Friday 22nd October, 2021

 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 inserted into the wye-tee joint. Rubber couplings and a lock-off valve were installed so that the system can be taken apart for sanitation purposes. Using an elbow and tee-joints the system runs along the bottom frame into the reservoir. The reservoir chosen was a seal tight container with a mesh bag filter which ensures the nutrient water is clean for the next cycle. Additionally, an external filter is set up on the supply line with the lock-off valve, this filter is used as a draining technique for sanitation purposes. A timer controls the pumping system with an external fan for ventilation every 15 minutes. The diagram blow shows a sketch of the intended design.