Here is my Windowfarm 4 weeks later after transfering plants grown from seeds. They were grown in soil as seedlings and I washed all dirt off from roots 1 month later. They recovered from shock rather quickly. The nutrients I used or the first 3 weeks was Botanicare Pur Blend Pro grow. Now the are using Botanicare Pure Blend Pro bloom. I hope to get flowers soon on my tomato plants!

Arelys Windowfarm 4 weeks later!

Here are pictures of what I am growing:

Tomato plants

spinach

lettuce

mint

I have also uploaded a short video on Youtube. Arelys 2nd Windowfarm 4 weeks later

I have finally completed my windowfarm, and transferred my baby plants! So far it was neat watching the plants grow from seeds. I hope they bear fruit. I have 2 spinach plants, 2 different tomatoe plants, 3brocolli plants, and 3 mint plants, and 1 lettuce plant! I used the air T-lift system to get the water pumped to the top.

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 am having trouble keeping my plants alive. I just started my WF and I have already tried to put several plants and they all die soon after I place them in the WF. Yesterday I tried putting a beautiful mint plant and it died after about half an hour of being in the WF. I have tried also some Cilantro, and the same has happened. My feeling is that the window is way too cold for these plants. Could this be the reason? I have checked the PH and it is fine…the temperature of the nutrient solution is 20 C. But my beautiful plants keep dying…Can someone please help me!!!

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.

You can grow anything but root vegetables.

Here is a list of plants we have grown in windowfarms using supplemental lighting from CFL bulbs:

Fruiting Plants
Okra, cherry tomatoes, scallop squash, small cucumbers, beans, strawberries, peppers, peas, japanese eggplant.

Leafy Greens
Arugula, bok choy, brocolli rabe, kale, chard, radicchio, watercress, chives, various microgreens, and many varieties of lettuce.

Herbs
Rosemary, cilantro, basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, mint, and sage.

Edible Flowers
Nasturtium, violets, and marigolds.

We have had varying degrees of success with each depending on the particular microclimate of the window, the amount of natural sunlight available, the drip rate, the type of nutrients, our ability to fight pests, the source of the seeds, and the particular variety of each species.

You can actually grow some pretty big, productive plants even though the containers are small because plants growing in hydroponic systems grow differently from dirt plants. Instead of growing large long roots that have to grow far from the plant to find new water and nutrients in the soil, plants grow more compact rootballs that grow a lot of root hairs for more surface area to absorb more of the water and nutrients you are sending directly to the roots.

Check out how big and healthy some of the plants in this early system were.

Many more varieties of plants are certainly possible but we need your help testing what works because we can only grow so much ourselves. We need you to try out different plants and techniques and share your knowledge about what works. The goal is to get the most nutrients and the most variety for the carbon footprint of the systems.

As we refine the website, we will create ways that you can track and share your results. In the meantime, please focus on getting your system ready and working well and in the meantime, just please be sure to make posts and tag them well. We strongly encourage new users to start with the simple 3-plant airlift system (there are some chronic problems with the reservoir system so we are moving away from it).

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.