My aeroponic orchid wall - Orchid Board

ALToronto · #1 02-02-2013, 08:56 PM

This is an experiment. I've had aeroponics on my mind ever since visiting Walt Disney World oh - about 20 years ago, and taking the extended tour of the Epcot Center greenhouses. But I didn't want plastic pipes or the need for a wet floor. I wanted to create a self-contained setup that could be placed in a living room.

The elements I borrowed from Wally World are the pipe-shaped structure and holes in the pipe wall through which the plant roots are placed. Also a misting system inside the pipe, but mine with a reservoir at the bottom to catch the drips and recirculate the fertilizer solution. At Epcot, the water drips on the tile floor and drains away.

My 'pipe' is made from a cementitious composite, one with a much lower pH than regular cement. It's also treated with lithium silicate, which drops pH even further. There is a cast drip edge on the inside, just above a sliding stainless steel reservoir. The face wall of the pipe measures 48" (120 cm) tall by 30" (75 cm) wide, the sides are 5" (13 cm) deep on the outside, and the thickness of the material is 1/2" (13 mm). So the cross-section is a long narrow rectangle.

The first photo is the structure in the form, right after it was poured. The photo doesn't show the two layers of 2" styrofoam buried inside, which created the empty space in the structure. The pink circles are the blockouts for the holes (I've had to enlarge most of them to 3" from 2"). The tree branch is for decoration only, I don't plan to mount orchids on it.

The second photo is the empty wall in my living room. The shelf unit below is the bottom support - I think it looks nicer than brackets.

The third photo is the inside view, looking up from the bottom.

The fourth photo is the just-populated wall, with catt, encyclia and epidendrum seedlings. At that time, I was not yet recirculating the water, so the inlet tube for the misting system is in the bottle of distilled water, and the reservoir was just the catch basin. More in the next post.

Ferns Daddy · #2 02-02-2013, 09:25 PM

That is really sharp looking and a lot of work setting it up

ALToronto · #3 02-02-2013, 09:33 PM

The wall has been populated for 3 weeks now. The plants are in 3" net pots, in small hydroton-type LECA. I've had to use gutter mesh and wire clips to hold the plants and the medium in the pots. I wish there were something compressible that could still wick water and not disintegrate.

So lessons learned so far:

1. There is no such thing as a perfect drip edge. I will probably have to modify mine to be a little longer, and a little more slanted. Right now it allows some water to get outside the basin. The embedded tree branch doesn't help - it broke through the wall thickness at the bottom, so the water is dripping along the wood.

2. Even low-pH cementitious materials have a pH that is too high for plants. I adjust the fertilizer solution to a pH of 5.5, and by the time it collects in the basin after a day of on-and-off misting (8 cycles, about 2 min each), the pH is up around 7.3-7.4. So I have to add 1/2 tsp of a citric acid solution (pH 2.3) every day to my 2L solution (about 1/2 gal at any time). Not a big deal once you know that you need to do this, but at the same time, it makes it less of a low-maintenance setup. My intention was to create something that could be self-sustaining for a week or so, and that is simply not the case with this setup.

3. I need more misting nozzles. Right now I have 3, and I will install 2 more.

4. The plants actually like it! Every single plant has new roots, and 8 (out of 27) are putting out new growths that did not exist when I put them in.

5. The design doesn't accommodate continued growth. I've started working on a completely different orchid wall design, made from magnesium phosphate cement (acid chemistry), using hemp or sisal fibres as conduits for water/fertilizer, and mounting the orchids to the surface. Meanwhile, this one will sustain the current plants for a couple of years; plenty of time before they outgrow their 3" net pots. Then I'll probably plant some annual edibles, such as strawberries.

Paul Mc · #4 02-02-2013, 10:26 PM

Oh my!!! How creative is that?!!! Excellent work my friend!

NatalieS · #5 02-03-2013, 11:34 AM

Very, very, nice!

How about epiweb for something to wick water but does not disintegrate? I haven't dealt with epiweb before but am thinking of buying some to create some low-maintenance mounts. I just don't know how compressible it is.

bballr4567 · #6 02-03-2013, 11:39 AM

Very interesting setup. I like it!

ALToronto · #7 02-03-2013, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NatalieS

Very, very, nice!

How about epiweb for something to wick water but does not disintegrate? I haven't dealt with epiweb before but am thinking of buying some to create some low-maintenance mounts. I just don't know how compressible it is.

Thanks for the suggestion. I already asked Ray about it, but he says it doesn't wick. I may still figure out a way to use it.

NatalieS · #8 02-03-2013, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ALToronto

Thanks for the suggestion. I already asked Ray about it, but he says it doesn't wick. I may still figure out a way to use it.

That's interesting - I thought it did wick but I must be mistaken. How about hygrolon then? I also haven't used this before but it does say that it wicks. There are some threads on the board about it:

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...t-cabinet.html

WhiteRabbit · #9 02-03-2013, 04:14 PM

Wow! Very cool!

Stray59 · #10 02-18-2013, 02:38 PM

Ahhhh, the creativity of the orchidist! How very cool - and labor intensive, but obviously worth the time. Could you not set up a slow drip device to add the citric acid daily - or get a mechanical device that delivers the needed ph adjuster? Seems like there should be an easy way to do this and allow you to leave it for some extended periods. Check into Hydroponic catalogues maybe? I am sure there is something out there.
This is so way cool - thanks for posting the pics, the plants look great!
Steve