COMPARATIVE EFFICIENCIES OF HORIZONTAL VERSUS VERTICAL HYDROPONICS PLANT GROWTH SYSTEMS

 Concept Selection was done by using the pairwise comparison to create a  Pugh Chart Pairwise: Pugh Chart: Concept design 3 was chosen for the vertical system.

Concept design 3 sketches and description  This system consists of one 4-inch PVC grow tower holding twenty grow pockets along with a reservoir, irrigation system, water and air pump, outlet valve, drainage cover and end cap. The grow tower is 36 inches in length consisting with evenly distributed pockets, 6inches apart with a diametral hole of two inches. This distance gives the plant enough space to obtain maximum leaf coverage. The reservoir chosen is seal tight rectangular container with a length of 15 inches and width 10 inches that is dark in colorations to avoid algae growth. The reservoir stores the nutrient water along with a water and air pump installation. To accommodate the electrical cords, a rubber sealed hole was designed for cord lines to exit the system safely. In addition, an outlet valve was implemented at the base of the reservoir as a drainage mechanism of nutrient water, for sanitation purposes. An irrigation line of 2-inch PVC pipe is connected to the water p...

 Concept design 2 sketches - indoor system  The structure includes a rectangular 2 by 4 by 8 lumber frame, reservoir, irrigation system, water and air pump, timer, tube couplings, wye-tee joints, artificial lighting, and a water filter. The system is built for a controlled room indoors using artificial lighting and external fan. For irrigation, a half inch pole line runs horizontally along the top of the frame with 1/4-inch irrigation tubing connected from the water pump PVC line to the irrigation pipe using connectors. There are five irrigation tubing that runs into each section of grow towers. The towers are made up of 1.5-inch PVC pipes at 3.5 inches length connecting to five wye-tee joint per tower. The system slightly tilted forward so the nutrient flows down the front of the pipe therefore aerating the roots and water conservation. There are 20 slots with 8 1/2 inches off center between plants. Net pots are not used in this system, the plants are placed in rockwool and i...

 Sketches of concept design 1 were made.  This design consists of a PVC circular reservoir with a barrel shaped PVC grow tower, irrigation system, water pump, hose nuzzle, drainage container and outlet valve. The barrel shaped tower is place directing on the reservoir, above that includes a drainage contain. The tower has twenty net pot pockets for plants along with dummy holes to allow air to enter the system. An irrigation line was connected to the water pump vertically to the drainage container. Using a hose nuzzle, the nutrient water is pumped up the irrigation line through the nozzle and drained throughout the system via drainage holes. Excess water filled into the container was flowed back into the reservoir via overflow line. An outlet valve was installed at the base of the reservoir for sanitation purposes as well as a rubber sealed hole for the electrical cord to exit the system. The diagram blow shows a sketch of the intended design.

 black box design: input ----> function of the system-----> output 

 A selection criterion was assigned to ach metrics below Then a pairwise comparison was conducted 

 Today I received my certificate for doing the Hydroponics and Aquaponics online course.

Each customer need requirements were assigned a need number and was rated of importance in a scale of 1-5 where 5 being the best and 1 being the least important.    Upon completing this, each metrics were assigned a metric number whist compared to the need number corresponding to the the metrics then ranked by importance. 

 This table was created using the user requirements and key attributes.  table showing need vs metrics 

 Patent review 2 Notes where handwritten

 Horizontal vs Vertical NFT systems:   Horizontal NFT System This system obtained its name due to the orientation of the grow trays. Horizontal NFT system are rectangular or circular PVC pipes layered horizontally with measured holes to insert net pots. These systems can include various number of plants based on the length of the pipes. The pipes are slightly angled to allow pumped nutrient water from reservoir tank to flow though all connecting channels back into the reservoir. Thus, a close loop cycle of a small stream is constantly flowing to ensure maximum nutrient water supply is maintain to the plants root.   Vertical NFT System A vertical NFT system uses circular PVC pipes stacked directly above another or vertical circular channels with measured holes around the channel to insert net pots. This allows plants to be grown vertically to reduce space. A pumping system distributes the nutrient water though the channel from the reservoir tank. Since the system i...

 Today I attended a short Hydroponics and Aquaponics course, to gather more information for my project.  Lecture:  Company: Best of both worlds  Lecture notes: Mr. Richard Sookhai Presentation: Recently soilless plant growth has increased significantly in popularity mainly because of the quality and productivity of plant growth. An advantage of soilless gardening is no need to fight off diseases and pests which are normally present in soil. Soilless and home gardening are great for mental health, environmental awareness, and educational value.   What is Hydroponics? The term hydroponics derives from the Greek word for water (hydro) and working (ponos) which translates to working water. It is a form of agriculture, where plants are grown with soil. The substitute for soil is nutrient water at specific intervals to maximize plant development.   Historic timeline: -Aztec floating gardens 1000AD https://books.google.tt/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ncjoqjVgD9...

   Types of hydroponics systems: Wick System A wick system is an easy form of hydroponics normally recommended for beginners to understand the fundamentals of hydroponics. These systems are relatively cheap and easy to build with minimal maintenance required. Wick systems do not require electricity, pump, or aerators, they rely solely on nutrient water distribution via a capillary action. Variation of nutrient water can increase or decrease by the size of the wick, or the amount placed into the system. A wick system can support small plants, herbs, and spices since these crops require small amount of nutrient water to obtain maximum yield.   Deep Water Culture System Water culture system originated from the floating garden technique. This system is very easy to assemble since only a reservoir, air pump, Styrofoam, net pots, fertilizers, and plants are needed. A Styrofoam sheet is used as the floating medium to hold the plants which allows the plants roots to be submerge i...

Today was hectic, so I decided to get some useful links for the project only.  https://journals.utm.my/jurnalteknologi/article/view/13931 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fes3.83 https://www.hortipower.com/blogs/news/home-hydroponics-for-beginners-how-to-get-started https://constantdelights.com/post/wick-system https://www.nosoilsolutions.com/6-different-types-hydroponic-systems/ https://books.google.tt/books?hl=en&lr=&id=rwlMDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=design+and+build+of+NFT+horizontal+system&ots=f8RjGmZx58&sig=xLplOWqzwMN9NfCZo94erfwROAg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dinkar-Gaikwad/publication/346953811_Hydroponics_Cultivation_of_Crops/links/5fd3971b92851c13fe7bd7ff/Hydroponics-Cultivation-of-Crops.pdf Hoagland, D.R. and Arnon, D.I. 1938. The water culture method for growing plants without soil. California Agricultural Experiment Station Circulars, 347: 1-39

After receiving comments on my sample questions, I created a google form questionnaire.   The form was sent to Ms. Bharat before sending out the questionnaire.  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd8EwopSYlTHZUZuZPojNEOfxPLgaG7Tm3fhP2EAQTSKBsP9A/viewform?usp=sf_link

  Meeting Date: Tuesday 1st October Supervisor: Ms. Bharat Notes: ·       Must fix my questionnaire- my target audience is residents who are currently doing hydroponics. Thus, don’t need to ask whether participants have knowledge on hydroponics. ·       Firstly, ask them what type of system they have. ·       Put pictures because some participants may not know the difference between horizontal and vertical hydroponics system. ·       Make sure and cite the photos. ·       Ask what problems they have with the system ·       Factors looking at: sunlight exposure, space availability, production rate, cost ·       How often do you irrigate or run your pump? ·       What types of crops are grown in your system? - leave coverage ·       Summarize results and put in report – questionnaire in appendix ·       What land space they ar...