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FA info icon.svg Angle down icon.svg Project data
Authors heather hart
Status Prototyped
Instance of Vertical garden
OKH Manifest Download

My project was to create my own Indoor garden which can be grown indoor during winter months. Once garden is fully grown, it can be hung up. displaying vertically allows space conservation within your home. Indoor gardening has become a efficient way to supply food, clean air, and recycling water waste. Over the past ten years indoor and vertical gardening has become extremely important to urban communities as well. Supplying a purpose for something that is equally aesthetically pleasing to the observer.I decided I would create my garden on a much smaller scale, and proceed with another if I had success. [1]

Understanding the Market

There are many indoor gardens, which are becoming more popular throughout the Americas and Europe. I would like to bring this idea into a smaller scale, so people can create simpler versions of gardens in their own home.

Project Goals

A great use for indoor gardening is clean air, having plant life indoors can filter your dirty air into fresh clean air for free. If you live with smokers, or live in an urban area that is highly polluted, having living plants to replenish clean air can improve health and longevity. It can even improve your mood, when breathing clean air. The plants help reduce CO2 levels and increase oxygen. This leads to a less stressful and more peaceful environment.

Water recycling is another big issue that indoor gardening can help with. If you have any left over water from cups or glasses, use that water for your plants. Also these gardens are vertical so they typically use however much water is necessary and then drains the rest of the water naturally. This is why it is helpful to have some sort of irrigation system in place before hanging any gardening up on a wall. This water that drains can be used again and again to water your garden. The absence of standstill water also decreases insects, pets, and mold that might grow within your average outdoor garden.

Since your garden is indoors, your plants are less accessible to common problems normal outdoor gardens might have. Insects and pests can eat your garden before you might have a chance to. Being indoors, you don't have to worry about using insecticides, or pesticides, both which are unhealthy on your plants, and for consumption. This leaves your plants organic, and grown from only natural resources.

Design

I started with a pod starting kit, which you can buy at any home improvement store, and proceeded to plant my seeds. After they grew to a healthy size I transplanted into regular planting pots. Once they are healthy from the transfer i will move to plant inside a wooden pallet, which I then will be able to hang on a wall. Down below there are some images of my personal project so far.

Costs

! herbs can be as cheap as $5-$10 ! starter box $8 ! wooden pallet -free (ask your local grocer for one)

Discussion

I purchased a seed starting kit that contained netted pods, that absorbs the perfect amount of water for your newly planted seeds. You soak the pods in warm water, until they expand and the dirt loosens allowing you to insert the seeds. At this stage the seeds are known to be sensitive to over watering, but also ultra sensitive to direct sunlight. The kit comes with a plastic cover, that gives the pods a greenhouse effect. This creates a humid environment for your seeds that allows quick sprouting, and protection from direct sun. Figure 1 shows the pods before planting seeds, but expanded after being soaked.

Although, three weeks into the growth of my seedlings life I realized there would not be enough sun to enable maximum growth. I then, purchased an indoor UV light which gives the herbs an appropriate amount of artificial sun. This helped the process speed along, and soon I had small sprouts popping up all over.

After for weeks of growth, I felt as though my herbs had come to a standstill and stopped growing. My cilantro started to fall, and I realized I needed to make a change, and fast if I wanted them to continue growing. I got out the potting soil, and plants pots and started transplanting. I transplanted about half of what was healthy in the encasement. That ended up being Basil, Parsley, and Cilantro, still droopy I continue to water, and shine sunlight in their direction.

Conclusions

Some of my seedlings did not survive the initial growth period, and other died during the transplant, but those that live have potential to live a healthy long life of supply great taste to my culinary skills. I realize gardening is not as easy as it may seem, but for many it is a way to enhance their life or life for those around them. Plant life truly is spectacular, creating so many possibilities for positivity in ones life. I will continue in helping my garden grow, to the point where I will be able to transfer to a pallet and hang in my kitchen.

Contact details

Heather Hart HMHART100@GMAIL.COM

FA info icon.svg Angle down icon.svg Page data
Keywords gardening, urban agriculture
SDG SDG02 Zero hunger, SDG12 Responsible consumption and production
Authors heather hart
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Language English (en)
Related 0 subpages, 3 pages link here
Aliases Indoor Gardening
Impact 565 page views
Created December 14, 2012 by heather hart
Modified October 23, 2023 by Maintenance script
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