1. Vertical farming is a cool concept, but sadly it won't work, because you need way too much energy to provide enough light (link)

2. Hydroponics is nice, but it may be a bit costly when it comes to building your custom installation

3. The idea: mass produce hydroponic sachets, in transparent, biodegradable, bioplastic bags.

-the bags contain (1) a bit of earth, (2) a seed, (3) a sachet of water, (4) a sachet of a nutrient rich solution (3 and 4 can be combined, but for style we keep them apart).

-the nutrient and water sachets are like a baxter; they contain a precise dose for a particular crop

-even though water and nutrients are distributed very precisely, any excess is recycled, via a capillary tube

-you can hang these hydroponic bags in front of any window and your plant will begin to grow

-this allows for 'vertical' farming in skyscrapers

-this can be mass produced, and distributed according to any customer's needs (you can tear off your preferred amount of sachets from a big roll)

-the transparency of the bags makes it so that light still enters the office / building's / skyscraper's spaces; the liquids in the sachets are translucent too

-the biodegradability of the bags makes it so that you can throw them away along with the earth after harvesting your food; or if you have a special green collection / recycling service it will gladly accept the waste sachets to make organic fertiliser out of them

-thus you could massively produce food in the megacities, without requiring new land!!

-lettuce, small tomatos, spinach... I can see them hanging all over town!!

I made a drawing of the idea (link).
-- django, May 30 2007

Vertical farm http://www.verticalfarm.com/
Sadly not very feasible [django, May 30 2007]

The sachet http://i3.photobuck...et.jpg?t=1180485981
This one is spinach, a very healthy plant. [django, May 30 2007]

Makes sense as a fashion statement too.
-- Ander, Jun 01 2007


Yep, design is crucial to get good ideas [not mine, hydroponics in general I mean] accepted. Permaculture and hydroponics are too often associated with plastig buckets, PVC pipes, pieces of scrap metal... put together by amateurs in a shack in the backyard. Too bad. Nice design may change that.
-- django, Jun 01 2007


Nice idea, but is it really hydroponic? You are using soil there. How about a transparent gel instead?

Oh, and for fruit crops(like tomatoes, peppers, squash), how are the bees getting in to pollinate?
-- Galbinus_Caeli, Jun 01 2007


Galbinus_Caeli, I thought hydroponics meant recycling water and nutrients in a closed loop, but you're right, it's actually based on using no soil at all. A nicely colored translucent gel would even make the design nicer.
-- django, Jun 01 2007


has my vote, could throw a load of these things on the roof of a house. neighbors may complain though.
-- crazymonk, Jun 01 2007


//Makes sense as a fashion statement too.//

I like it - misinterpreting slightly (I think) - you could even WEAR these things! 8~) (Although some people might prefer a less transparent version for this purpose.)
-- Cosh i Pi, Jun 02 2007


//the postman could deliver lettuce.//

Ha!
-- pertinax, Jun 03 2007


Young lady postpersons might find they sold rather a lot of their clothes if they weren't careful.
-- Cosh i Pi, Jun 03 2007


How are you supplying CO2?

Hole in the bag or porous bag : water will escape so you'd need more.

seperate supply contained in the bag? : Not shown in diagram.
-- Loris, Nov 12 2011



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