For my second trick (build)...a learning experience.

For my second trick (build) my design concepts were still fairly simple.  I wanted to use a piece of PVC as a central column so the water tube would not be as visible.  I wanted to use cheap containers as bowls for growing the plants.  I wanted to be able to adjust the bowls up and down to accommodate various plant heights.  

For the pipe I started out with 5 feet of 1/2 inch CPVC, it is stiffer than regular irrigation type PVC and is commonly used for potable water lines.  I drilled a small hole in the side of the pipe about 3 inches from the bottom to attach the airline to.  I pushed a 1/4 inch barbed connector into this hole.

To secure the bowls to the pipe I used 6 - 5/8th inch couplers that normally are used to connect black poly irrigation lines together.  These fit very snuggly onto the pipe and yet I was able to move them up and down as I needed to.

Next for the plant holders I was in a bit of a hurry so I used some storage containers I had around .  Actually I had the Walmart brand of these but any plastic containers could be used, even margarine or Cool Whip bowls.   I drilled a 5/8th inch hole in the center of the bottom of the bowl and four smaller holes outside of that, about halfway to the edge, for drains.

Next I use a bucket I had on hand that came from some dry cat food that we feed the cats.  I drilled two 5/8th inch holes in the center of the lid for the bucket.  The two holes were overlapping so I had room for both the pipe and the airline to pass through the lid.


Next I assembled the pieces to look like the photo above.  I filled the bucket with water and hooked up the airline.  Nothing,  the water was not rising all of the way to the top.  Hmmm,  if you count the bowls in the photo you will see there are five bowls.  I started with out with six bowls but it was a bit taller than the original build.  So I deleted one of the bowls and cut the pipe down to 52 inches to match the height of the first build.  So now when I put the bowls back on and tested it again.....it still did not push the water out of the top.  My guess is that the 1/2 inch CPVC pipe is just a bit too wide for this height but I think that water was going part way up.  But my next thought was to see if the 5/16th inch vinyl tube would fit inside of the pipe.  It did, a nice snug fit.  So I slipped enough of the vinyl tubing down inside the pipe to go down as far as the air connection.  Started it again and.... Now it works.  Now I am getting a nice flow of water out of the top.    

Now it is time to add some plants :-)

Ok, new problem.  for now I am using some lava rocks as porous lower layer in the bowls.  As I added the lava rocks into the bowls I was seeing that the weight of the rocks was bending the column over a bit. 

Looks like this design with a 1/2 inch CPVC pipe is not going to be stable enough without some supports.   So to get more support, I cannibalized the trellis from the first project and attached it to a smaller reservoir.  I just used some zip ties and  packing tape to make the attachments for now.

Ok, learned a lot from this build.

....I'm off and running on design number three already.  It is most elegant and is probably very close to what I am looking to have as my final design.  

I will try and write it up in a couple of days.

Do you have any questions, suggestions or comments?  

Add them to the comments below!