Yep, you read that right, FREE! 

So, what’s the steal? Basically, I came up with a simple and effective way to provide nutrients to my plants.  How?  WORM POOP!  Ya, sounds gross I know, but it’s truly amazing, fully organic, and best of all FREE.

All you need is a net cup, a coffee filter, and worm poop (commonly called worm castings).  Yes, you can buy the worm poop, but I used freshly harvest worm poop from a small bin I have with a few worms.

You can buy worms online or get some from a friend.  There are only 2 or 3 species suited for home worm farms.  Worm castings are cheap to buy I think, but again I have my own because you can throw all your organic waste into the bin and they eat it like crazy!

OK OK pictures:

And here is a video clip of it in action:

Worm Poop Coffee

It’s as straightforward as it looks.

1) Fit the coffee filter into the 2″ net cup (or whatever size you use)

2) Secure the zip tie just below the neck of the net cup (you may not even need this but adds stability)

3) Pack in the worm poop into the coffee filter

4) Insert into one of your pods where the dripping water lands and filters through the nutrient rich worm poop

Active Contents – Component values of worm castings:

• PH 6 to 7
• Nitrogen 2% to 5%
• Phosphorus 1.25% to 5%
• Potassium 1.25% to 3.5%
• Organic matter 40% to 60%
• Organic Carbon 15% to 20%
• Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc – Trace Amounts

Quick Facts about Worm Castings:

• Contain over 150 micronutrients such as nitrogen, potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron. These nutrients found in worm castings are more readily available to plants than in synthetic fertilizers.
• Castings will not harm or burn your plants
• Contain 50% more humus than found in topsoil
• They have moisture retention properties and can result in less watering
• Non-toxic; safe for use around children and pets
• Known to eliminate odors
• Stimulate the organisms in plants that work as a natural repellant for insects
• Stimulate the organisms that prevent and retard fungal grown (an organic fungicide)

Example of a REAL soil analysis of pure worm castings: http://vermicomposting.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/h228.pdf

You could easily get worm castings with an N-P-K value of 5-5-5 if you know what you are doing.  Nitrogen is usually low because worms prefer the right nitrogen-to-carbon ratio in their food, but you could always mix a nitrogen rich liquid with the final product (such as sterile and organic ammonium or urea safe for consumption).

I may have to write an in-depth blog regarding the nutrient value of worm castings and organic (and free) ways of increasing the nutrient values for specific life cycles of the plants.  An easy way to increase the nutrients is to double up the worm poop you are using to leak nutrients into your solution.  In my case, I have a 3 Liter reservoir.  My store bought nutrient solution suggests I use 90 mL of it for this size tank.  That is about the same volume of worm poop I have in my filter.  Translation?  That means once all the nutrients have leached out of the poop it is equal to the store bought, inorganic, synthesized stuff…  Also, I can always put another round of worm poop in there after a few days or even put 2 of them at the same time…  Seriously, it’s better than synthetic fertilizers, safer, and organic. 

Just got the system up and tested it overnight for any leaks etc. before adding the plants. I attached the lights to the bars instead of suspending them as it seemed easier. Success! No leaks or pooling. I think there might have been a slight clog in one of the drip valves, but I blew into the tube slightly to release it, which worked.

Getting ready to put the seedlings into net pots and install, but I’m trying to figure out the timing of the lights and nutrients first. I have a feeling it’s going to be a bit of trial & error.  Since my 47″ reservoirs hold 2.6 gallons of water, I’m going to pour 2 gallons into the reservoir to make sure that my pump is always submerged in water. To balance the PH level in the water, I am using a tester kit and PH-Up and PH-Down to adjust the level according to this PH chart for hydroponic gardeners.  My mix of herbs (Oregano, Thyme, Parsley, Sage, Verbena, Lavender, Sweet Basil), vegetables (Endive, Hot Peppers, Lettuce) & flowers (Morning Glory, Moonflower, Echinacea) warrants a 5.5-6 to keep everyone happy, I think.

For nutrients, I am using the following products measured to proportion with 2 gallons of water:

(L to R: PH-Up, PH tester, PH-Down, Drip Clean, Multi Zen, Roots Excelerator, Magic Green, Aqua Flakes A, Aqua Flakes B)

My contact at the local hydro store recommended that I turn the drip on 3x a day for 15 minutes to begin with (sun-up, midday, lights off) and to keep the lights on for 18 HRS a day starting from sun-up even though my windows face South.

With any medium for your Windowfarm, rather it be hydroponics or aquaponics, you start with the first element: WATER. Many new gardeners tend to overlook this basic step, and just pour it in. If you are using water from your tap, one thing to put into consideration before adding any additional nutrients is to simply check your parts per million (ppm) and your waters acids and bases (pH).

The only “pure” water in nature is rain water. The sources of drinking water (both tap water and bottled water) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells.  As water travels over the surface of the land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally-occurring minerals called total dissolved solids (tds) and, in some cases, radioactive material, and can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activity. (*1). Water contains a variety of  trace minerals such as:  fluoride,  boron (Bo), chlorine (Cl), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn),  copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo) and selenium (Se).

Now you may ask, “how small is a part per million?” The simplest way to put it in perspective is picture a filled bathtub. One drop of water is 2 ppm of a bathtub full of water (*2).

One great tool to have for your window farm is a Hanna Digital meter. I chose the HI-98129 (below *3),  so that I can have the most accurate reading of my ppm and pH levels of my water before I add the water to my window farm.  Do a reading and collaboration, let your water sit out for 24 hours (natural dechlorination) before adding nutrients to you system and you will lessen your chance of giving your plants too much nutrients which will kill them.

If you pay attention to your water, you will have happier and healthier plants!

By: Holly Johnson

*Sources:
1= http://www.ci.oceanside.ca.us/pdf/2008_WaterCCR.pdf

2= http://www.swep.com.au/pdf/drinking water.pdf

3= http://hannainst.com/usa/prods2.cfm?id=002003&ProdCode=HI%2098129

i just learned about this project in Bust and am so excited to try it out. i wonder about running the electric pump around the clock, though it sounded like, from another post, this is a necessary step for the hydroponic plants.

i had another question about the nutrient solution. is this like compost tea? is it something i can make at home or will i have to continually reorder the nutrient stuff as i maintain my “farm”?

Reading up on ph levels.  Anything that falls between 5.5 and 6.5 seems to be the acceptable range. Is this true?

The cucumbers were a real mystery. Like Marilyn and James Dean, they have thus far all died a tragic death after a short, but full life.

We had about 10 of these georgeous exciting northern cucumbers. It was a little unrealistic to think we could grow such a big fruit in a windowfarm, but we figured we’d try and just find a way of supporting them when they got big. And they did get big. We had them trelliced around some cross-wires made of string.

They all produced a lot of flowers and after we pollinated them with a paintbrush, we had tons of 1″ long baby cucs.  The plants themselves all looked very healthy. 

But then all of the sudden the plants would die when the fruits were cornichon-sized. We think maybe we didn’t have our fruiting/flowering nutrient solution mix right (??). 

Someone else please try cucumbers, get it right, and let us know how to do it! I’m drooling at the thought of some homegrown apartment cornichons!