that's a great idea actually. To have a drain valve. And maybe we could set the bucket on top of some bricks or something to give it some height. Not sure that we could put it close enough to a faucet but being able to drain it and refill it without disassembling it would be good.

@@theplantlifecanada Exactly, bricks are what I use. Regarding the float valve, I use a drip irrigation line because the water demand is low. They have adapters online from the 3/4 spigot to 1/4" drip tubing. Plus, you can purchase tees/manifolds to branch off to different circuits. I also turn the water spigot down to a trickle. There is no need to blast 60 psi through the small lines risking a blowout. Keep up the great work.

This is in Ontario Canada. It was during the summer only so at least 10+ hours of sunlight. We had to take it apart in the winter.

They're for the bees :)

Hey there! It was a 291 gallon per hour (1100 LPH) submersible pump that we got for about $30 at a hydroponics store.

Aren't some in there? We didn't have a prescribed size, but worked off the pipe we bought. I think the height is about 5 feet for the outer tower!

Hey - thanks for this suggestion. Do you mean around the individual holes where the plants go?

Thanks and thanks for watching!

Hey there - super late reply! I was not watching my notifications. It was a 291 gallon per hour (1100 LPH) submersible pump that we got for about $30 at a hydroponics store.

Thanks so much for watching - we really appreciate it. I hope you found it helpful. :)

Super late reply, but the pump needs to be on pretty much all the time so that algae doesn't grow in the water.

Thanks for watching. We don't have an actual template but I'm pretty sure it was about 5 feet tall but it might be different each time depending on how many holes you want and what size bucket you use. I think the main thing is to space out the holes evenly. We ended up having HUGE plants with this and made the mistake of not harvesting the hole plant and the roots got out of control inside the pipe.

Some of those holes were pretty tough to melt, that's for sure! I think you're right - a slimmer material would have been better and some people have suggested that maybe an actual heat gun type thing would have worked better too. Thanks for watching!

@@theplantlifecanada Yes, I've been a plumber for some years so I'm very familiar with those materials, regular pvc drainage pipes are likely the easiest to work with, and the heat gun let you stay close with the high temperature but never (almost) burning/melting the pipe, but to be fair a thicker pipe like yours is probably a better cover for heat and light, so it might actually be a better choice for those who keep the tower outside

Thanks for watching. For some reason when we filmed this video we didn't want to do bleach but I can't remember why. Do you notice any effect on the plants when you do the bleach that frequently?

@@theplantlifecanada nothing harmful. Since bleach breaks down more quickly than h202, Just gives them extra oxygen while it keeps the water sterile. Since I been using small amounts and change my rez weekly, it's pretty safe

Thank you for watching ❤️

Thanks for watching! This type of bedding is called 'rock wool'. It's a type of fiber that you buy. Just search for 'rock wool for hydroponics.' It's made into little squares or tubes/pucks and you wet it down to put the seeds in. But I have seen some other videos on KZbin where people use pool noodles or some plastic foam because you can reuse it. The rock wool cannot be reused.

@@theplantlifecanada thank you so much. I really appreciate❤️. I hope to share my experience with you after trying it out

Thanks for watching. We did run the pump nonstop. The water needs to be moving continually to avoid algae. The water needs to be cut off from sunlight to avoid algae as well (as mistake we made.) We did not have an issue with it running continually all summer. We shut it off for a small amount of time each week when we had to refill the water bucket and add more nutrients.

I'm so happy it helped you. Did you get algae in your hydroponics? Thanks for watching.

@@theplantlifecanada in all honesty I haven’t even built one! but your videos have motivated me knowing it’s possible to build one. This video just made me so happy seeing your plants from wilting to green and healthy 👏🏼💗 great job

Hi there. It did smell a little bit, and there was a bit of smoke because we were using basically a big lighter. We did it outside to help with this but overall it wasn't too bad and I am someone that is usually very sensitive to smells and worried about chemicals myself. But some others have suggested using an actual heat gun to heat it up faster and more consistently, which I think would help with chemical safety as well. If in doubt though, I would get an appropriate mask/respirator just to be safe! Thanks for watching and commenting.

Thanks so much for watching and your lovely comment. I really appreciate it! <3 Easy is the way to go when we're all so busy!

I just checked out your channel and subscribed. I would love a sub back! <3

Oh cool! So you just stick the pool noodle piece straight into the hold on the side of the tower? I've seen some videos out there with horizontal tubes, and someone did use pool noodles so that they could be reused. The way the roots grow in the net pots, you basically have to throw the whole thing out when it gets too big, which sucks. I want to try pool noodles on our next build.

Get the small ones from dollar tree though

Hey there! Many people might think that at first, but this is hydroponics. There is no soil, only water. The plant gets the nutrients from the water. Because the water is constantly moving, the plant will take only what it needs and you will not have a problem with overwatering like you might if there was soil. It's a totally different way to grow! Thanks for watching. ❤

Cool, what is that?

Thanks for watching! There are some really good tips in the comments about how to better form the holes, check 'em out!

Thanks very much! I think for sure a heat gun would be a good investment. We still have the rest of the pipe and hope to build something with it, so the heat gun will come in handy. We are also hoping to rebuild this tower with improvements. My partner is really getting into building and carving wood so he will appreciate the compliment!

Thanks! We've moved since this tower was made and we are hoping to re-build it with some of the improvements people suggested at our new place. New videos soon! Thanks again for watching.

Hi Erinn! In our case we should have sealed the bottom a little better because we did get issues with the water becoming dirty. We would usually just re-fill the water until it got really bad and then just lift the tower out and change the water. Obviously not a great plan unless you have two people. For this tower - we only did herbs and smaller vegetables. But I think you could probably grow heavier stuff at the bottom, so it wouldn't tip. But from our experience now (because the roots inside got so long) I would actually just harvest the entire plant, and put a new seedling in. We moved in the last year or so, and are hoping to set up the tower again in the Spring and post a new video with some of our mistakes that we made or things we would do differently. Thanks for watching!

Hi there. Are you taking about the cups with the plants in them or the cup on the top of the tower? The cup on the top of the tower had holes cut out for the water to flow through. We did have some water issues because the holes we made let the water leak to the outside. It caused us some algae issues.

Thanks for watching! I would take some recommendations from the comments below as well, and re-calculate the amount of peroxide needed. As you can see in the video I wilted the plants pretty badly by putting in too much.

Thanks for that ratio! I think we got totally turned backwards with all the articles we read online and our HORRIBLE math skills. LOL We do not have this set up where we live currently but will be moving to a new place soon and I am so excited to get this set up there. Thanks very much for watching!! <3