I've experienced food frustration of eating healthy and it really annoys me. The overall lunch experience, be it a restaraunt or a grocery store is expensive not only due to taxes or tip but the commute itself. My time is valuable and I don't want to spend it on the road. Also, when I get to where the food is, quality at either place may be only so-so.
I decided I needed a high-production, low space system. However, I found the systems in the market were either too small, such as the tabletop Areogarden systems, or too large. Due to this, I decided to build my own system, pictured below. It currently is located in my unfinished basement. I found the location needed only three things. It needs security, electricity and a stable temperature. I found my basement was sufficient for this. The location is relatively dry and has an average temperature around 50F in the winter and no more than 70F during the hottest summer days..
Althuogh this looks like a continuous flow system it is in fact a flood and drain system. Due to this, it can grow a wider variety of plants. The main constraint seems to be the hight of each shelf. However, choosing plant varieties that don't have much height can overcome this limit.
Why rails rather than a whole flood-and-drain tray? Using rails minimizes water weight over using a whole tray.. Using lighter weight rails also means it can use lighter weight shelving and the rail doesn't need to exactly match the size of the shelf.. Also, the design uses less energy since the pump cycle is only a few minutes rather than all day.
Another benefit of this design is that different water levels can be used in the rails. For example, if starting seeds, a high water level is best. However, the next rail over can use a momentary high-flood, then drain to a lower level, allowing roots to grow quicker since they can gather lots of oxygen.
Plans coming soon!
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