Vertical Garden Towers

[Chris_in_SoCal]

Since we had our back yard redone a few years ago I lost the space for my hydroponic setup. I had recently seen builds of vertical garden towers and thought I could build my own. The hydroponic towers are very expensive and need electricity to run the pumps. I bought a 5 level Stacky but it's pretty small. That led me to build my own. I used a 55 gallon food safe drum, 4 - 5 gallon buckets ad a bit of plumbing.

The center section is stacked buckets with holes drilled throughout them. This will be for composting.

Now all I need are the plants and worms.

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

I have some plants now to get it started. It's a little late in the season but I want to see how these will work.

Chilies:
Ghost Red - Jalapeno (x3) - Anaheim - Poblano - Serrano - Thai Hot Pepper - Bonnie Green Bell

Tomatoes:
Huskey Cherry Red - Sun Sugar Yellow

Herbs:
Lemon Thyme - Greek Oregano - Italian Oregano - Cilantro

Lettuce:
Romaine - Swiss Chard​

 

[pineywoods]

Looks interesting what are you using for bedding material?

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

Looks interesting what are you using for bedding material?

A mix of 3 parts organic potting soil to 1 part peat moss.

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

To make the 55 gallon towers I purchased two 55 gallon food safe drums from a local feed store for $30 each. I cut 5 rows of 7" slits in alternating patterns then used a propane torch to heat up the plastic. Once it was flexible I used a 5" aluminum tube and a crowbar to pry out the pockets. I then poured cold water on them to set the pockets in place. It did not turn out as pretty as I would have liked but it will work.

Once that was done I drilled holes for 1 1/2" PVC for the drain on the bottom side. I drilled plenty of holes thru the tubing to help draining when needed. I added a valve on the outside to control the draining.

Then I took a few 5 gallon buckets and drilled holes in them. This center section is where you can toss your food waste for natural composting. I stacked three buckets but ended up cutting off 6 inches from the bottom bucket to have the top at the right height. I used the bottom of a fourth bucket as a lid for the composting part.

To finish it off I placed 5 inches of gravel on the bottom of the barrel including the center. Then placed a barrier with garden fabric between that and the soil.

I have another 55 gallon drum and enough parts to make a second tower. I plan on using more smaller pockets on that one. I will use a wine bottle to pry out the pockets on that one. It cost under $50 to build each tower. If you look up pre-made ones that size they are at least four times the cost.

 

[chp]

Looking forward to hearing how it works.

 

[Winterrider]

Ingenious, hope it works well for ya. Keep us posted.

 

[JLeonard]

Pretty cool! I'll be watching for updates!

Jim

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

20 days in and it is working well so far. This is just a test for next year to see how it would do. The compost bin in the middle is about half full. I added worms to get them working on it. It surprisingly does not smell bad but I am getting a huge amount of fruit flies. I added a hanging cup with honey water and it had drowned many of them.

All the plants are growing well. The smaller tower is doing great.

In the large one I have cherry tomatoes popping up on both plants. There are a few Jalapenos and Thai peppers starting. The rest are flowering as well. I don't expect them to get to maturity this year but you never know. Next spring I will fill it up as well as another one I have ready to build.

The Habinaro I planted between my citrus trees is ripening. It has nothing to do with the vertical planters but here it is.