Hydroponics on the balcony of the house (part one)
Photos and texts courtesy of ilRospo.it
When Cortes employed the concept of exporting democracy with the Aztecs found himself before a great nation that stood before him in all his power in Tenochtitlan, the grand capital of the Aztec kingdom.
I will not dwell on the end of this people at the hands of the conquistadors, but one aspect of which struck the soldiers simpler than these murderous expeditions: on what a likely ex-farmer had hired the Spanish rabble to see with his eyes remained presumably somewhat shaken .
The capital of the Aztec kingdom had previously stood on some islets in Lake Texcoco, and was therefore deficient in fertile soil in which to grow: a sin is not just counting allegedly lived in this city about 200,000 people. Thus, striving with what nature had to offer, it is theorized and began using a cultivation technique to "root floating" which consisted in the exploitation of the lake water through the construction of fertile floating islands. Actual rafts of reeds bound together with reeds formed the backbone of this system, therefore, foresees a thin strip of land located on the rafts where to start sowing and then to find food plants in the water below.
This is briefly the story which forms the starting point for our experiment today: the growing root ... floating on the balcony of the house! With this new column we aim to follow step by step through the creation of this small garden in an effort, or even better in the hope of having a sufficient harvest to declaring usable and recommended the installation of a similar system in their homes.
First Steps
And here is a brief introduction of our reproduction of this version Chinampas balcony of the house 2010.
Obviously our will be a closed-loop system with the arrangement of a pipe that will house inside the pots with plants. Everything will be connected to a container with an immersion motor that will pump the water needed to feed the plants. Only the water is not sufficient and after the first day of installation of the system will be necessary to "feed" the water with organic-rich of the main elements necessary for plants to grow such as Nitrogen, Potassium etc.
Do not be scared by the apparent difficulty of these first steps: the bulk of the work consists of construction of the system that takes about 6 hours, then switch to a softer and fun daily care who steals up to 10 minutes of your time. First, here is a list of equipment needed to embark on this experiment:
- Exhaust pipes (those used by plumbers in easily retrievable DIY) Cost: 35/50 euros depending on size. In our experiment the total length is approximately 4.50 meters.
- 26 plastic jars. Cost: 8 euro
- Vessel for recirculating water capacity of 25/30 liters
- Submersible motor (no consumption 9 W) cost 15 euros.
- Tubes (cost of 3/4 euros depending on size)
- Silicone (to plug leaks)
- Drill to create space for plants.
As you can see the photo at top of this article leaves little room for doubt and perplexity. The pipes, perforated with the drill, have left space for pots that are inserted into the middle.
In the bottom right of the vessel containing the water and in a few days the nutrients for plants. From here tick the container two tubes: the little that goes on the left that begins the vicious "virtuous" and the big exhaust pipe of the system to be easy on the motor was arranged everything in such a way as to exploit the severity .
This week we had problems with the evil wind that bothered conspicuously tomato plants all'equilibrismo forced to stay in the saddle while the positive effects they have had with a watering morning / evening via a simple spray bottle that has secured the right mix of humidity and refreshments without damaging the surface of the jars still too small to receive the water directly dall'innaffiatoio.
Today, April 26, but we started the real power plants through the use of specific products containing the chemical elements basic to the development of plants grown in hydroponics. Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium are just some of the elements that will help our plants to grow, hopefully, strong and healthy. Do not worry, these "energy drinks" are relatively inexpensive (6 euros for two bottles of 1.5 liters each) and make it so much .. at least that's the hope!
Finally, last but the first action taken in the importance of the overall project, we created a structure to a zucchini and tomatoes to grow and develop and relying on a web of strings attached in turn to four fixed points. A work from invasive aesthetic point of view it is still devoid of green that we hope you can play but basic in order to ensure a future healthy development of our plants. Overall, we see general improvements even if the roots of the seedlings have not yet reached the water flowing beneath them.
This last aspect is crucial considering that, without land, the plants need continuous contact with water. Here's our garden takes shape: the facility will help to grow our shoots! The tank, the bottom of the balcony to the right, was covered to prevent the sun's rays coming into direct contact with the water heating it excessively.
PS we also purchased an aquarium oxygenator and we put in tanks: an object is necessary to combat the possible mold able to form inside the tube. Small steps you can take to increase the success rate of this experiment.
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Tags: self-sufficiency , DIY , growing in water , hydro based , simplified hydroponics , vegetable garden in the city
