I just go to my local strawberry farms and pay them for the runners. Those bagged strawberries sit on the shelf for far too long before you put them in the system. Did you add any nutrients? What was the E.C? Did you use tap water or RO? How did you adjust your PH, With acid? Did you have any problems with light leak? Algae growth? Fungus gnats? I am very experienced at hydroponics, however these are the type of questions that beginners need to ask before taking the time to assemble these systems. Having a fancy hydroponic tower is nice, but if you don't know some simple water chemistry you're just wasting your time.
@ArcVerdiАй бұрын
All things that newcomers should learn about. I’ll go over these subject over time. Light leak isn’t an issue for me here, no algae growth of any kind or gnats although I am keeping a keen eye on these.
@am_stephanos2 ай бұрын
PLA can degrade in water and become brittle not to mention UV and warping depending on where you live. Use a PVC pipe as the main body, print a guide to drill angled holes and print the pods to place in it. Hydroponics while it does have high yield due to growing vertically, it does require you to buy liquid nutrients and requires much more attention than normal soil gardening. Do your research before you go ahead and waste a ton of filament printing a hydroponics system.
@ArcVerdi2 ай бұрын
So aggressive! Maybe you should relax a little? The degradation is very low and after 5 years, they are still going. PVC…. Maybe do some research on that a little my friend. So much misinformation floating around these days. -40C to +40C and PLA holds up EXCEPTIONALLY. Certainly not good enough for load bearing but that’s not what’s being done here.
@am_stephanos2 ай бұрын
If that sounded aggressive to you sorry for that. Not all PLA is made equal, i've had some PLA prints that survive 6 years, some disintegrate after 16 months, only thing I have that is still going is the gardening tags in nylon I printed from my Tevo almost 8 years ago. I've been using PVC pipes for sprinklers and irrigation perfectly fine for a decade I know they can hold up. When I warn people to do their own research, I think that is considered pretty general advice getting into anything, there's no reason to take that offensively. You mention it's been going for 5 years, I see you printed this with a Bambu P1P and that printer has only been on the market for a year unless you have another system running that you can show. I already did try building hydroponics tower before, costed about $70 for 3x1m hydroponics towers with a 6" PVC pipe and using a heat gun to deform and create the holes. I decided to switch back to soil gardening, but if you do find hydroponics as a enjoyable hobby I do wish you bountiful harvests and a happy endeavor.
@ArcVerdi2 ай бұрын
@@am_stephanos No problem, I enjoy a genuine discussion. No I've had 3D printers for a long time, the P1P is only a year old but its my favourite by far. I think 3D printing for food, has a LONG way to go to actually become functional and "completely" safe (if anything ever is). I only like to remind people that over the last 100 years, there has always been something..... something to be concerned about. The likely hood is 3D printing is that problem for this generation (along with lack of water and all the other issues facing the world). I also LOVE soil gardening, I have a tiny garden where I live so no longer have the space I once did. Always open to a genuine discussion so feel free to chime in later down the line.
@neonblowfish2 ай бұрын
You shouldn't apologize to overly sensitive people, they need to get over themselves.
@luciusd79642 ай бұрын
I printed some PLA plant pots and it warped only after couple months. As OP wrote PLA is really bad choice to do this. As a side comment to @ArcVerdi - if you accuse somebody of aggressive tone, you really might not want to do the same in your comment mate ;) Interesting video nonetheless:)
@BigSpud5 ай бұрын
I remain infinitely jealous of your 3D printing toys. The final components look so good!
@ArcVerdi5 ай бұрын
Yeah it’s pretty decent tbh.
@jishani12 ай бұрын
There's no shortage of people with a 3d printer willing to sell you whatever you want, or offering print on demand services.
@BigSpud2 ай бұрын
@@jishani1 oh sure, I would just love to tinker myself! But that's a rabbit hole I don't have time for right now.
@josephcatano47053 ай бұрын
What are your thoughts on making the tower without the internal tubing guides and use a pvc pipe with misting nozzles. I have printed this tower myself with indoor grow light arms and my main complaint was any shuffling of tower components would require a full disassembly due to the tubing being routed through each piece. With the misting setup, you could twist and pull without having to fuss about a tube or a top piece. so if you wanted to add fresh plants to the bottom and keep a rotation going you always have fully grown stuff at the top or vice versa. Yes you could pull the inserts that the plants sit in, but at the expense of possibly damaging roots.
@ArcVerdi3 ай бұрын
I think that’s a great idea. The internal pvc could just slit together to expand/reduce the size. I agree, the current design is far from perfect and I’m going to start designing a new one but I like the sound of your idea!
@TheJAIRCRUZ3 ай бұрын
Did you print the grow light arms yourself ? Or how did you make it
@josephcatano47053 ай бұрын
@@TheJAIRCRUZ Yes, it was on thingiverse Modular Hydroponics Tower w/ Grow Lights
@veryrudeguy3 ай бұрын
I'm wondering how much filament this uses.. A lot is very vague.. Could just weigh some parts to have some rough cost estimation
@ArcVerdi3 ай бұрын
I'm working on a new video about the subject where I go through the entire process including costs breakdowns, time etc.
@eliasclawson199313 күн бұрын
Any updates? I'm just about finished printing a hydroponic tower and I'm going to go get some strawberry root stock today. How are your plants doing 4 months later?
@ArcVerdi13 күн бұрын
They’re doing very well, lots of fruit. You won’t be disappointed.
@coachnick18262 ай бұрын
do you have the link for the bolts you used and the ring i cants find it on printables
@js5072Ай бұрын
Is there a way to do this to link multiple towers together without buying a ton of water pumps?
@ArcVerdiАй бұрын
Yeah you could get a much larger pump and run the buckets in parallel. Reducing the pump output to match the requirement.
@zundappwatercooler3 ай бұрын
Nice cant wait for youre update video i just made the same only a few sections higher, i have a question though what time interval do you run youre pump?
@ArcVerdi3 ай бұрын
I run the strawberry tower pump for 3 minutes every 2 hours. They are doing well too which is nice.
@RimlaAri2 ай бұрын
Whats with the microplastics?. Does it leach into the vegetable?
@ArcVerdi2 ай бұрын
No one knows at this stage, we’ll find out in the future.
@stevetollaksenАй бұрын
It’s great to be informed. What specific problem do microplastics cause? What are the acute symptoms or what are the negative effects
@jamess17873 ай бұрын
Subbed.
@ArcVerdi3 ай бұрын
Thanks 🙏
@GenevaFly4 ай бұрын
Hi man :D Can you post a link for base I cant find it enywhere :(
@ArcVerdi4 ай бұрын
Yeah I didn’t realise that NOBODY made the base. I had to design it myself. I’ll upload it to either our website or a 3D printing site and will post a link 👍
@GenevaFly4 ай бұрын
@@ArcVerdi Tnx man 😁 Attach link to my comment pls so I can see it 😁
@ArcVerdi4 ай бұрын
www.printables.com/model/866700-hydroponics-tower-5-gallon-bucket-adapter here it is 👍
@GenevaFly4 ай бұрын
@@ArcVerdi TNX A LOT 😁 Maybe you can add screws 2 to that link 😁
@ArcVerdi4 ай бұрын
Yeah no worries, I’ll add them later today 👍
@jamess17873 ай бұрын
I love th bucket, what brings you here? Spouse? Work?
@ArcVerdi3 ай бұрын
I have too many of these buckets in the garage! Work brings us here and I’ve never felt happier than being here in AB 🇨🇦
@TheJAIRCRUZ3 ай бұрын
@@ArcVerdihow much was the cost to build this project excluding the 3D printer ?????
@ArcVerdi3 ай бұрын
$25 CAD, the print costs are super low and the pump doesn’t have to be expensive, $10 on Amazon.
@thebigdoss34102 ай бұрын
Have you done any sealing to your tower?
@ArcVerdi2 ай бұрын
The first me I had to sea the top holes as the water kept coming out them. The second tower (coming in next weeks video) has a different top without the holes and is much cleaner. That’s all though.
@thebigdoss34102 ай бұрын
@@ArcVerdi According to what I understood, the filament should be food approved, and even if it is, you should add a sealing layer inside... This is from what I understand...
@ArcVerdi2 ай бұрын
@@thebigdoss3410 food safe, ideally yes but again this information has been twisted and turned around online like you wouldn't believe. The food safe argument is more related to direct food contact such as cookie cutters, chopping boards etc. The roots of plants (which is what is in contact here) is of no concern as the roots of plants touch much worse things in soil. You can though, use UV resin on the inside should you wish.
@starfishprime28642 ай бұрын
Any tips for noise reduction?
@ArcVerdi2 ай бұрын
You can always use aquarium filter foam placed at some points to quieten the flow of water.
@DrSoappАй бұрын
Try a smaller water pump
@schwarzarbyter3 ай бұрын
the whole world is trying to get microplastic out of their food, but 3d printer bros are adding plastic to their food on purpose
@ArcVerdi3 ай бұрын
Corn plastic is a non-petroleum material made by converting corn into a resin called polylactic acid (PLA). Mostly made from corn because it's the most affordable and available, however it can be also made from sugarcane, tapioca root, cassava and sugar beet. Welcome to the world of science!
@lewngshelewng54203 ай бұрын
I was thinking the same thing. How would the long term of the plastic hold up and would the plants be tainted by the plastic. Plastic poison is a thing they need to do research on this and if there is I haven't read it.
@ArcVerdi3 ай бұрын
I think over time, the printed materials will change and adjust to more environmentally friendly options. I am in the process of doing a long video about the subject which is quite interesting.
@hodgeac3 ай бұрын
The thing to do is to print this in PET, which is the same stuff they make milk jugs out of (in the US at least). It's UV stable, so the grow lights won't cause it to degrade and it doesn't leach anything into liquid. It's inherently food safe. And one of the few plastics that actually recycles.