Final Post

Hello everyone,

This will be my last post about HydroLoft or the Plant Tube since we are wrapping up Greengineering projects and cleaning them up. Even though I won't be taking the lab version (in the workspace) of this class, I still think someone could learn from my experience and carry on my work. So in this post, I'll talk about what I learned and a possible future path for this project.

What I learned:
I am talking about what I learned in terms of how to grow plants efficiently. I designed and built two systems: Plant Tube and HydroLoft. Both have the purpose of growing the most plants in least space and least resources. The one on top is HydroLoft, and below is Plant Tube

They both managed to grow plants. However, Plant Tube produced much more yield in less time, with less work to create it. (The parsley hasn't grown because it was planted only a few days ago). So why did the Plant Tube grow better?

I don't know for sure, but using my knowledge of plant biology, I can hypothesize. Plant Tube works by being constantly filled with water, which is maintained at a certain level so that the grow cubes the plants are in remain wet. This means that when the seeds germinate, they are surrounded by a semi-inundated environment, so they are unlikely to rot. Important: this only works for some plants! It did not work for growing squash! 

When the roots grow, they will also be engulfed in water, so their roots are absorbing water once they have matured enough to grow outside of that semi-inundated environment. They are now able to absorb the most water without rot. I didn't photograph it, but when I took the cups out of the tubes, the roots were much, much longer and more developed than the roots of the plants in HydroLoft.

This actually makes sense. In nature, plants grow on river banks, which are semi-inundated. The ones that do grow in water, however, grow in still or slow-moving water. Lily pads, for example, typically don't grow in rapids. HydroLoft flooded the tubes and then drained, creating a semi-inundated environment through Van-der-walls forces (the water stayed in the gutter foam due to it simply being stuck to it). However, since the tubes are empty after the fact, the plant roots wouldn't be supported in the same way a flooded but still-water environment would be

Possible future path:

The only problem Plant Tube has is that in order to expand, it would need to do so horizontally, which takes up space. HydroLoft is space-efficient because it takes up space vertically. So how can this system be run vertically?

We can look at how it would be done in an automated manner (not requiring frequent checking). After much thinking and redesign, here is my proposed design:

It might appear to be like the original HydroLoft design, but it has two important modifications: the GroCube and the drainage.

I guess Mr. Deets was right all along about using a GroCube to best grow plants. It will make the semi-inundated environment certain plants need to grow, and the drain will ensure that it only starts filling up the level below when it's full. You would have to measure how much water is lost from the system per day to judge how often the pump would need to be active in order to keep the water at a suitable level.

Unfortunately, I will not be in the Greengineering lab next year, so a student will have to take this over for me. I hope that they find my reports valuable, especially this last one.

Thanks for reading,
Ben

Update

Hello everybody,

Recently, I've just been maintaining the plants. Next week, I will work on wrapping up my project and possibly passing it on to a student next year. Below are some pictures. On the left is HydroLoft and on the right is the Plant Tube.



Thanks for reading,
Ben

Plant photos

Hello everyone,

The plants have been growing well, that's all that has changed from last class. Below are some pictures. The one on the left is broccoli from the Plant Tube and the one on the right is the Russian kale from the HydroLoft system.

Thanks for reading,
Ben

Update: Plants are growing nicely, Plant Tube extended

Hey everyone,

I have had much success recently with the HydroLoft system and the Plant Tube.

This is the HydroLoft system as of May 10. It is growing some wheatgrass, Russian kale, and broccoli. This is a big win for us, and the electronics are working very well. We have attempted to power the battery with solar panels, but the grow light isn't enough, so it will only work when in actual full sunlight. This weekend, I will leave the battery to run for three days and see if it can keep the HydroLoft system working.
To the right is a picture of the Plant Tube. I have planted broccoli seeds and zucchini seeds. Hopefully, those will grow soon and become healthy plants.

Thanks for reading,
Ben

April Experiment Sucess

Hello everyone,

My HydroLoft system didn't malfunction for a whole week! Because of this, the plants survived and are growing.

 The growing pipe (GroPipe) is also a success. The water level barely lowered over the week, proving that it is super water-efficient.

My next task is to just keep monitoring the plants and making sure that they are growing well.

Thanks for reading,

Ben

Quick note on experiment

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to quickly say that I am leaving my system for nine days over the course of April vacation to see if the system survives. Either my plants will perish, or they'll be thriving. I'll find out the result on Monday.

-Ben

Bottom Row Germination

Hello everyone,

I have been working on 3 projects lately:

1. The HydroLoft system (old)
On the top, the wheatgrass has been growing well, but the other plants aren't, so I'll probably replace them. The ones on the bottom, I checked them to see if they have sprouted their roots. 3 out of 4 have sprouted their roots, so it is a success so far. The green part should, in theory, rise soon after the roots sprout, so wish me luck!

2. Shallow Water Tray

 This is a plastic tray with water in it. That's all it is. Currently, squash seeds and russian kale is growing in it. I decided to do this project just for fun to see what results it would actually yield. Since the system is open without boundaries, the plants may grow in some unique ways. I accidentally let it dry out over the weekend though, so I might have to re-do it.

3. Gro Cube Pipe
This was inspired by Mr. Deets (a teacher) who made this, but vertical. I added some adjustments  and made it horizontal. It is secured by thin rope and is waterproofed on both ends. The right end has a tube for refilling the water, and the baskets hold gro cubes which contain wheatgrass seeds. Using capillary action, the gro cubes will keep the seeds moist until they grow their roots, which will be able to touch the water at the bottom of the pipe without the gro cube being wet. Hopefully, this will result in a super water efficient system.

Thanks for reading,
Ben

What I've been up to

Hello everyone!

Sorry I haven't been writing recently! I finally have balanced the water in the HydroLoft system, and if I remember, I'll make a video of it running and post that.

I'm also working on a few side projects, which I will also try to remember to take pictures of. The first one is a shallow water tray, and the second one is a gro cube pipe (inspired by Mr. Deet's vertical version). I will explain them both on the next post, hopefully.

Thanks for reading,
Ben

Update: First plants growing!

Hello everyone,

I have been working hard on perfecting the water flow for the HydroLoft system. I have perfected it for the top, so I planted seeds. All of them have germinated (I checked), but only the wheat grass has sprouted.
I am also growing baby greens, broccoli, and peas. Hopefully, when I return on Monday, they will still be growing nicely. I have not yet planted seeds on the bottom level because it still needs to flow to a consistent level. Once that happens, I can plant seeds there and start to finalize the prototype for testing in the Tiger's Loft.

Thanks for reading,
Ben

What I've Been Working On

Hello all,

Sorry I haven't been writing recently. Everything has been really busy for me, but hopefully, I'll be able to keep up now.

I finally got the electronics to work. I figure out that the problem is that the battery didn't have enough power and that it needs a few extra volts to run through the timer. Now that it is working, I have planted seeds in the top tube. If I remember, next week I'll get a picture of it so far and write about it. Hopefully, they'll grow over the weekend and I'll have something to show for it.

Thanks for reading,
Ben

Objectives for Week of February 5-9

Hi everyone,

This week I only have three Greengineering classes, so I am setting a long term goal:

By February 13, I will have the water table at the right levels. On the 14, I am leaving for a school trip, so that'll be my deadline.

-Ben

Week of January 28 to February 2

Hello everyone,

This week, I still need to control the water flow. It's really difficult because each time, you have to make the hole bigger, glue in the cloth, then put it back in the system.

The water is still quickly overflowing, and after much thinking, I realized the obvious: I need less water to go up. So next week, I'll take a new approach. This time, I'll make a hole in the tube so that less water actually goes into the pipe.

I'll see if it works. Until next week,
Ben

Week of January 22-24 update

Hello everybody,

This week, I aimed to get the water to flow correctly in the HydroLoft system. I am so close to achieving that, but I did not. So, instead of writing about what I did this week today or what I will do next week, I will just write about the progress I have made by the end of next Friday, February 2.

Thanks for reading, 
Ben

Objectives for Week of January 22-24

Hello everybody,

This week, I am going to be missing class on Thursday, so my objective is only to get the water of the HydroLoft to flow correctly. That means not flooding the top tube, filling up the bottom, and not spilling over when the waterfall is active.

Thanks for reading,
Ben

Week of January 16-18

Hello everybody,

This week, my objectives were:

1. Get the pump running for my system.

2. Finish building the non-electronic part of the system.

This week, I finally got the pump to work. I connected the system, and it worked great. However, the top pipe overflowed within fifteen seconds.

Although, I did manage to make the bottom pipe like the top one, so the system is finished except for making sure the system works water-wise and then I will plant some plants in it.

 Thanks for reading,

Ben

Objectives for Week of January 16-18

Hello everybody,

This week, my objectives are:

1. Get the pump running for my system.

2. Finish building the non-electronic part of the system. I need to make sure that the pipes are filling up but overflowing.

I'll write later,
Ben

The Week of January 8-11

Hello all,


This week, my objective was to wire my system from the pump to the timer to the solar panel. I did that, however, the system did not work. I am still trying to get it to function. Otherwise, things are going well. The pump runs only every two hours, so I have had a lot of spare time. I am currently upgrading the bottom pipe to be simpler like the top one. As soon as I get the pump system running, I will plant my seeds and test out the system (at last!).

If I find that again, I have spare time, I might pursue a side project. I'm not sure what it will be yet, but I'll write about it if I do. 

Thanks for reading,
Ben

Objectives for Week of January 8-11

Hello everyone,

Last week school was cancelled on Thursday and Friday, so I didn't write what I had done that weekend because I didn't have time to do much. As a result, this week, my objective is to wire my system from the pump to the timer to the solar panel.

Thanks for reading,
Ben

Objectives for Week of January 2-4

Hello everybody,

This week, I only have three Greengineering classes and I just got back from December break, so I am unsure of my objectives for this week. I will keep working on my prototype, but I am unsure of where I aim to be by the end of this week. Hopefully, I will have made good progress.

Will write later,
Ben