Ahh, finally I have a fully functional system after months of thinking, planning, building, tinkering, more thinking, and more building. I finally decided it was time to concede to my attempts to make an electric free system (for now at least). And for the first time since I first started planning this I looked to the windowfarm site for some ideas on pumping the water, without having to double the size of the whole assembly. The windowfarm team's latest version is very slick, with only an inline air tube running into the bottom bottle, which acts as a reservoir, sans flora. So in my attempts to be as efficient as possible, and the convenient assembly of my most recent farm, I decided it would be very possible to use the single large wine jug at the bottom as a universal reservoir. Using a similar (conceptually the same) method of pumping. I bought my aquarium supplies from walmart, who sells a check valve that fit conveniently into a cork that I had drilled the center out of. I ran a tube into the cork that connects to the check valve, with an inflation needle attached to the submerged end. I sealed the cork around the inline air tubing with hot glue. I then ran 1/4 in. copper tubing from the reservoir to the top module, which is then (a minimal conceit to organicism, as well) connected to some inline tubing that I fashioned a drip ring out of (with one hole over each of the top bottles). When I first turned it on, immediately I wanted to drop in some strawberries, but quickly realized that the water was spraying pretty much everywhere except the bottles they were aimed at. So me and my family started thinking how to guide the water, and decided that tube gauze would work; something like a conical sock that slips over the mouth of the bottle, guiding the nutrient solution wherever it is guided. The problem was, tube gauze didnt exist, at least not where I looked. So I made some with gauze, needle, and thread. It was a pain, but they work great, and mindless work is always like meditation for me, especially when it was the last step before a working pump system.
And so I eventually finished the little bottle-socks. And turned the system on again, and it worked wonderfully.
Along my attempts to be as efficient as possible, I am not using the bottom bottle for reservoir alone. I have threaded the tubing through a 4 in. net pot and inserted an air stone into the bottle in order to have an efficient DWC (Deep Water Culture) system, as well as perpetually stir and aerate the solution, for healthier roots and more consistent feeding.
Overall, it is a ten plant system, in ten bottles, supported by two airlines (one pump), all hanging from a single planter hook. Whole system dry weighs approx. 10 lbs. And aside from the drip ring and net pots, it is all organic.
Some pictures:
A video:
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