Plants on my Balcony

Photos of a few of the plants on my balcony.



That's a flower from my tomato plant.



That's the window planter, and I have in there (left to right) parsley, serrano chile, cilantro, rosemary, basil, mint, and thyme.

Hydroponics - continued.

Tonight I bought a better gallon-sized water bottle for the reservoir.  The bottom is mostly flat.  We stuck the tubes and the bottles in, and were briefly disappointed when we realized it wasn't reaching the top of the bottles.  I asked Lawrence if the pump was turned up all the way - it wasn't.  So, we turned it up and WOAH, it pumped better than it did yesterday.  The most influential factor may have been the higher water level in this bottle.  We speculate it may produce more water pressure, letting the water rise more.

In any case, it turned out perfect.  We used some more zip ties to hold the water bottles to the dowel/air tube.  I also planted my seeds in the starter cubes.  Our next step is to wait for them to germinate, sprout leaves, and grow roots.  As soon as that happens we can transfer them to the water bottles!  :D

Here's the entire setup:

Here are a few close-up shots (ok, so they're not THAT exciting...but I'M excited!):

Hydroponics - "Window Farms"

Today I read an article on re-nest about Window Farms.  The idea is to let urban dwellers grow hydroponic gardens inside their apartments all year long using vertical, hydroponic, modular, low-energy, high-yield edible window gardens built using low-impact or recycled local materials.  These structures are DIY, although the developers are in the process of putting together kits for sale.  They have a blog they use as a forum.  The site is not an ideal medium for communicating and for growth as specific information is sparse and hard to find.  But, they do have pdf files on the site with material lists and step-by-step instructions on how to create your own vertically-hanging hydroponic garden.  I never realized it would be so cheap, but the site claims you could get it all together for less than $30.  I did some research and some math and without any special deals, it is nearly that low.

I proposed to Lawrence that we give it a shot and he agreed.  Now my biggest difficulty is figuring out where to put it.  The reason this idea really appealed to me was that one giant wall of our studio is all window.  We've got 4 sets of blinds.  I want to put the plants at the window on the opposite side of the room from our bed.  There's also an Ikea bookcase in the corner.  Actually, that corner of the room has long been a logistical problem for me.  We've too many things that need to take up the space there.  Currently, it's effectively a 5'x8' space in our room that's completely useless.