
  Alternativ: 1x LED Grow Lampe (ca. 30EUR, Ebay oder GKB Shop)
• 1x Kabel und Fassung E27 (ca. 6EUR, Ebay)

Part list:

• 4 Plastic orchid pots. These are made of Polypropylene, which is (afaik) safe to use with food. The pots also have an inward dent in the bottom, so they will never drain completely. I don’t know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. Be careful when drilling plastic. I managed to break one pot by using too much pressure. (2 euros/pot at Bauhaus)
• 2 meters of aluminum pipe, 6 mm diameter. One meter for drip pipes and another for the air lift. (4 euros/meter at Bauhaus)
• Two meters of aluminum strip. Mine is about 12mm wide and 2mm thick. I wouldn’t go any thinner than 2mm, since the rigidity of the column would likely suffer. (4 euros/meter at Bauhaus)
• 4 gaskets for sealing the drip pipes. The ones I got seem to do the job pretty well: 17mm outer diameter, 5mm inner diameter, 4mm thick. (around 2 euros for a 4-pack)
• M3 Nuts, washers and screws (or bolts) for attaching the pots to the aluminum strip. (Less than 1e total)

Parts not installed yet:

• Sera Air 275R Plus air pump with adjustable air flow and two outlets. Came with two non-return valves. (28 euros at a local aquarium store)
• 6mm “colorless” air hose. It’s possible to stretch this over the aluminum pipe using pliers and some soap as lubricant. (2 euros / meter at a local aquarium store)

Still missing the reservoir and the airlift needle(s).

This is not the final assembly and you might notice that some of the drip pipes and pots are not straight. I’ll fix that before doing the actual planting. Originally I’d thought I’d have to glue the drip pipes to the pots, but with the gaskets in place and the hole being tight enough, I’m not sure if glue is necessary. It won’t matter anyway if the drip pipes are wet on the outside.

I was wondering though, should the downward water flow be somehow restrained so that the water drips down slowly? Now when I pour water in the top pot, most of the water has come down in less than a minute. How does it work in WF 3.0?

The wife said it looks alright. I might even get a permission to build a second column Stay tuned. The next step is building the airlift.

Will this work?

How about this?

What about this?

There seem to be different sizes and I don’t know one from another and it isn’t specified in the instructions.

Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Let’s swap seeds!!!

Is anyone else interested?

http://www.mediafire.com/?z0f3vlr93db7iku

1. They already have a wide top opening and a center hole in the bottom.
2. Terracotta is a tough material that won’t degrade when exposed to sunlight or water.
3. They are opaque which will discourage algae growth.

The disadvantages are:

1. They are heavy, unless you use plastic flower pots.
2. They reduce the amount of recycled material used in construction.
3. Terracotta can chip, crack, or break, which would cause leaks.

I am working from the ”new” 3-plant airlift sytem pdf file. I am in the process of assembling the items in the Materials List (ML) and have a few questions:

1. the ML requires 1 x 3/8 OD  – 1/4 ID Kuritec Reinforced

                                      2  x 1/4 OD – 1/8 ID vinyl tube

                                      1 x 3/8 OD – 1/4 ID (vinyl tube??)

      Step 6 of the assembly instructions tells me to, “fasten together the bottle stack, the rod, and the lift tube (3/8 ID rubber tube at 4’6″ long).”

Is the ML missing an item or is there a mis-print in Step 6?

2. The ML calls for 5 liters of clay pellets. I can fill a heck of a lot of 3″ diameter net cups with a 5 liter bag of pellets. Do I really need this amount?

3.  Should the vinyl tubing be clear or opaque? I’m thinking the tubing will be subject to “algae bloom” if it is clear. However, thinking is not one of my strong suits.

4. Does the size of the bottles used in the stack have to be 1.5 L? I didn’t realize that the 1.5 liter size was almost unheard of in this region, until i went looking for them.  

5. I don’t wish to seem critical but I have to say that the less than $30.00 cost estimate is way off target. In this little corner of the world, (Atlantic Canada), an air pump of the specifications detailed in the ML is going to run me about $35.00. A 1 liter (about 35 oz) container of hydroponic nutrients will run me the better part of  $25.00. (OK, they’re Canadian dollars but it’s all I’ve got to work with.) The actual cost really doesn’t matter to me, I like the concept. Plus anything that can give me fresh “sweet million” tomatoes in mid-winter is worth shelling out for.  However, I do feel that the stated cost estimate is a bit mis-leading.

Thanks in advance for the advice and assistance.

Ed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zq7T6QNrc4

It’s taken a bit of investment to get to this point, but I think I could pull one of these together for $40 (a bit more because of the fish aspect), and last weekend we gave one of these as a birthday gift to one of my pre-teen’s friends.

I’ve got two kids with good windows for this, so will post another video when I get the second windowfarm up and running.

Innovations:

1. Used an alternative method to perform the airlift, based on a post I saw here – my lift uses the ball inflation needles to inject water into the air hose instead of the other way around.
2. I use the “silencer” at the top of the drip line to support the weight of the assembly. It serves a decorative purpose (finial) and makes it crazy easy to support the whole assembly from a single near-vertical nail in the window casing. I don’t need to use any other supports given the exact 1″ hole I was able to drill into the bottom of each bottle.
3. I used double-sided velcro strips to fasten the tubing going up.
4. I used a 1/4″ OD tubing (short length, angle cut on exit) to control the drip. Don’t actually know if that’s a great idea, but I didn’t want the water splashing the windows and some plants supposedly don’t like getting watered “directly.”
5. I just use 1/4″ OD tubing from the lowest bottle to guide the return water back to the fish tank.
6. I use one of the variable control air splitters to ensure both the air lift and the air stone get enough air pressure.
7. I used a hole punch to round the corners of each “grow hole,” of which I cut 2 in each bottle. The “square” holes allowed me to get a jig into the bottles for a nice drilling support, so getting the 1″ holes drilled in the bottom of the bottles was a breeze.

We’ll see in a few weeks whether some of these “innovations” were really dumb ideas…