DIY Hydroponics Growing Tower For Your Home Garden
Consider a Hydroponics Growing Tower for Tight Indoor Spaces The famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon have hung around for many millennia, evolving into what we call hydroponics today. While those ancient gardens were a massive soilless growing operation, contemporary hydroponic gardens can operate in small areas.
Right, you say, but I live in a high rise apartment or condo building. The only place I might be able to start a hydroponics operation is on the roof of my building. That’s not necessarily true. A hydroponics growing tower is the solution. While most hydroponic gardeners still use horizontal methods, vertical gardening has started to increase in popularity.
Thanks to technological advances in grow lights, growing systems, and nutrient solutions, gardening vertically have become the preferred method of growing food in urban areas and other places where horizontal methods are impractical.
You’re Handy, So You’ll Love Building Your Own Hydroponics Garden
DIYers tend to think out of the box to solve problems, which is why a hydroponics growing tower is for people like you. Take a look around your living space for one or more areas where there is a lot of vertical space. Can you place a tower there? Sure you can, and you’ll get some enjoyment out of creating a custom system in the process. With these vertical towers, you will be able to take advantage of all the available space you have available.
I Want to Grow My Favorite Veggies, Can I?
Most likely, you can grow your favorites as many greens and common vegetables fare well in a hydroponics growing tower. Green and Vibrant lists many different edible plants and flowers that do well in a vertical setting. Fast-growing plants are best for a hydroponics growing tower. Try the following:
- Greens like lettuce, chard, kale, spinach mustard greens collard greens
- Herbs, including basil, cilantro, mint, dill, and chives
- Vegetables, such as broccoli, all types of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant
Strawberries also work well in this setting. Whichever you choose, you will certainly enjoy the vegetables your vertical towers produce for you.
Of Course, Growing Plants Vertically Make Sense
You may have heard that a hydroponics growing tower is also called vertical hydroponics. Think of it this way; when humans have little horizontal space to live and work, they construct apartment buildings and skyscrapers. If people can live vertically, so can plants. Janet B. Carson in a recent article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette indicates that trellising tomato plants is a form of vertical gardening, which translates easily to vertical towers.
In vertical hydroponics, plants grow on several stacked tiers with plants growing on each level. Using soil to grow plants in this manner is nearly impossible because of the weight on the upper levels. Netting usually holds the roots of plants, generally in a variation of a nutrient film technique (NFT) system, which allows the nutrients to flow through roots. Plants typically grow at a 45-degree angle in a tower design of at a 90-degree angle in PVC piping is used to bring water and nutrients to the crops.
Please Tell Me That Building A Hydroponics Growing Tower Is Easy
No, it’s not difficult to build, and it’s less expensive than some of the kits online. Oklahoma State University Extension notes that buying kits can cost upward of $500. The design described by the university can hold 28 plants, with two towers occupying a 5-foot by 5-foot space. You can find all the materials at a hardware store, except for the net pots to hold the plants available only through hydroponics dealers.
For a larger tower, view Over 60 Crafter’s step-by-step video. Not only will you see what power tools and materials you need, but you’ll also get detailed instructions and a complete list of materials in the video as well as in links below it. Just follow along and you will have your towers set up quickly.
If you decide to purchase a Vertical Tower online, you will find that there are many great towers to choose from, and the assembly of these towers is relatively quick and easy.
Common Materials Make This Hydroponics Growing Tower Project Fun
Each DIY Hydroponics system has its own set of particular requirements with regard to the length of piping, wood, and other materials. Here is what you can generally expect to buy:
- Large PVC pipe and end cap or
- Wooden posts or boards
- A large bucket or container with a lid
- Submersible pump and hose
- PVC epoxy
- LED grow lights
Tools you’ll need:
- Miter or hand saw
- Drill and various size bits
- Tape measure
- Ruler
Gardening With a Hydroponic Vertical Tower is a No-Brainer
Efficiency is a major advantage of vertically growing plants indoors. They also eliminate bending and kneeling, which can be a bummer for older gardeners or others with physical difficulties. As uPonics notes, Hydroponic Growing Vertical Towers not only produce an amazing amount of crops in a small space, they are also quite attractive. As plants mature, the foliage becomes ornamental and in many urban places, vertical hydroponics gardens have replaced traditional gardening plots, terrace gardens, and urban farms as the preferred method of growing outdoors. These advantages, when combined with the usages of less water, no herbicides, and other chemicals as well as the ability to provide year-round food, gardening in this manner is truly a no-brainer.
So what are you waiting for to get started with your own Hydroponic Growing Tower? If you have a small space for your Hydroponic Garden, then these vertical towers will provide the perfect solution for you. You can still grow those delicious vegetables you love in your Hydroponics Growing Tower.
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