3x5 Aquaponics
Window Farming: A Do-It-Yourself Veggie Venture
'Vertical Earth Gardens' relies on hydroponics to add green to your space
Carlsbad-based Vertical Earth Gardens aims to bring some green to balconies, side yards, backyards, roofs, decks, frame patios and facades of your abodes. Founded in the spring of 2009, the company wishes to help the San Diego residents grow healthy food while fighting perennial drought problems and conserving environmental resource as well. Their vertical gardens not only save space, but also grow lettuce, herbs, and vegetables healthier and more efficiently than a traditional garden bed. Founders Mark DeMitchell and Mike Tarzian – as they conceived their project – utilized hydroponics to deliver water to plants that uses 80% less water than traditional gardens. The patent pending design touts a detachable reservoir that recycles water and keeps it circulating through the system continuously. The self-supporting framework is mostly handmade. Here are some images from a wonderful anthology of green vertical gardens… [Thanks, Mark DeMitchell]
YouTube - Vertical Garden
Introduction to Shelfponics | GardenPool.org
A simple 3D animation to show relative size and layout of the bookshelf aquaponic vertical growing unit. Here is the complete shelfponics system. Click the image to see full size. Here is a picture of the space we decided to add vertical growing. The yellow bucket is where we placed the bookshelf system. Shelfponics, a term first coined here, is the Garden Pool team’s original invention and is available for purchase. So I was looking at an unused corner of the Garden Pool when I had an idea: vertical growing. The next task was to find a simple solution for vertical growing. Here is a screenshot of our first YouTube video. The assembled bookshelf’s dimensions are: 34-1/2″ L x 14-3/8″ W x 57″ H. We contacted Plano to make sure this was a safe plastic to use for aquaponics and the Plano corporate resin manager was kind enough to respond. Materials for project: The tools used for this project. Tools Used: Rubber MalletCordless Drill with 5/8″ drill bitTin SnipsUtility Scissors
How to Grow Mushrooms
The Process for growing mushrooms is pretty easy. But it does vary depending on the type of mushroom you are growing. With this tutorial I will show you a typical and easy way to grow Pearl Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus). You Will need: Some kind of bucket or container - Typically a 5 gallon plastic pail is used. The picture below shows my materials. If it is going to take a while to collect up your coffee grounds you can store them in the freezer so they won't get moldy. Fill your bucket about halfway with coffee grounds. There can be more and I will show you why in a minute. If your coffee grounds are dry you should add some water at this point and let the water drain out. Now break up the mushroom spawn and add it to your bucket. If you have enough spore and coffee grounds fill the bucket up to within an inch of the top. This prevents carbon dioxide from building up on the surface. Cover your bucket with clear plastic and perforate it with a few holes. RESOURCES and MORE
DIY Greenwalls
Venelin.Petkov said... "Can you post a list of the plants you used and what nutrients are you using (I imagine you are not using pure water, since there are no minerals in the felt substrate). Thanks" Llazar said... "It would be great if could list the plants you used. People have asked me a few times now what plants I used and how I care for them. Each wall builder will need to decide how much light, water, and nutrients they want to provide. Light I have pretty good light in the room but I decided to add some supplemental light from compact fluorescent bulbs. Water I water my wall 4x a day for 10 minutes a day (by drip tube on a timer). Nutrients I added fertilizer to my wall once in the time I have had it (just because a friend gave me some to try). Work with your local plant dealer to determine the plants that are right for your wall. Here's a partial list of plants I have on my wall listed in order of quantity. Philodendron (35%) Pothos (35%) Fern (15%) Nephthytis (10%) Ivy (5%)
YouTube - Basket Weaving Video #4 Twining--Twining a Keeper Row
Aquaponics 101 Part Three: System Design, Continued | AquaponicsUSA's Blog
This is the third in a series of posts that are going to teach you most of what you need to know about Aquaponics. These posts are part of a book we are writing and will be selling on our website. So, if you’re curious about the most amazing food growing technology on the planet today, watch for this series of educational posts on Aquaponics and please, become interactive by making comments or asking questions. In Part One, “The Process”, I wrote about what Aquaponics is and why it is important to Preppers (those preparing for what is about to come down the pike), the fact that you can grow food for you and your family year round as long as your Aquaponics system is in the proper environment. In Part Two, “System Design”, I wrote about the components of a basic system. So, let’s continue with the discussion on system components. The grow beds’ syphons activate on their own timeline; but at some point, with multiple grow beds, the syphons arrive at nearly the same schedule. Oliver Duffy
