Inside Urban Green International

Sub-irrigated Indoor Gardens for all Seasons, Climates, Locations and Ages

Many of you have seen this photo before. As of today there have been more than 76,000 views of it in this Flickr album.

I installed this sub-irrigation planter (SIP) garden (mostly succulents) on the property of a b&b hotel as compensation for temporary storage space for my plant lab back in 2014. Unfortunately the inn closed due to declining business that was evidently triggered by the great recession. It is now apartments.

The plants are still alive but now intermingled with traditional drain hole pots. The garden as it was is no longer intact. All of their planters should have been converted into SIPs. Sad story but life moves on.

The replacement garden is below. As you can see this version is an indoor light garden. It is housed on an Inter-Metro style rolling rack (aka wire rack) from Costco ($90 - 4'x6'x1.5', 6 shelves with casters for easy mobility, chrome). These racks are also available from other stores such as Lowe's Home Depot and The Container Store (usually without casters). The light is supplied by LED shop lights, also from Costco ( 2 per shelf). These lights appear to be an exclusive Costco item ($30-35).

This as a beta-test garden in my plant lab. We will see how the plants grow in this set-up. I am creating a Flickr album with many more close-up photos of individual planters. I will post the status monthly. Stay tuned.

Note the shelf below the "desert garden." It is a "coffee plantation" shown previously in this post. Click the photo for a much larger view.

The little coffee trees below the desert garden are growing like Topsy. I keep pruning the tops to create strong trunks. I will soon have more room to let them grow taller. The next light garden theme will be tropical rainforest plants including Tillandsias (air plants).

Another shelf in the desert garden. Click on the photo for a much larger view.

There will also be another version of the "desert garden" in the future. The plants will be growing in sub-irrigated tray planters instead of individual pots. The SIP trays will simulate a desert landscape with decorative sand over the top of the artificial planter mix substrate. It will allow much more room for creativity for those whose vision includes an Arabian fantasy. Shhh...don't tell anyone there is water just below the sand. It will be your little secret.

These theme gardens will offer a new way to supplement book learning of other subjects besides STEM based plant science in public schools (geography and environmental studies for example). My vision is that there be one or more of these light gardens in every school in the U.S. and abroad.

I will seek corporate sponsorship for this worthy project. Our horticultural education system is currently dominated by ideology and outdated gardening practices (drain holes for example). We need disruptive change if we expect to feed ourselves in the future.

Indoor light gardens should be available to all teachers and students every day the year round regardless of weather or climate. Since they are highly mobile with casters they can be rolled easily from classroom to classroom. Simply plug them in and the show is on.

These are examples of the planters used in this desert garden. The rectangular planter at the top was a clearance item from Rite-Aid. They are high fired ceramic. I have found a number of bargains in Rite-Aid at the end of the season. I bought several of these for just a few dollars.

The two water and oxygen reservoirs are made from recycled 5.3 oz Dannon Greek yogurt containers. Note the clear vinyl fill tube (3/4" o.d. - 5/8" i.d. allows for insertion of a plastic funnel with a 1/2" neck). You need just one. Water will flow across the bottom of the planter into the reservoir on the right.

The reservoir for the clay pot (.78 at Home Depot) is the little plastic grow container the cactus came in. All holes in these reservoirs were made with a wood burning pen. The drain hole in the little clay pot was plugged with Goop adhesive (my favorite). It is widely available in big box and hardware stores and on-line.

The high-fired, high-quality, ceramic planter on the right is from Ikea. They were just .49 each (note that they were less than the common clay pot). I bought a bunch of these planters. What a deal! And...there was no need to plug a drain hole in these cache pots.

This photo shows how the soil wicks work. They are partially filled for illustration purposes. The potting mix surrounding the water/oxygen reservoir acts as the wick (no cloth wick required). The plants roots grow down to (and into) the reservoir while the water moves up by capillary action. This "SIP action" is a very simple form of sub-irrigation with no need for power or oxygen pumps.

Related articles

A Sub-irrigated "Bubble SIP" Water Conservation Test Garden

African Violets in Bubble SIPs Growing Under LED Shop Lights

Moving From One SIP to Another

Take a Florida Vacation and Learn Some Good Stuff About Hydroponics

If you are considering a career in the field of urban agriculture, there are three workshops scheduled by the University of Florida extension program to consider in the coming year. They all include topical hydroponics information. 

The first is on February 2, 2016 at the Mid-Florida Research & Education Center, Apopka (central Fl). More information.

Topics include:
Plant physiology and nutrient basics
Water quality and media selections
How to mix your own fertilizer
Understanding the role of pH in your water
Monitoring and adjusting nutrient solutions
Hands-on lab sessions
Equipment and meters

The second is a 2-day workshop on either March 14-15 or 18-19, 2016 at the Suwannee Valley Agricultural Extension Center (west of  Jacksonville). More information.

Topics include:
Structures for Protected Culture
Starting Transplants
Developing a Marketing Plan
Soilless Media Systems
Solution Systems (No Media)
Integrated Pest Management
Water and Nutrient Management
Traditional Crops
Specialty Crops

The third is a 1-day workshop for teachers on April 7, 2016. It is also at the Suwannee Valley Agricultural Extension Center. More information.

Topics include:
Welcome and Overview of Training
Florida Hydroponic Industry
Greenhouse and Shade Structures for Florida
Production Systems and Media
Seeding and Growing Transplants
Water and Nutrient Management
The Basics of Pest Management
Popular and Profitable Crops

Back to the Roots is in Your Local Target Store

It warms my soul to see the success these young guys are having with their business based on modern horticultural techniques and good whole food. They get it! Let's hope our education system can start sending us more like them. May they become the "two Steves of food".

What they have accomplished in such a short time could be the core of a disruptive change we need to make horticulture a mainstream business with new technology and demographics.

Incidentally, I doubt that it will be called horticulture, a rather old-fashioned name. We need a new name for businesses, jobs and careers like this.

As it is now, horticulture is a rather dead-end career for young people. A relatively small group of aging boomers have managed to suck the air out of this field for far too long with their back to the land dirt-based ideology. Maybe it's time for them to retire to some desert island and live happily ever after.

These young gentlemen are Back to the Roots with modernity in the city rather than back to the land in the city with old-fashioned ways ill-suited for today's urban lifestyles.

Kudos to Alejandro & Nikhil. Way to go!

This is from their newsletter yesterday. Sign up here.

Friends,

We've always dreamed of bridging the gap between growing and eating food. We're so grateful to TJ, Amelia, and the entire Target team for helping us bring this vision to life today in 1,000 Target stores nationwide.

Find the Mushroom Mini Farm, Water Garden, and new Garden-in-a-Can in your local Target store or online at Target.com.

 

Much love,

Alejandro & Nikhil

Related articles

Nine Month Update " A Sub-irrigated "Bubble SIP" Water Conservation Test Garden

California Drought " Some Personal and Analytic Thoughts about Almonds and Alfalfa

Why Did Target Drop Visa?

Agriculture " Another POV About California Water Conservation

An Extension Program Gardening Guide That Ignores Modernity

Following is one of many examples demonstrating the failure of the USDA/Land Grant University Extension Program to provide consumers with up to date information about growing local food. See prior post.

A gardening article in a Canton, Illinois paper written by an Extension educator links to this Watch Your Garden Grow guide. The authors are Extension educators, one from Cook County including Chicago.

It is significant to note that the tutorial contains no usable information about sub-irrigation or any other modern method of growing local food. The ludicrous assumption appears to be that the word garden is synonymous with dirt or drain holes.

Following below is what the guide has to say about container gardening. Note the reference to "the earthbox". EarthBox, of course, is a trade name not a generic name.

Sub-irrigated planters (SIPs) like the EarthBox are self-contained. There is no water wasted due to drainage. Note what the tutorial has to say about drainage.

"All containers, whether plastic or clay must have drainage."

"Containers with no drainage will cause your vegetables to develop root rot."

I see statements like this in Extension guides all the time. It is factually incorrect. Anyone who knows about SIPs can easily prove it.

Those who grow in SIPs know that they produce very healthy plants free of root rot. If anything, they prevent root due to the combination water and oxygen reservoir.

What is particularly deplorable is that one of the authors is deeply involved in the use of SIPs at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. It is one of the finest examples of hardscaped urban gardening in the country. There are more than 70 EarthBox type SIPs on the granite steps of the museum as well as the upper deck of the Smart Home exhibit.

Why isn't valuable information like this included in this gardening guide and many other Extension guides? This major question continues to go unanswered by the Extension program. The public deserves better.

via urbanext.illinois.edu

Containers

If you don't have space in your backyard or only have access to a sunny balcony or patio, you can still grow vegetables in containers. A container for vegetables can be as simple as a bushel basket lined with plastic, a hanging basket or a self contained growing unit like the earthbox.

All containers, whether plastic or clay must have drainage. Soil in containers will dry out quickly, so frequent watering is necessary. Containers with no drainage will cause your vegetables to develop root rot. Use a sterilized, soil less mix for your container garden. Soilless mixes are light and contain some organic matter. Fertilize with a slow-release vegetable garden fertilizer that is applied in the spring and will provide nutrients for your veggies throughout the growing season. Read more...

The 1920's Sub-irrigated Planter (SIP) Before the EarthBox

When I took the time to study the cutaway drawing of this sub-irrigated (called "self-watering") flower box from almost 90 years ago, I realized it was the same basic construction as the tote box sub-irrigated planter (SIP) below.

There is a fill pipe, connected to reservoir pipes at the bottom. The soil between the pipes acts as the wick. I'm not sure about the need for gravel. The only thing missing (or not mentioned) is an overflow drain hole. Note the mention of an "air supply".

How is that we have these SIPs from around a century ago and we still have millions of new and potential gardeners who know nothing about them. Even experienced gardeners think the EarthBox was the invention that started SIP growing. As archival information demonstrates, this is obviously not true.

Is there any doubt that we have a horticultural education problem when millions of people are brainwashed to believe that you must have a pot with drain holes to grow plants? Or, that a raised bed needs to connect to the ground below for drainage.

When are we going to demand that institutions like the USDA Extension Program fix the problem by modernizing their consumer education? In my view, it is simply a matter of getting these educators to tell the truth about what they already know.

Cyclopedia of American Horticulture 1900 - Liberty Hyde Bailey includes the latest information about sub-irrigated planters 

Popular Mechanics July 1924

A Personal Urban Food Production System - The Laptop of Fresh Food

Sub-irrigation 100 Years Ago, Why Not Today?

From the June 1915 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine.

The contributor of this Popular Mechanics article obviously understood sub-irrigation (aka "self-watering") almost 100 years ago. This particular application took some creative thinking. 


Once one understands the basics of sub-irrigation, the system is quite simple; reservoir, wicks, fill tube, and overflow drain hole. 


That said, fast forward to today. How is it that the vast majority of USDA Extension Program educators still don't vigorously promote it? Instead they pound a drum about the need for pots with drain holes. For them, the word "garden" is a synonym for dirt. Drench and drain irrigation wastes water, wastes time and reduces productivity of edible plants. It is anything but green.

Is it lack of expertise on their part or is USDA policy the villain? As a battle scared veteran of corporate policy and politics, I know much about unwritten, but enforced organization policies.

Whatever the reason, the omission of information about efficient growing methods such as sub-irrigation and others is a serious misuse of tax dollars. Taxpayers (and the environment) deserve better.

 
 

What's in a Name? Modern Day Ag Tile is Plastic, Self-watering is Sub-irrigation

Tiling has been the way of life in the south central Minnesota region for as long as Pat Duncanson can remember. Many county outles were put in about 100 years ago and has been a tradition that has had a direct impact on the value of farmland.

“It is the culture we grew up with,” Duncanson says. “Drainage and tiling are important parts of crop production.”

via www.agriculture.com

I wonder how many home and community gardeners would know that sub-irrigation called "tiling" (not to be confused with tilling) is used for both drainage and irrigation in professional field farming. Long time readers of this blog might know from prior posts here and here.

Further, how would anyone outside of farming know that tile used in field agriculture is plastic rather than ceramic? Tile in farmspeak is the same corrugated perforated plastic pipe used to irrigate and aerate the plants in the first sub-irrigated raised beds here in Brooklyn.

Incidentally, it is the same sub-irrigation method used more than 100 years ago in greenhouse agriculture. Back then, it was “real” ceramic clay tile.

From Cyclopedia of American Horticulture 1904

Why does this matter to the public at large? It matters because it has a significant impact on the quality of public education about modern methods of growing plants, edible plants in particular. Ergo, it has a significant impact on the quality of urban agriculture and the availability of high quality locally produced fresh food.

The public gets a steady drumbeat of propaganda from institutions like the USDA Extension Program about arcane drench and drain plant watering methods but little or nothing about sub-irrigation. Even then, the highly misleading term "self-watering" is used.

What is most egregious is that the same professional educators who know about agricultural sub-irrigation use the unprofessional term "self-watering" when communicating with consumers.

Who would know that "self-watering" and tiling both mean sub-irrigation? Consumers might search on the words "self-watering" but are highly unlikely to ever search the word "tiling" when looking for information about growing fresh food.

A personal experience with a very well-known school garden here in Brooklyn illustrates the point about the word tiling and sub-irrigation. The school garden was built over a former parking lot that was broken up and topsoil trucked in. Now for some reason there is a very significant drainage problem. The school garden manager struggles to overcome it with marginal results. The quality of the plants is significantly below average.

The problem with this school garden is not unique. It exhibits the very same problems that farmers have faced and solved with tiling (sub-irrigation and drainage).

Duncanson says there is a direct relationship between nitrogen use and drainage. Tiling has allowed Duncanson to manage nitrogen more precisely.

“If we go into a farm that isn’t well drained, we have experienced higher nitrogen losses some years. Any mobile nitrogen is lost through denitrification,” he says. “If a farm is tiled, we can fine-tune the nitrogen rates.” Duncanson says they use a lower rate of nitrogen applied to tiled farms.

If the school garden manger knew about tiling and sub-irrigation the school garden would likely double production while saving water and reducing labor time in coping with the drainage problem.

Unfortunately, the information is poorly understood in the urban gardening community where much of the education is based largely on experiential, anecdotal and folkloric knowledge rather than professional, peer-reviewed and science-based academic information.

Future Farmers of America (FFA) » Students Doing Good Work

Kevin Pieper/The Baxter Bulletin

It is really good to see these young people involved in a project like this. It is particularly significant that they are getting some hands-on experience with alternate ways to "farm" other than in the ground.

EarthBox sub-irrigated planters (SIPs) are an excellent way to reach out to their community to help solve problems of hunger, nutrition and obesity. In my view FFA deserves much more recognition than it gets in big cities like New York.

Read more about the Future Farmers of America. This is their national website.

via www.baxterbulletin.com

COTTER — More than 60 Cotter Future Farmers of America club members are joining together on a project to help local families fight hunger.

Student teacher Carley Calico, an agriculture education student at Southern Arkansas University, is doing her student teaching at Cotter High School.

Before she started, she contacted Cotter agriculture teacher Brandy Hughes about potentially applying for one of 140 “Food For All” grants distributed by the national FFA organization. Read more...

Gardeners are not a Bunch to be Trifled With. Oh, Really!

"Gardeners are not a bunch to be trifled with."

That statement as the lead in to a NY Times article (below) about gardening apps got my attention, big time!

In my view, gardeners are one of the most “trifled with” consumer groups in the U.S. It also happens that the overwhelming majority of gardeners are women who are propagandized that dirt is good and you absolutely must, under penalty of (plant) death, have a drain hole in whatever container, planter or pot that is home to your plant.

Guess who is running this propaganda machine. Mostly men. They are the plant farmers (called growers in the greenhouse trade) who grow houseplants and other potted plants. As an industry insider for going on 40 years, I know for sure that they know about sub-irrigation, and they don’t call it by the silly term “self-watering”.

They know about ebb and flow sub-irrigation and capillary mat watering. In some sections of the country, they even use if for field agriculture. They also have no financial motivation whatsoever to share this knowledge with you as a consumer. Follow the money!

Their self-interest is to perpetuate the market as more of a consumable than a sustainable product market. If we’re talking about growing vegetables, the agricultural trade (farmers and extension agents) has no financial incentive to educate you to become a competitor.

What they do instead is give lip service to consumer education by propagandizing inferior methods of edible plant growing. They make little or no mention of sub-irrigation or simple hydroponics for example. It is not in their financial interest to promote these methods.

So, are consumer gardeners being given solid information about the most productive, environmentally friendly, safest and easiest methods of growing fresh vegetables or houseplants? No. Are consumer gardeners being trifled with? Yes.

You don’t need to take my word for it. Try modern methods like simple-to-use sub-irrigation and you will discover the truth for yourself. Once you do this, you will never be trifled with again. As is often said, the truth will set you free...at least about gardening that is. 

Scan through user reviews of the many gardening-related apps and you start to get a feel for this group’s exacting standards and their impatience with dilettantes. Software engineers who create these apps may know a good market when they see one, but judging from the reviews, many of them apparently know little about gardening.

Fortunately, a few apps for both Android and Apple users have generated positive reviews and the even better news is that two of the better ones are free.

The Gardening Guide from Mother Earth News (free on Apple and on Android, as Garden Guide), Gardening How-To (free on iPad and Android) and Landscaper’s Companion — Gardening Reference Guide ($6 on iPad and iPhone, $5 on Android) are all worth downloading. Read more ...

via www.nytimes.com

Little Green Girl Grooves on SIPs

How neat to see Little Green Girl a member of the Green Roof Growers blogging team teaching her friends about making recycled soda bottle SIPs (sub-irrigated planters).

She has learned some good stuff from her mom Debbie and Heidi Hough, one of the founders of the blog. Yeah team! 

Debbie made this very helpful diagram showing how to make soda bottle SIPs (click on it for a larger view).

It's a minor point but I hook the wicking strips (one u-shape going up and one u-shape going down, like chain links). The wick is probably a little more secure that way. There are a number of variants in making these planters. One of these days, we'll have a PDF showing all of them.
 
There should be one or more of these planters in every home and classroom in America. Soda bottle SIPS teach good plant science and making them is a great example of recycling, or up-cycling or repurposing as some prefer. Install them inside cachepots (including traditional clay pots) for a more decorative look if you like.

Your houseplants will love the consistent water and oxygen supply provided by SIPs. Add adequate light and they will be in plant heaven instead of the other place where so many houseplants meet their end.

Read the blog post at greenroofgrowers.blogspot.com