Inside Urban Green

EarthBox Plus A Fluorescent Light Equals Cucumbers In Winter

Beth from the EarthBox forum shows how an EarthBox and fluorescent lights equals cucumbers in the winter. Critiquing the cost of these cucumbers would miss the point. Beth has learned something valuable about urban food production and has enjoyed the reward of eating fresh cukes in the winter while doing it.

Meanwhile, dedicated dirt huggers are probably reading seed catalogs and dreaming about summer or they're on the web lobbying for a dirt garden at their kid's school. 

When affordable LED lighting is here in the future we will look back with amusement, much like we do now when seeing old photos of kerosene lamps. I well remember them from summer vacations in the country.

via forum.earthbox.com

Hi All,  Thought you'd like to know that I was able to harvest 22 snack size 5" (Persian) Cucino cucumbers from 2 plants grown in an eb in the basement under fluorescent lights.  I'll do this again!  Fresh cucs in December and January! Come on spring!Beth

Lettuce Into Your Living Quarters!

Visitors look at the hydroculture lettuce and herbs grown only by LED lamps at a booth of Japanese company Synergytec during the Eco-Products 2009, Eco Style Fair, in Tokyo, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama) Editorial note: I searched but could not find a website for Synergytec and this system.

This setup is so cool. AP captioned the system as hydroculture (a passive method) when in fact it is more accurately a hydroponic system. However, that's beside the point. The significance of this photo for me is that it is set up on an InterMetro type rack just like the racks in the CuGreen plant lab.

A big difference is that the lighting is LED while mine is ordinary fluorescent. Fluorescent lighting is adequate for growing and maintaining most indoor plants (i.e. houseplants) but not for growing vegetables. This is a peek into the future of urban greenscaping in city apartments and homes. Bravo!

via armoks.com

Visitors look at the hydroculture lettuce and herbs grown only by LED lamps at a booth of Japanese company Synergytec during the Eco-Products 2009, Eco Style Fair, in Tokyo,

Ficus Trees Multiplied

As you can probably tell, these Ficus trees are not on the floor of a greenhouse. Look below after the jump.

There are now more than 50 of them growing in the CuGreen plant lab. It is rather amazing to know that these desktop trees were propagated from four small bags of cuttings starting about a year and a half ago. Read the back story here.

There is no special equipment here. The light gardens are Inter-Metro type storage racks from Costco and the artificial lighting is supplied from inexpensive shop lights (4’) using ordinary 40-watt fluorescent tubes. The racks are located in east facing windows so they also receive natural light during the day.

The planters are made from recycled pop/soda bottles. To encourage rooting they are covered with clear plastic deli containers to start. It typically takes 3-4 weeks to root the cuttings and the deli containers are then removed.

These seven Sansevieria plants were propagated using the same system. Who knows how many new plants will be propagated from these plants over the next year or so. I will post the progress.

SIP Salad Makers

These are the next steps for the recycled pop/soda bottle “SIP salad makers” shown in the portable potting tray. The seeds sprout under fluorescent shop lights hung on one of the shelves of a light garden rack. The clear plastic covers are 16-ounce deli containers that just happen to fit perfectly on top of the 2-liter soda bottle SIPS.

The light garden is an InterMetro style rolling rack from Costco (6’h x 4’w x 1 ½’ deep). InterMetro racks and copies are widely available. They are easy to move around and the shelves are adjustable in one-inch increments. The ordinary daylight fluorescent lights are on daily for 16 hours.

The next temporary home for the SIP salads is on my fire escape. Some of them will go into 5-gallon utility bucket SIPs. Others, containing basil and other leafy greens will grow on windowsills in the neighborhood including PS 102.   

Step Right Up to the Salad Bar

Photos by Richard Webb, London, UK

Richard Webb, in London, sent me these photos. He is obviously a creative and handy Brit and I thank him for sharing his work so openly. He calls his growing cabinet a "salad bar". Good name! 

I might have written the caption as "Belly Right Up to the Salad Bar" but what many of us are trying to do is reduce our bellies. So, maybe we should say "Step Right Up to the Belly-Shrinking Salad Bar". 

Note that there are sub-irrigation plastic bottle planters inside the cabinet. There will be a separate post about them. 

There are hundreds of thousands (or millions) of city dwellers that could use something like this in the dead of winter (or all year round for that matter). 

Potential sources of plant cabinets are IKEA, thrift and second hand stores. Consider armoires, wardrobes and other cabinets. There is much room for creativity here with great potential for a healthy reward. 

Has anyone else done something like this? 

Indoor LIght Gardens

These light gardens are from a post on Apartment Therapy. It's good to see a post on this valuable subject. Unfortunately there is little or no information about a better solution. 

My recommendation is none of the above. Buy an InterMetro style adjustable rack. You can buy a 4’ wide, 6’ tall, 18” deep rack with 5 shelves and 4 casters for about $100 at Costco. Seville Classics is an importer of these racks. Have a look at their shelving customizer.

The shelves are adjustable in 1” increments to provide the ultimate in versatility as your plant sizes change over time. 

Further, when you use sub-irrigated planters, there is no need for drainage. You do not need messy trays under the plants. 

AeroGrow is Doing Just That

                     
The AeroGarden is the first product in my long career that has succeeded in demystifying the production of personal food. It would be a bad pun to say "€œmystifying" the roots did it.

All you need do is plug it in whether you're in a cold climate apartment in the north or a condo in the south. The necessary environment of adequate light and water is under digital control. A built-in micro-processor automatically adjusts nutrient delivery, light cycles and water for specific plant types. A built-in light timer turns lights on and off and a built-in reminder system automatically alerts you to add water and nutrients. 

The AeroGarden has created a market in retailing but has it created a market in the investment world? The two don't always go together.

A couple of bloggers have taken a hard look at the stock of AeroGrow, the company behind the AeroGarden.

The blog posts and comments following them are an interesting insight into the world of start-up companies and IPO'€™s. As a disclaimer, I do not own AeroGrow stock.

This is an evaluation done by Jae Jun of the blog OldSchoolValue.com with a 15 point checklist following it.

Laura Cadden of SeekingAlpha.com had this to say about AeroGrow.

Vertical Farm

Okay, so it's not a real "vertical farm". Think of it as an embryonic vertical farm. We need to start some where other than the outdated clay pots and saucers inside many of our homes and offices. They were only modern in the time of the ancients.

This is one of the Inside Plants Science Mini-Labs that is now in my Brooklyn apartment. This is what should be (but isn't) in the science lab of every school in America. If it were, we would be a lot further along in science education. We would be a lot further along a path to more local food production. As it is, due to a lack of up-to-date information most of us are still crawling in a horticultural kindergarten.

What you’re looking at is an investment of under $100 for a 4’x6’ InterMetro style rolling rack (Costco) with 1” increment adjustable shelves. It currently has two shop lights with room for more. This one is chrome but you can find them in black and white powder coat finishes.

Do I hear objections to fluorescent lighting? If so, put the garden in your office, a spare room or a bedroom if it bothers you to have it in your living area. With a timer, it can come on at night when you’re asleep. Use a little creativity. The result will be well worth it.

I’ve gotten very used to this garden and would miss its presence. It provides a cheery view when the weather outside is winter bleak. I lived with ten of these racks in my home back in San Diego. They soon will be rolling into some Brooklyn school rooms helping to teach modern plant science.

Commercial light gardens of this type cost much more. Those from Gardener’s Supply and the National Gardening Association will likely cost you over $700 delivered. Neither of them does any more than what you see above. Incidentally, note that there are no drainage trays, saucers or catch pans. None are needed when using sub-irrigation.

The small Ficus trees growing in expanded clay pebbles were rescued from temporary storage in the middle school science lab. The recycled pop bottle planters and propagators produced the results you see here and here.