Modular Hydroponic Tower Garden

thingiverse

This is a modular low-pressure aeroponic/hydroponic garden tower inspired by:\r\nhttps://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3405964\r\n\r\nTo avoid printing all system components, I have designed parts around available construction market materials, including:\r\n- Drainage piping Y-segments made of HT-Polypropylene ( Ø110 / Ø75 mm, 45 °)\r\n- Large polyethylene pot (35 cm height, Material: Polyethylene, Height 45.6 cm, Diameter 35 cm, Volume 22 l)\r\n- Electronics for pump: NodeMCU (with WIFI connectivity), 5V mechanical relay, 5V regulator\r\n\r\nThe 3D printed parts are:\r\n- Reservoir cover part: print two\r\n- Reservoir cover refill part: print one with a hole to allow easy re-filling\r\n- Reservoir cover refill cover part: to cover the re-fill hole of the reservoir\r\n- Tower tube distance holder: water tube fixation inside tower (I used 3 Y-segments)\r\n- Tower water distributor: to sprinkle the water evenly across the tower\r\n- Tower water distributor mod2: glue or melt onto the "Tower water distributor" to guide water drops into the tube and drop where you want them, I experienced that water surface tension brings water droplets back together below the distributor hole, resulting in a lot of water on few spots in the tube\r\n- Tower water distributor 4-way: connect to the pipe coming from the bump to evenly distribute water across holes\r\n- Parametric net pot Stefan V3: net pots for plants from https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:790339\r\n- Water filter (optional): can be plugged in front of the pump inside the reservoir to filter large particles or roots, I used a cloth as filter material fixed with a rubber band.\r\n\r\nI have covered the entire tower with aluminum foil to reflect any sun from plastic and avoid heating up the system, preventing light from entering through the white pot. If you don't do this, your system will be more susceptible to algae and potentially root rot. The roots should not see any light at all, and the temperature should remain under control between 18-22°C.\r\n\r\nElectronics:\r\nSimple purpose-built electronics operate the pump on a schedule using:\r\n- NodeMCU (ESP8266 with WIFI connectivity): https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32837163912.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4d6azEz1\r\n- Mechanical relay 5V: \r\nhttps://www.aliexpress.com/item/2053019063.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4d6azEz1\r\n- 5V regulator\r\n- 12V power supply as input (not shown in picture)\r\n- 12V pump: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32792939616.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4d6azEz1\r\n\r\nGiven the possibility to connect by WIFI through ESP8266, I have used the Blynk IoT cloud platform to remote control the pump, making and cycle time programmable through the app.