Great info. We bought one and just got it going and I agree...get the extra pump and timer from Amazon...cheaper and free shipping. I had no idea that was an option! Thank you for posting this.
Thank you for watching and taking time to comment. We have been very lucky with pumps, the first year we lost a pump and timer and so glad we had the spares on-hand. Good luck to you!
In response to Joan's questions below, here is what we practice or have learned through our research. 1 - How much nutrient do you add as the water level falls? the general rule is to not add extra nutrient unless the system needs it. (not a good answer, but there is really no easy answer for this as plants require different nutrients at different stages and most Tower Gardeners have various plants in the same system) During summers, especially hot/dry conditions in the west you will experience more evaporation and transpiration during the day, this means the water is going down, but not the minerals and nutrients and adding more could actually increase the nutrient level too high for some plants. The nutrients are being taken up by the plants and as such more/various nutrients are needed at different times during the grow cycle (this can be different for each type of plant). The most scientific way to tell when you need nutrients is by using an EC meter and knowing your starting level you can add or dilute as needed to maintain that level in your system. Since most people do not use an EC meter we will move on to explain in your second question. 2 - If you add 5 gallons of water then how much nutrient? Add water as needed, watch your plants for changes, and only add about 1/2 nutrients every other time you add water (e.g. you need 5-gallons added this week - just add water; next week you need another 5-gallons - add the water and nutrient as specified by the label for only 2 1/2 gallons.) Some people do not add anymore nutrients after the first application until they clean the system or harvest their plants. 3 - Do you completely empty the water once a month as others have mentioned? There is also not cut and dry answer on this one either, the best practice that I have learned is you will change out the water and nutrients once you have replenished the equivalent volume of your reservoir. For the Tower is is about 20-gallons so if you are needing to add 5-gallons each week, then after 4-weeks you do your change out. (if you are only adding 4-gallons you could go 5-weeks, and so on). In So. California longest I went on a system has been 2-months, and here in Central Florida about 3-months topping off with water every couple days and adding nutrient solution about every other week. I only do this for plants that I am growing for that particular season (tomatoes, cucumbers) or harvesting regularly (e.g. Lettuce or greens). Currently, we use 3 - different types of nutrient solutions (including mixing out own) and soon will be starting our aquaponics system which will not use commercial nutrients as the primary source, each of these have different levels when measured on the EC meter. As we use up our current supply of Tower Tonic, and Flora Series nutrients we will just be using our own mix and the aquaponics in the future.
Does yours come with a timer to turn the water on and off? I got mine second hand and it doesn't have a timer. I'm not sure if it's supposed to run all the time...
Puddleglum Marshwiggle Yes the pump plugs into a timer that turn it on and off every 15 minutes. You can purchase the timers at the www.towergarden.com website.
how much nutrient do you add as the water level falls. If you add 5 gallons of water then how much nutrient? Do you completely empty the water once a month as others have mentioned?
Hi, thanks so much for doing this, very helpful, we are wondering how loud the system is, we are planning on getting one to keep indoors but we have a very small house. Any information would be greatly appreciated, this was very helpful either way, thanks again.
The system is very quite - there is a very slight hum from the pump when it activates and then the sound of the water trickling down the inside of the system - I find it a pleasant sound - it is low enough that it would be less than the sound of normal conversation.
Project128 thanks for taking the time to respond, that’s really decent of you and it’s good to know it won’t be too loud. Very much appreciate your time! Many thanks
Hello Honest Gardening - thanks for the question. The reservoir itself remains free from algae or other growth - as long as you keep the access lid closed. You will however see a build up of algae and moss around the moist areas where the net pots are placed and also some build up of salts from the nutrient solutions - this is why we have changed and are using a kelp nutrient and lowering the dose of other solutions we use. Overall, this has not seemed to be a major problem and nothing out of line with what I have seen with other systems.
In a commercial application, let's say 100 towers, how would you get them connected in series? I would think using one very powerful pump would be ideal instead of 100 smaller individual pumps. Would you connect all reservoir basins to one main drainage system as well? I'm trying to picture how all this would work on a larger scale.
+ron23ald Sorry for the delay in responding ron23ald - for some reason we did not get some notifications on comments and are just getting caught up this weekend as we are getting ready to post some long awaited videos. Back to your question - there are commercial applications using the Towers, however the commercial systems are not sold through the multilevel marketing group Juice Plus, but used to be sold through the creator Tim Blank's company Future Growing LLC. Not sure if they still do that, but I have toured several greenhouses that had the large tower systems that use a common pump and tank. Unfortunately, the Tower was not really made to be ganged together with other units, however one way I though you could connect them is to have a larger pump in the first basin that would pump out to the top of all the Towers with the basins all on the same level install drain pipes connecting them at the top and near the bottom to keep a static level in each basin. As a basin fills up or drains the drain pipes would theoretically keep the levels even and be able to keep a steady supply to the first pump. Another idea would be to have the towers above the level of a basin that is buried or lower that holds enough water/nutrient to supply the towers (with the pump in there) and drains on the bottom of all the basins that feed into the lower main basin. If anyone has any ideas - please chime in!
shakaama You're welcome - please feel free to comment, ask questions, or send suggestions anytime! Thank your for taking the time to watch and comment!
Thank you so much for taking the time to put together this video! I found the maintenance tips helpful in my research about the Tower Garden, so I linked your video in my blog post. I just bought one and am waiting for it to come in the mail! thesplitplate.blogspot.com/2016/05/tower-garden-planning.html
+Grace Geiger Thank you Grace! Glad you got some useful information from our video. Should finally have some new video out this weekend (somehow life gets busy sometimes! ) Please let us know if you have any questions as you get your system up and running!
Hello - thanks for checking in - the tower diameter is 8.75 inches (22.23 cm) The net pots for the tower are a special design to fit the system are are approximately 2 inch net pots. Hope that helps - let us know if you have other questions!
+ron23ald Hi, sorry for the delay in responding, we were busy getting everything protected around our property for some freezing temperatures tonight. The diameter outside edge is 8.75 inches each basket is 7.75 inches high. Hope that helps, let me know if you need any other dimensions.
+Project128 Thanks much. The diameter of the pipe would justify some of the cost. PVC that size is very expensive. I hope you get all your prep done around your property.
+Robert Madden Hi Robert, thanks for checking in. Yes, unfortunately the towers are pretty expensive. We have built other systems such as barrelponics (using 55-gallon drums), Kratky non-recirculating beds, deep water culture, what we call a VGS (we have a 5 part series on UA-cam when we built the last one - here is a link for the first of the series ua-cam.com/video/__xLcAK_vW4/v-deo.html ), the Aerogarden, and dutch buckets. We will be trying some other things this next year including the addition of our aquaponics system! There are many good DIY systems the Kratky beds are some of the most cost effective to build and great for growing greens. Please feel free to send us any questions or comments as you look into many of the options out there. (for a tower like system there are DIYers who have used the 4-inch pvc and using a combination of cutting and heat gun made some really nice vertical systems - we have not tried those but have seen them being used in others systems.
Before you do that DIY project check out the gas that comes from plastics. The Tower Garden does not emit that Cancerous gas that comes from other plastics. Just something to look into prior to going to all the trouble like I did.
Great info. We bought one and just got it going and I agree...get the extra pump and timer from Amazon...cheaper and free shipping. I had no idea that was an option! Thank you for posting this.
Thank you for watching and taking time to comment. We have been very lucky with pumps, the first year we lost a pump and timer and so glad we had the spares on-hand. Good luck to you!
Thank you! Very informative with real information I can use. Nice job!
Thank you - you are welcome. Glad you found it informative and thank you for taking the time to comment!
Excellent video, very well informed. Thank you for posting
Awesome advice.
In response to Joan's questions below, here is what we practice or have learned through our research.
1 - How much nutrient do you add as the water level falls? the general rule is to not add extra nutrient unless the system needs it. (not a good answer, but there is really no easy answer for this as plants require different nutrients at different stages and most Tower Gardeners have various plants in the same system) During summers, especially hot/dry conditions in the west you will experience more evaporation and transpiration during the day, this means the water is going down, but not the minerals and nutrients and adding more could actually increase the nutrient level too high for some plants. The nutrients are being taken up by the plants and as such more/various nutrients are needed at different times during the grow cycle (this can be different for each type of plant). The most scientific way to tell when you need nutrients is by using an EC meter and knowing your starting level you can add or dilute as needed to maintain that level in your system. Since most people do not use an EC meter we will move on to explain in your second question.
2 - If you add 5 gallons of water then how much nutrient?
Add water as needed, watch your plants for changes, and only add about 1/2 nutrients every other time you add water (e.g. you need 5-gallons added this week - just add water; next week you need another 5-gallons - add the water and nutrient as specified by the label for only 2 1/2 gallons.) Some people do not add anymore nutrients after the first application until they clean the system or harvest their plants.
3 - Do you completely empty the water once a month as others have mentioned?
There is also not cut and dry answer on this one either, the best practice that I have learned is you will change out the water and nutrients once you have replenished the equivalent volume of your reservoir. For the Tower is is about 20-gallons so if you are needing to add 5-gallons each week, then after 4-weeks you do your change out. (if you are only adding 4-gallons you could go 5-weeks, and so on). In So. California longest I went on a system has been 2-months, and here in Central Florida about 3-months topping off with water every couple days and adding nutrient solution about every other week. I only do this for plants that I am growing for that particular season (tomatoes, cucumbers) or harvesting regularly (e.g. Lettuce or greens).
Currently, we use 3 - different types of nutrient solutions (including mixing out own) and soon will be starting our aquaponics system which will not use commercial nutrients as the primary source, each of these have different levels when measured on the EC meter. As we use up our current supply of Tower Tonic, and Flora Series nutrients we will just be using our own mix and the aquaponics in the future.
This is expensive but they do last for a long time, just the white gets discolored over the seasons. I have seven of them.
Does yours come with a timer to turn the water on and off? I got mine second hand and it doesn't have a timer. I'm not sure if it's supposed to run all the time...
Puddleglum Marshwiggle Yes the pump plugs into a timer that turn it on and off every 15 minutes. You can purchase the timers at the www.towergarden.com website.
how much nutrient do you add as the water level falls. If you add 5 gallons of water then how much nutrient?
Do you completely empty the water once a month as others have mentioned?
Hi, thanks so much for doing this, very helpful, we are wondering how loud the system is, we are planning on getting one to keep indoors but we have a very small house. Any information would be greatly appreciated, this was very helpful either way, thanks again.
The system is very quite - there is a very slight hum from the pump when it activates and then the sound of the water trickling down the inside of the system - I find it a pleasant sound - it is low enough that it would be less than the sound of normal conversation.
Project128 thanks for taking the time to respond, that’s really decent of you and it’s good to know it won’t be too loud. Very much appreciate your time! Many thanks
I was curious how well these worked. Being white and with sun penetration, does any growth happen in the reservoir?
Hello Honest Gardening - thanks for the question. The reservoir itself remains free from algae or other growth - as long as you keep the access lid closed. You will however see a build up of algae and moss around the moist areas where the net pots are placed and also some build up of salts from the nutrient solutions - this is why we have changed and are using a kelp nutrient and lowering the dose of other solutions we use. Overall, this has not seemed to be a major problem and nothing out of line with what I have seen with other systems.
What is the other system you are talking about?
In a commercial application, let's say 100 towers, how would you get them connected in series? I would think using one very powerful pump would be ideal instead of 100 smaller individual pumps. Would you connect all reservoir basins to one main drainage system as well? I'm trying to picture how all this would work on a larger scale.
+ron23ald Sorry for the delay in responding ron23ald - for some reason we did not get some notifications on comments and are just getting caught up this weekend as we are getting ready to post some long awaited videos. Back to your question - there are commercial applications using the Towers, however the commercial systems are not sold through the multilevel marketing group Juice Plus, but used to be sold through the creator Tim Blank's company Future Growing LLC. Not sure if they still do that, but I have toured several greenhouses that had the large tower systems that use a common pump and tank. Unfortunately, the Tower was not really made to be ganged together with other units, however one way I though you could connect them is to have a larger pump in the first basin that would pump out to the top of all the Towers with the basins all on the same level install drain pipes connecting them at the top and near the bottom to keep a static level in each basin. As a basin fills up or drains the drain pipes would theoretically keep the levels even and be able to keep a steady supply to the first pump. Another idea would be to have the towers above the level of a basin that is buried or lower that holds enough water/nutrient to supply the towers (with the pump in there) and drains on the bottom of all the basins that feed into the lower main basin. If anyone has any ideas - please chime in!
+Petra K Hi Petra K - I just sent a reply to ron23ald on the question of connecting Towers.
+Project128 Thanks for the feedback.
There is also this 'tower' www.aponix.eu vertical barrel system!
This is so helpful! Thank you!
excellent sir. thank you.
shakaama You're welcome - please feel free to comment, ask questions, or send suggestions anytime! Thank your for taking the time to watch and comment!
tHE METAL RODS ARE TOO SHORT TO HOLD THE TOP POT . DO THEY SELL ONES THAT ARE A BETTER FIT YET?
Is this system available in India (Bharat) ? If yes, please give the contacts. Thanks
Can i buy ur products from Amazon or eBay....??? Here found it....???
Thank you so much for taking the time to put together this video! I found the maintenance tips helpful in my research about the Tower Garden, so I linked your video in my blog post. I just bought one and am waiting for it to come in the mail!
thesplitplate.blogspot.com/2016/05/tower-garden-planning.html
+Grace Geiger Thank you Grace! Glad you got some useful information from our video. Should finally have some new video out this weekend (somehow life gets busy sometimes! ) Please let us know if you have any questions as you get your system up and running!
where can i get one
What is the diameter of this tower ? What is the size of net pot? Thank you.
Hello - thanks for checking in - the tower diameter is 8.75 inches (22.23 cm) The net pots for the tower are a special design to fit the system are are approximately 2 inch net pots. Hope that helps - let us know if you have other questions!
Project128 Thankx man for replying
Thank you for replying.
No problem - let us know if you have any more questions!
In the meantime there is a more versatile and more modular system, take a look at the aponix vertical barrel /3D-NFT - www.aponix.eu
Hello what's the diameter of the tower itself, not the basin?
+ron23ald Hi, sorry for the delay in responding, we were busy getting everything protected around our property for some freezing temperatures tonight. The diameter outside edge is 8.75 inches each basket is 7.75 inches high. Hope that helps, let me know if you need any other dimensions.
+Project128 Thanks much. The diameter of the pipe would justify some of the cost. PVC that size is very expensive. I hope you get all your prep done around your property.
wow, that's expensive! !! anybody have a diy
+Robert Madden Hi Robert, thanks for checking in. Yes, unfortunately the towers are pretty expensive. We have built other systems such as barrelponics (using 55-gallon drums), Kratky non-recirculating beds, deep water culture, what we call a VGS (we have a 5 part series on UA-cam when we built the last one - here is a link for the first of the series ua-cam.com/video/__xLcAK_vW4/v-deo.html ), the Aerogarden, and dutch buckets. We will be trying some other things this next year including the addition of our aquaponics system! There are many good DIY systems the Kratky beds are some of the most cost effective to build and great for growing greens. Please feel free to send us any questions or comments as you look into many of the options out there. (for a tower like system there are DIYers who have used the 4-inch pvc and using a combination of cutting and heat gun made some really nice vertical systems - we have not tried those but have seen them being used in others systems.
Before you do that DIY project check out the gas that comes from plastics. The Tower Garden does not emit that Cancerous gas that comes from other plastics. Just something to look into prior to going to all the trouble like I did.
Finite Farms vertical garden and composter diy on Facebook.
Health costs money
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