This is quite a nice system. I made one many years ago that doesn't hold the water nearly as nicely as this one does. I've also been on the fence about buying a 3D printer but I finally have a reason to get into printing! Thanks a bunch for the video and I'll certainly be coming back to this when the time comes to print.
I need to try this! I would probably not put peppers (or tomatoes) in this since they tend to have massive root bowls. Should be perfect for leafy greens like lettuce, spinach, maybe strawberries and herbs too.
Impressive system. 👍🏻 I understand the focus of this channel is probably the 3D printing technology and that provides a different level of satisfaction on any project. However, I accomplished the same end result with an inexpensive stacking tower garden, a pump, tubing (that I have leftover from my outdoor drip irrigation system) and an inexpensive container for a reservoir.
I too can see it would cost me about $160 NZD to print and build but I think getting PVC pipe and creating a tower of a similar diameter and height as this would quite likely cost around the same don't you think?
@@Hydro3D There are very few options that are going to be that much cheaper, mainly they would involve PVC and heating it up to bend it to fit the pots.
Depends. 4" wide schedule 40 white pipe from Home Depot and other places gone up in price but does come in 10 ft sections and scedule40 safe for hydroponics. Using food safe glue makes it all possible and practical if going that route.
RUclips randomly proposed this to me, and it is a great idea, but just a small note on the filament. You should use a filament that is food-safe and you should make sure that you print it in such a way that you don't end up with toxic microplastics in your food. That is if you plan to use what you are about to grow for eating. If it is decorative, you can print from whatever can withstand water and UV light.
@@ALLYOURTECH3DP As long as it's food safe, you shouldn't have any problems. I checked some of your other videos and you seem to print mostly of PETG, so you should be safe, but this is mostly for anyone else who might decide to print from ABS or any other material. Maybe you should mention it in further update videos so people can be safe too. Btw, if someone doesn't want to spend money on PETG, but wants food safe filament, DIY approach works too. Plastic bottles from PET - water, milk, whatever consumable food/beverage comes into such a container (in Europe it's quite a lot) can be turned into a filament. There are great tutorials how to create your own filament on YT, so it can be also a good engineering project, along with the gardening one. Love the videos, especially the fact that you seem to focus more on printing practical stuff, especially around gardening and plants.
As far as nutrients go, seaweed concentrate is all you would really need. If extra nutrients are needed you can buy mung beans for pennies on the dollar sprout them until the tail is 2x the size of the body, blend them up and strain out the pulp and mix into the water too aka Sprouted Seed Tea
I'm 100% going to give this a shot. Love the idea of using seaweed as the fertilizer. I wonder if my saltwater aquarium could actually export enough nutrients to fuel the growth.
@@ALLYOURTECH3DP do you use stainless steel nozzle to print? Brass releases lead into the print (which absorbs a lot into root vegetables, slightly less into leafy greens, less for fruiting veggies)
Nice design. I would've made parts that fit standard pvc pipe instead of printing the entire setup. Also would be nice to add zip tie mounting points to support larger plants.
My son printed this for me for Christmas . . . was super excited and it went together well. We mounted it on top of a 30 gal blue barrel for more reservoir and weight. Unfortunately a month of daily 115 F summers here in Arizona destroyed it before we got any produce. Trying again using PVC pipe and heatgun formed pockets by another tower builder site. It was really cool - until it disintegrated.
What filament type did you print it out of? PLA will definitely melt and deform at those temperatures. I always use PETG for anything outdoor in the summer heat. Nylon would be another option as well.
@@ALLYOURTECH3DP we used PETG as recommended - the other thing was each set of netcup holders printed out with the perforated water distribution plate on the bottom of each section. This caused each section to quickly become root bound, clogging the water flow and leaking water at each connection. I don't know why - he downloaded the files you provided but I see in the video that yours were printed open except for the hose guide. Was there a correction to the print that we missed?
If you don't want to put screws everywhere, just use a soldering iron around 200°C to fuse the parts. Actually works better than screws and most glues, works on any 3D printed material.
Just don't use a soldering iron tip you want to use for actual soldering. Burnt plastic is hard to properly clean off and it causes all sorts of problems for solder.
It's faster to make them from plastic piping, but more costly of course. I used the white plastic pipng and a heat gun to bend and make the pockets for the net pots.
I'd be really curious how that black PETG holds up to sunlight. I know its better than PLA but you should do another video in 6 or 8 mo showing how it all worked.
im super interested in this and amazing quality design, i only have pla at the moment unfortunately but will look at investing into some petg i think thanks so much
@@ALLYOURTECH3DP exactly! Just to speed up the process of it all, cost/time etc. You can get a piece of 4" (I believe) right at 10.00 IIRC (bought some this season for drain)
This is a fantastic idea and I really wish I owned a 3d printer. It is probably overkill, but I would add a locking spinning bracket to the bottom of the bucket so I can rotate the entire planter, this way they can get even amount of sun over all the planters. Again, overkill, but something I would consider. Saving this video into my favorite videos for something for me to build.
This is an absolutely fantastic design. However, I am curious as to why the original top "cap" had the vents (where the water was splashing out) and not a solid, watertight piece to begin with ?
First off, I'm a huge fan of modular design and prototyping with 3d printing. I love this. The only suggestion I'd offer, to spare yourself the time overhead and economic cost in manufacturing, is to think of the 3d printer as a prototyping solution, not the actual production solution. What you have is the ability to create silicone molds of the 3d prints into which you'd subsequently cast polyurethane resin, over and over again as desired, to create the final products. In most cases, we're talking about the ability to create a fully-cured, ready-to-use part in under an hour (depending upon your chosen resin), as opposed to waiting for hours or days for a 3d print job to complete. You're also mitigating the dreaded failed print by relying far less on the printer for outcomes. As well, resin casting will always be less economically costly by volume so you're not only producing more in the same time frame, you're doing it at a fraction of the cost.
How does that make sense economically? It'll cost me $60 in Mold max 20 to make a mold for one of the tower pieces. That mold will take 24 hours to cure, and then I can pull about one part an hour out of it. The parts have thin sections, so I demolding them without derping the mold is going to be fidgety. Not impossible, but it's not an easy first project. The real problem with this model is it's not designed for fast printing. I played with it in fusion and by simplifying the geometry it's pretty easy to get this under 4 hours to print. The redesigned part doesn't have as much bed contact so I can knock it off automatically at the end of the print job, so printing a dozen of them would take me two days. Realistically, even with fast curing resin, I can't cast a dozen of them in two days with one mold.
@@ElizabethGreene - At the end of the day, ya just gotta go with what you know works. Personally, I'm all-in on Smooth-On products and have a pretty decent workflow when it comes to mold making and such but I agree, it's definitely costly, especially when not in a production workflow but just creating personal projects. Another reason for my considerations was that my printer's not exactly high end so there is definitely a lot of post work to achieve a professional finish with prints. Lots of primer and sanding prior to paint and top coat. It's subjective but I'd trade all that post work for the cost of casting a finished product directly from the mold but, again, that's just subjectivity. And pointless if your printer is actually capable of that level of quality directly. I'm working with an old Creality CR-10 and an FLSUN Speed Racer, both of which being at the low end of capabilities. Both are just prototyping machines because, at least with these, it's actually faster and cheaper to process one print for a mold then cast x-amount of parts from that than otherwise. So, when I factor in the cost of sand paper, primer, paint, polyurethane and time invested per print from these older machines, I'm actually coming out ahead in time and economics with Smooth-On. Of course, there's also cheating with mold making to the extent that most molds I create are essentially glove molds with various methods of reinforcement to drastically reduce the amount of silicone used, thus significantly lowering the cost of production. I often 3d print mother molds into which I cast silicone negatives. PLA is rigid enough to serve a lot of purposes. But, again, if this is for personal use only with no intent to mass produce and market, you're probably as you implied, far better off sticking to the process you're working with than going off the deep end of prototyping molds for prototype parts. :D
@@JonathanLawrenceMitchell I love the Creality printers. I was at a makerspace that had several. The biggest thing people miss is, Imho, 3d printing is not injection molding. These parts specifically were designed to be injection molded, or more likely copied from/inspired by an IM part. If designers step back from the idea that 3d printing should be like IM then things get better. This part would be plenty strong enough if it were two or three perimeter layers thick It doesn't need infill, hollows, or even interior walls.. An IM part needs that extra mass to fill sufficiently and survive ejection, but we don't. That can make the difference between days and hours of printing. Love your layer lines. There's nothing wrong with layers.
I would consider a design that integrates standard PVC pipe with 3D printing for the plant holders. Could save a lot of print time and might be sturdier too.
I've thought about that, and when I priced it out, it was significantly more expensive. I have a pretty fast core xy printer now, so the pieces are cheap, sturdy, and fast top print. That's not going to be the case for everyone though, and for many, PVC is a great alternative. Thanks for the tip!
@@ALLYOURTECH3DP I don't understand based on which criteria it's cheaper. One of this pieces is probably around 200-250g which at 23kb per KG is around 5 euro per piece. A 2.5m 110mm PVC pipe is about 25 euro, the only way would be that prices in your area highly differ from this.
@@IvanGOrtolan Chinese 1KG rolls of filament around $25AU. PVC 100mm X 3m pipe is $25 at Bunnings.... So yep. About 4 times the price to use PETG filament. If the holes could he drilled round and the black pot things be designed to fit that round hole and still sit at an angle, it would be about 1/3 of the price. Of course this is also an older video, so the prices may have been entirely different at the time.
You forgot to mention if you want a tall tower, you must find a pump that has the proper lift. Some pumps have a high gallon/per hour flow, but not enough lift.
I think I would avoid using white for a few reasons. It contains titanium dioxide which is much harder on your nozzles unless you are using a hardened nozzle. This stuff is used as a whiting agent. I would go with something very dark... Second, water is a solvent so water running down white filament will leach titanium dioxide into the environment as well as into your garden.
Since this video came out I’ve used green for all of my recent versions of this print. Works great, and to be honest, I wasn’t aware of the titanium dioxide use in white PETG, so that you for pointing that out.
@@ALLYOURTECH3DP I liked printing with white prior to knowing this Slant 3D (printer farm in texas) did a yt video on this a few months ago. The darker the filament the better. Clear is another option as it is void of additives but it also may effect the root system by letting too much light in
Sick, I was just about to plan this print after I fine tune my petg settings! I don't get why there are holes on the top unless you want water everywhere :). I'll be interested to see how the tomato plant will grow considering how large it can get.
Pet or petg are not rated food safe. If you check out a farmers almanac, you’ll see that they grow bacteria pretty easily. I would go with polypropylene or polyethylene (hdpe or ldpe) if your printer can support it.
nice system! Could you combine it with a fish tank to make aquaculture? I am curious about the Tomato plants - will you transfer them to earth, or do you have a 3d template for a support for the long tomato stems?
i just saw ur comments yes i was thinking same thing at less if not grow fish to eat it reduces use of fertilizer because of fish .. combine 2 in 1 ssytem :) ..
that submersible waterpump looks like the same one I got (not that shape and color pallete means anything) and the damn thing shorted to water. One day I started cleaning the bed and plants and didn't realize I was getting shocked until my fingers were numb! Anyways, I definitely recommend getting a DC pump instead. even if it fails in the same way, it's a hell of a lot safer
I can’t find my original post but I said I would give an update. I printed mine in white Overture PLA. This summer in Texas has been extremely hot. I have had zero issues with my system melting or warping. The water runs 24/7 and sits on my gazebo. It has not been exposed to the extreme sun but does get the daily heat.
@@ALLYOURTECH3DP I would think the same. However I printed an anti squirrel shield for my bird feeders with the same PLA and it has not warped at all. Perhaps the white color is helping but I’m impressed so far.
hi, you can print a dispersion nozzle and put it on the end of the tube/pipe to distribute the waterflow more evenly. And then put your pump on a timer like 2mins on 10mins off. So the roots will get exposed to some air/o2, and roots love o2
I keep a reef tank, I would recommend hitting a pet store or pet section of a store and getting a pump built for a 55g or 75g tank at max. Since you are going straight up, you could probably get away with just the 55g.
pond pumps typically have higher head pressure, which is what you need for vertical lift. I do actually use DC powered aquarium pumps myself though as they are quiet, energy efficient, variable speed, and have run dry / clogging protection circuits. They are also about $80 though.
Even a fairly small aquarium pump would work well enough (so long as you don't go more than 5 feet in height or so, but since you are sending the pumped water through a tube, it can be the smaller tubing and will still make it up to the top piece and then drain down nicely. Other than that, I absolutely love this design. Great vertical hydroponic system. I will be making two buckets to grow items inside - I am following the basic structure of the Gardyn system. I am making a rectangular box larger than the bucket sections and zip-tying 4 foot long grow lights to the 4 corner pieces of the stand (made out of PVC pipe) and with everything plugged into a smart multi-outlet fixture on the wall, I can set the pump to circulate for 5 minutes, off for 5 minutes all day long and the lights to be on 16 hours a day. All of it automated. Oh, and I added a nutrient solution level indicator so I don't have to try to see how much is in the bucket. Take a piece of that larger, clear tubing...you might want to 3D print an elbow, but the 90 degree elbow (like the ones used in misting systems) and make a hole LOW on the bucket so the elbow is pushed through a rubber grommet that restricts water coming through the hole you've made and once you mount that tubing and fill the bucket, the tubing will fill with the nutrient water and equalize to what is in the bucket. Easy to see the water level without looking inside!
I was thinking of maybe actually running the water from a fish tank through this before it goes into the filter kinda like they do with aquaponics systems (supposedly the fish waste in the water is super good for the plants and helps them grow better!)
@@andy_warb You might do some research. Somewhere I read that fish waste "fresh from the tank" can be toxic to plants. Remember, there are underwater plants that evolved to survive with and in an environment of fish waste, but the plants we are talking about are food plants with very specific nutrient requirements. Just a suggestion....
Just for clarification, PLA melting point is usually around 170°C and 180°C. I think you meant that it will reach it's glass transition temperature at about 60°C, which is definitely possible outside in summer.
adding a tube through the center would optimize this system. just the hose from the pump to the bottom planter section would simplify adding additional segments without re-running the hose.
Nice idea. Some interlocking bits with o rings and a tube through the center. Could even use the existing tube cut into lengths the same height as the sections, and a mating mechanism between each section!
I love the concept of vertical hydroponics, but I tried a very similar design three years ago with a 3D printed tower from PETG. It worked great in the beginning, but after a while (months) it started growing mold and algae (?) because the print wasn't really solid, but had a lot of little cavities. Maybe works better with a 100% infill -- I used less than that. Pump pressure indeed was significant, my tower was around 150 cm high with a fitting pump. Tell me what you think. And by the wasy, thanks for the video, I am convinced we should explore these technics
I found the color of the tower matters. I ended up printing a green tower and didn't have any algae issue. I do take the tower apart and clean it once a season, otherwise, it has held up well.
Printing. I have a lot of spare white PLA, so going to go with that for now. When/if it melts, I'll change to PETG, which is usually my go-to functional material anyway. I also plan on sealing the prints somehow, likely food-safe epoxy to coat the inside, which will hopefully prevent "stuff" from coming through the layers.
I disagree with you on the mateirals. Use PLA. its more of a food safe bio polymer and if you printed in white, and combined with the fact that its water cooled... melting is not an issue. Avoid colors as the UV will ruin the color pretty quickly
I was hoping in your follow-up video for this you could going to some of the settings that you used and maybe recommend a good printer for this as this will be my first printer for me and my son
I bought a 3d printer to print this hydroponic system. why buy a system when i can print it myself.... and then lots of other cool things. The printer will arrive tomorrow. I am very excited!
Really need a larger reservoir or a pressure compensating constant/intermittent water source. A few mature plants Will use up that bucket in a day or two?
When mine are outside I have a drip irrigation line running to the bucket so it gets filled daily. That seems to get the job done, otherwise I agree. On hot days, mid-summer it needs daily refills.
@@ALLYOURTECH3DP What I will do also- put on existing drip line system. What I love is that this system makes it possible for people like me who have limited mobility - can garden from wheelchair!
That's a great question. From my research ~5minutes per hour is all the plants need. I haven't hooked mine up to a controller yet, but that's where I plan to start. Right now it is just running 24/7
When you 3D printed the parts, did you use any additional post-processing techniques to make the parts more waterproof, e.g., annealing, sanding, etc.?
No, I don’t do any post processing. PETG tends to hold up well with water. The only area that can sometimes leak is at the joints, but that hasn’t caused any functional issues
It will only provide water to each selected plant, so an umbrella top, will be required, so that the top does not need to look like a bridge to no where, if there is a diffuser, (like the head in your bathroom tub/shower), … & it must diffuse the water, in a drip methodology, … so, incorporating sectional pieces of the shower head options, will greatly insure that each plant gets the desired amount of feed precipitation, to create really great plant growth, …
Where did you get your STL for the spacers between the 3 way pieces? I have the model printed but didnt have that in my sources. I'm printing a work around I designed but hoping you might be able to direct me to a STEP or STL. Thanks!
Hello. Really enjoy your channel very well done and to the point well done. The pump your using works well but you are correct you can really power down on your pump will be find at a trickle. ALSO would one of these small novice type printers like the Ender 3 V2 suffice at making a few of these or would it burn out fairly quickly. Not in market for commercial printer just something under $500 I could have fun with. Thanks sup vid.
where can we get the print files for the one you showed at the end with the spacers? PS the link for the files in the discription is not viable atm, pls help... Ty
Have you thought about using Hemp pla/ filaflex purifier 82a, or olivine pla? The Hemp and olivine filament capture carbon and the filaflex purifies the air
I'd look into possibility of lead contamination. Brass often contain lead, and so all the plastic might pick up on some of that lead. This stuff without everything being in stainless steel is definitely not even remotely food safe, but maybe it's good enough for this. You'd also have to look up your filament and it's contents.
I use diamond nozzles on my printers, so unlikely to be an issue. For the filament, there are several brands of PETG that are food safe. I would select one based on that criteria as you suggested.
do this but as an areoponics set up. it would use less water an energy. also you could get away with much cheaper pumps. I guess I need to get the 3D printer going again and build one for the top of my aquarium.
In the middle of printing this system, thank you so much for sharing it! I found the link on Printables, but the hollow version of the 3-way module seems to be missing (it's available as gcode but not STL). I notice that the customized version you uploaded is slightly modified so that the walls are printed just as perimeters with no infill; the STL that I got by converting the gcode back to STL is much thicker, and uses infill like you mentioned in this video. Do you happen to have a STL for the hollow-bottomed 3-way module that you figured out, and would you be willing to add it to the files on Printables? Thanks a bunch!
Help! In the file, my lid file is one large piece that is too large for my print bed. Yours has pieces that you've bolted together. Am I missing something in the file? I have all the parts printed but that one.
I'm excited to build my own. But link in the description are broken, not in stock. Can you renew them please? Also, is it safer to use diamond nozzle than steel nozzle for food-safe?
I'm getting all my files ready to print while I wait for my PETG to come in. However, I'm having a hell of a time finding the files for the 5 gallon bucket lid. Any chance you can direct me to where you found those, please?
Question : how do you put the plants into the net pots. Like do you just stuff dirt into it then plant a plant and put it into one of the 9 holes or will the dirt just be washed my the water?
The spacers are pretty necessary for the plants as they get larger. My tomatoes had probably 3 foot roots after just a couple months. I keep them on the lowest tier so they can grow into the bucket.
Since my wife looked at your video she got me to print one, good job Im printing it now but wow does it take for ever and to find the right parameter in Cura with that Petg im still adjusting to much stringing. Any hints loll Anycubic printer
I would print a temperature tower to get the right temperature for your PETG. From there you might also increase the retraction. Between those two you should be able to get rid of the stringing.
Yes, and the length of time off will depend on where you live, how hot it is outside, etc. Ithink I'm doing 5 on 15 off currently, and the plants are doing well.
PETG is food safe, you shouldn't use it for actual eating out of it though, if you don't smooth out the roughness from FDM printing first. For what we see here it's totally fine out of the printer tho.
I absolutely love this whole system. However, I finished putting together the lid yesterday and it won't fit on my bucket 😢 Has this happened to anyone else?
FYSA, white filament contains titanium dioxide that acts as an abrasive. Printing enough white filament will widen the nozzle diameter, resulting in printing inconsistencies.
This is so much cooler and nicer than the $1K Tower Garden I used to have (and I LOVED that thing!)
Thanks man. I started this same print last week. There are not a lot of good videos on this model. Thank you again.
This is quite a nice system. I made one many years ago that doesn't hold the water nearly as nicely as this one does. I've also been on the fence about buying a 3D printer but I finally have a reason to get into printing! Thanks a bunch for the video and I'll certainly be coming back to this when the time comes to print.
I need to try this! I would probably not put peppers (or tomatoes) in this since they tend to have massive root bowls. Should be perfect for leafy greens like lettuce, spinach, maybe strawberries and herbs too.
i have put my peppers and tomatoes in those
Many people put tomatoes and even vining veggies, like cucumbers in them. Even grow them indoors. The work fine.
Impressive system. 👍🏻 I understand the focus of this channel is probably the 3D printing technology and that provides a different level of satisfaction on any project. However, I accomplished the same end result with an inexpensive stacking tower garden, a pump, tubing (that I have leftover from my outdoor drip irrigation system) and an inexpensive container for a reservoir.
I’m excited about any creative solution to a problem. That sounds like an awesome project! Great job!
I too can see it would cost me about $160 NZD to print and build but I think getting PVC pipe and creating a tower of a similar diameter and height as this would quite likely cost around the same don't you think?
@@Hydro3D There are very few options that are going to be that much cheaper, mainly they would involve PVC and heating it up to bend it to fit the pots.
Depends. 4" wide schedule 40 white pipe from Home Depot and other places gone up in price but does come in 10 ft sections and scedule40 safe for hydroponics. Using food safe glue makes it all possible and practical if going that route.
RUclips randomly proposed this to me, and it is a great idea, but just a small note on the filament. You should use a filament that is food-safe and you should make sure that you print it in such a way that you don't end up with toxic microplastics in your food. That is if you plan to use what you are about to grow for eating. If it is decorative, you can print from whatever can withstand water and UV light.
Great call out. In my case I only use food grade PETG for my prints like these.
@@ALLYOURTECH3DP As long as it's food safe, you shouldn't have any problems. I checked some of your other videos and you seem to print mostly of PETG, so you should be safe, but this is mostly for anyone else who might decide to print from ABS or any other material. Maybe you should mention it in further update videos so people can be safe too. Btw, if someone doesn't want to spend money on PETG, but wants food safe filament, DIY approach works too. Plastic bottles from PET - water, milk, whatever consumable food/beverage comes into such a container (in Europe it's quite a lot) can be turned into a filament. There are great tutorials how to create your own filament on YT, so it can be also a good engineering project, along with the gardening one. Love the videos, especially the fact that you seem to focus more on printing practical stuff, especially around gardening and plants.
Thanks for sharing a link for the base. The timer you showed is a good idea. Think short cycles, a few minutes on, a few minutes off.
just found out your channel and the content is quality ! keep it up ! thx
As far as nutrients go, seaweed concentrate is all you would really need. If extra nutrients are needed you can buy mung beans for pennies on the dollar sprout them until the tail is 2x the size of the body, blend them up and strain out the pulp and mix into the water too aka Sprouted Seed Tea
I'm 100% going to give this a shot. Love the idea of using seaweed as the fertilizer. I wonder if my saltwater aquarium could actually export enough nutrients to fuel the growth.
@@ALLYOURTECH3DPwhat in the saltwater aquarium would you add to the hydroponic tower? What's in the skimmer?
Can't wait to see the follow up video! I'm in the process of researching 3d printed hydroponics :)
Coming soon! I've already learned quite a bit (water PH matters). I'll give it a few more days of growing and follow up.
@@ALLYOURTECH3DP do you use stainless steel nozzle to print? Brass releases lead into the print (which absorbs a lot into root vegetables, slightly less into leafy greens, less for fruiting veggies)
Nice design. I would've made parts that fit standard pvc pipe instead of printing the entire setup. Also would be nice to add zip tie mounting points to support larger plants.
My son printed this for me for Christmas . . . was super excited and it went together well. We mounted it on top of a 30 gal blue barrel for more reservoir and weight. Unfortunately a month of daily 115 F summers here in Arizona destroyed it before we got any produce. Trying again using PVC pipe and heatgun formed pockets by another tower builder site. It was really cool - until it disintegrated.
What filament type did you print it out of? PLA will definitely melt and deform at those temperatures. I always use PETG for anything outdoor in the summer heat. Nylon would be another option as well.
@@ALLYOURTECH3DP we used PETG as recommended - the other thing was each set of netcup holders printed out with the perforated water distribution plate on the bottom of each section. This caused each section to quickly become root bound, clogging the water flow and leaking water at each connection. I don't know why - he downloaded the files you provided but I see in the video that yours were printed open except for the hose guide. Was there a correction to the print that we missed?
Thanks for sharing this. I'm going to explore this next year for our herb garden
Excellent job, very modular (great Design)
The whole reason why I picked up a 3D printer.... ;) Thank you!
What printer u end up getting and how did it go printing this system up.
If you don't want to put screws everywhere, just use a soldering iron around 200°C to fuse the parts. Actually works better than screws and most glues, works on any 3D printed material.
great tip. I've done that, and also use a 3d printing pen.
@@ALLYOURTECH3DP abs can also be welded using acetone
Just don't use a soldering iron tip you want to use for actual soldering. Burnt plastic is hard to properly clean off and it causes all sorts of problems for solder.
Amazing video, amazing presentation, thank you so much for this!
Wow, thank you! I appreciate the kind words
How much did it cost to build it? Thank you very much
It's faster to make them from plastic piping, but more costly of course. I used the white plastic pipng and a heat gun to bend and make the pockets for the net pots.
I'd be really curious how that black PETG holds up to sunlight. I know its better than PLA but you should do another video in 6 or 8 mo showing how it all worked.
It does well. I’ve had black PETG parts in direct sunlight for going on 3 years now with zero warping.
@@ALLYOURTECH3DP
Does it need to be black? I wanted to design a pink hydro setup, indoor use, but want to know if it can go outside aswell
Hi dear. What a lovely set up. Excellent.
Where were you all the time? I had been looking for you frantically for years.😊❤
im super interested in this and amazing quality design, i only have pla at the moment unfortunately but will look at investing into some petg i think
thanks so much
you could design caps for 4" pvc that could save time. Pretty awesome vert garden dude!
Cool idea, I might give that a try. You could use PVC for the separators if nothing else.
@@ALLYOURTECH3DP exactly! Just to speed up the process of it all, cost/time etc. You can get a piece of 4" (I believe) right at 10.00 IIRC (bought some this season for drain)
Great stuff brethren!
Very good video, right to the point! Thanks for sharing your experience
This is a fantastic idea and I really wish I owned a 3d printer. It is probably overkill, but I would add a locking spinning bracket to the bottom of the bucket so I can rotate the entire planter, this way they can get even amount of sun over all the planters. Again, overkill, but something I would consider.
Saving this video into my favorite videos for something for me to build.
I was investigating 3d printing services is this in the realm of affordable rather than buying a 3d printer ?
This is an absolutely fantastic design. However, I am curious as to why the original top "cap" had the vents (where the water was splashing out) and not a solid, watertight piece to begin with ?
First off, I'm a huge fan of modular design and prototyping with 3d printing. I love this. The only suggestion I'd offer, to spare yourself the time overhead and economic cost in manufacturing, is to think of the 3d printer as a prototyping solution, not the actual production solution.
What you have is the ability to create silicone molds of the 3d prints into which you'd subsequently cast polyurethane resin, over and over again as desired, to create the final products. In most cases, we're talking about the ability to create a fully-cured, ready-to-use part in under an hour (depending upon your chosen resin), as opposed to waiting for hours or days for a 3d print job to complete. You're also mitigating the dreaded failed print by relying far less on the printer for outcomes. As well, resin casting will always be less economically costly by volume so you're not only producing more in the same time frame, you're doing it at a fraction of the cost.
You gonna do it for us?
@@michaelrussell3677 do it yourself? There is as many RUclips videos explain how to silicon cast as there is about 3d printing
How does that make sense economically? It'll cost me $60 in Mold max 20 to make a mold for one of the tower pieces. That mold will take 24 hours to cure, and then I can pull about one part an hour out of it. The parts have thin sections, so I demolding them without derping the mold is going to be fidgety. Not impossible, but it's not an easy first project.
The real problem with this model is it's not designed for fast printing. I played with it in fusion and by simplifying the geometry it's pretty easy to get this under 4 hours to print. The redesigned part doesn't have as much bed contact so I can knock it off automatically at the end of the print job, so printing a dozen of them would take me two days. Realistically, even with fast curing resin, I can't cast a dozen of them in two days with one mold.
@@ElizabethGreene - At the end of the day, ya just gotta go with what you know works. Personally, I'm all-in on Smooth-On products and have a pretty decent workflow when it comes to mold making and such but I agree, it's definitely costly, especially when not in a production workflow but just creating personal projects.
Another reason for my considerations was that my printer's not exactly high end so there is definitely a lot of post work to achieve a professional finish with prints. Lots of primer and sanding prior to paint and top coat. It's subjective but I'd trade all that post work for the cost of casting a finished product directly from the mold but, again, that's just subjectivity. And pointless if your printer is actually capable of that level of quality directly.
I'm working with an old Creality CR-10 and an FLSUN Speed Racer, both of which being at the low end of capabilities. Both are just prototyping machines because, at least with these, it's actually faster and cheaper to process one print for a mold then cast x-amount of parts from that than otherwise. So, when I factor in the cost of sand paper, primer, paint, polyurethane and time invested per print from these older machines, I'm actually coming out ahead in time and economics with Smooth-On.
Of course, there's also cheating with mold making to the extent that most molds I create are essentially glove molds with various methods of reinforcement to drastically reduce the amount of silicone used, thus significantly lowering the cost of production. I often 3d print mother molds into which I cast silicone negatives. PLA is rigid enough to serve a lot of purposes.
But, again, if this is for personal use only with no intent to mass produce and market, you're probably as you implied, far better off sticking to the process you're working with than going off the deep end of prototyping molds for prototype parts. :D
@@JonathanLawrenceMitchell I love the Creality printers. I was at a makerspace that had several.
The biggest thing people miss is, Imho, 3d printing is not injection molding. These parts specifically were designed to be injection molded, or more likely copied from/inspired by an IM part. If designers step back from the idea that 3d printing should be like IM then things get better. This part would be plenty strong enough if it were two or three perimeter layers thick It doesn't need infill, hollows, or even interior walls.. An IM part needs that extra mass to fill sufficiently and survive ejection, but we don't. That can make the difference between days and hours of printing.
Love your layer lines. There's nothing wrong with layers.
I would consider a design that integrates standard PVC pipe with 3D printing for the plant holders. Could save a lot of print time and might be sturdier too.
I've thought about that, and when I priced it out, it was significantly more expensive. I have a pretty fast core xy printer now, so the pieces are cheap, sturdy, and fast top print. That's not going to be the case for everyone though, and for many, PVC is a great alternative. Thanks for the tip!
@@ALLYOURTECH3DP I don't understand based on which criteria it's cheaper. One of this pieces is probably around 200-250g which at 23kb per KG is around 5 euro per piece. A 2.5m 110mm PVC pipe is about 25 euro, the only way would be that prices in your area highly differ from this.
@@IvanGOrtolan
Chinese 1KG rolls of filament around $25AU. PVC 100mm X 3m pipe is $25 at Bunnings.... So yep. About 4 times the price to use PETG filament.
If the holes could he drilled round and the black pot things be designed to fit that round hole and still sit at an angle, it would be about 1/3 of the price.
Of course this is also an older video, so the prices may have been entirely different at the time.
You forgot to mention if you want a tall tower, you must find a pump that has the proper lift. Some pumps have a high gallon/per hour flow, but not enough lift.
The pump included in the links works for a tower much taller than you could ever physically print.
@@ALLYOURTECH3DP Challenge accepted!
I think I would avoid using white for a few reasons. It contains titanium dioxide which is much harder on your nozzles unless you are using a hardened nozzle. This stuff is used as a whiting agent. I would go with something very dark... Second, water is a solvent so water running down white filament will leach titanium dioxide into the environment as well as into your garden.
Since this video came out I’ve used green for all of my recent versions of this print. Works great, and to be honest, I wasn’t aware of the titanium dioxide use in white PETG, so that you for pointing that out.
@@ALLYOURTECH3DP I liked printing with white prior to knowing this Slant 3D (printer farm in texas) did a yt video on this a few months ago. The darker the filament the better. Clear is another option as it is void of additives but it also may effect the root system by letting too much light in
Sick, I was just about to plan this print after I fine tune my petg settings! I don't get why there are holes on the top unless you want water everywhere :). I'll be interested to see how the tomato plant will grow considering how large it can get.
How did it work out. Is this a good method for tomatoes?
I'm not sure why there are holes either lol. I'm gonna give this a try myself
@@kbkline1 Probably so that the roots get enough oxygen, which will make your plants happier :)
Pet or petg are not rated food safe. If you check out a farmers almanac, you’ll see that they grow bacteria pretty easily.
I would go with polypropylene or polyethylene (hdpe or ldpe) if your printer can support it.
hi, really good video you made. for the pump a 290 gph really does the job . That is what i use on mine :)
nice system! Could you combine it with a fish tank to make aquaculture? I am curious about the Tomato plants - will you transfer them to earth, or do you have a 3d template for a support for the long tomato stems?
i just saw ur comments yes i was thinking same thing at less if not grow fish to eat it reduces use of fertilizer because of fish .. combine 2 in 1 ssytem :) ..
that submersible waterpump looks like the same one I got (not that shape and color pallete means anything) and the damn thing shorted to water. One day I started cleaning the bed and plants and didn't realize I was getting shocked until my fingers were numb!
Anyways, I definitely recommend getting a DC pump instead. even if it fails in the same way, it's a hell of a lot safer
Oh no! Great tip. I haven't had any issues with either of mine, but that doesn't mean I wont at some point. Thanks for sharing the tip!
I can’t find my original post but I said I would give an update. I printed mine in white Overture PLA. This summer in Texas has been extremely hot. I have had zero issues with my system melting or warping. The water runs 24/7 and sits on my gazebo. It has not been exposed to the extreme sun but does get the daily heat.
The constant water running through has helped I’m sure. Otherwise PLA would likely deform ina few hours
@@ALLYOURTECH3DP I would think the same. However I printed an anti squirrel shield for my bird feeders with the same PLA and it has not warped at all. Perhaps the white color is helping but I’m impressed so far.
Nice roundup! Thanks!
hi, you can print a dispersion nozzle and put it on the end of the tube/pipe to distribute the waterflow more evenly.
And then put your pump on a timer like 2mins on 10mins off. So the roots will get exposed to some air/o2, and roots love o2
The like count was at 999 when I got here. Feels good
Woohoo! Thanks for being number 1,000!
where did you get the lid youre using, with the locking tabs? its not in the files.
same i looked at all older models and cant find it anywhere ????
I keep a reef tank, I would recommend hitting a pet store or pet section of a store and getting a pump built for a 55g or 75g tank at max. Since you are going straight up, you could probably get away with just the 55g.
pond pumps typically have higher head pressure, which is what you need for vertical lift. I do actually use DC powered aquarium pumps myself though as they are quiet, energy efficient, variable speed, and have run dry / clogging protection circuits. They are also about $80 though.
Cool! Thanks for showing this!
Thanks for watching!
Perfect, thank you for sharing
Looks like a 6 foot head pump. That means it will pump your 800 gallons 6ft vertical from the pumps location.
Great Video! The only thing I would recommend is changing out the black cups to white as the Black will get really hot and can burn the plant's roots.
Even a fairly small aquarium pump would work well enough (so long as you don't go more than 5 feet in height or so, but since you are sending the pumped water through a tube, it can be the smaller tubing and will still make it up to the top piece and then drain down nicely. Other than that, I absolutely love this design. Great vertical hydroponic system. I will be making two buckets to grow items inside - I am following the basic structure of the Gardyn system. I am making a rectangular box larger than the bucket sections and zip-tying 4 foot long grow lights to the 4 corner pieces of the stand (made out of PVC pipe) and with everything plugged into a smart multi-outlet fixture on the wall, I can set the pump to circulate for 5 minutes, off for 5 minutes all day long and the lights to be on 16 hours a day. All of it automated. Oh, and I added a nutrient solution level indicator so I don't have to try to see how much is in the bucket. Take a piece of that larger, clear tubing...you might want to 3D print an elbow, but the 90 degree elbow (like the ones used in misting systems) and make a hole LOW on the bucket so the elbow is pushed through a rubber grommet that restricts water coming through the hole you've made and once you mount that tubing and fill the bucket, the tubing will fill with the nutrient water and equalize to what is in the bucket. Easy to see the water level without looking inside!
I was thinking of maybe actually running the water from a fish tank through this before it goes into the filter kinda like they do with aquaponics systems (supposedly the fish waste in the water is super good for the plants and helps them grow better!)
@@andy_warb You might do some research. Somewhere I read that fish waste "fresh from the tank" can be toxic to plants. Remember, there are underwater plants that evolved to survive with and in an environment of fish waste, but the plants we are talking about are food plants with very specific nutrient requirements. Just a suggestion....
Just for clarification, PLA melting point is usually around 170°C and 180°C. I think you meant that it will reach it's glass transition temperature at about 60°C, which is definitely possible outside in summer.
It deforms in high outdoor temps.
@@ALLYOURTECH3DP yep, when it exceeds it's glass transition temperature. That's not melting though. That was the clarification.
Is this filament considered food safe?
You need to print the water deflector that goes on top of the diffuser. That will stop the geyser.
It’s in there, I had to restrict the water flow as well from the oversized pump. Otherwise it just blows the deflector off
adding a tube through the center would optimize this system. just the hose from the pump to the bottom planter section would simplify adding additional segments without re-running the hose.
There is a tube through the center
Nice idea. Some interlocking bits with o rings and a tube through the center. Could even use the existing tube cut into lengths the same height as the sections, and a mating mechanism between each section!
Wish I could afford it but it’s out of the question I do love the designs maybe someday I’ll get enough money
Outstanding.
I love the concept of vertical hydroponics, but I tried a very similar design three years ago with a 3D printed tower from PETG. It worked great in the beginning, but after a while (months) it started growing mold and algae (?) because the print wasn't really solid, but had a lot of little cavities. Maybe works better with a 100% infill -- I used less than that. Pump pressure indeed was significant, my tower was around 150 cm high with a fitting pump. Tell me what you think.
And by the wasy, thanks for the video, I am convinced we should explore these technics
I found the color of the tower matters. I ended up printing a green tower and didn't have any algae issue. I do take the tower apart and clean it once a season, otherwise, it has held up well.
Printing. I have a lot of spare white PLA, so going to go with that for now. When/if it melts, I'll change to PETG, which is usually my go-to functional material anyway.
I also plan on sealing the prints somehow, likely food-safe epoxy to coat the inside, which will hopefully prevent "stuff" from coming through the layers.
I’ve had 2 pla skulls baking outside in the sun for 2 years now. I can’t tell any difference from when they were first printed
I imagine it will be fine- its water cooled
does the pump work 24/7 or is there a programmable clock if so what is the timing
does each plant have a different timing?
thanks a lot
I disagree with you on the mateirals. Use PLA. its more of a food safe bio polymer and if you printed in white, and combined with the fact that its water cooled... melting is not an issue. Avoid colors as the UV will ruin the color pretty quickly
You might have pushed me over the edge to add an FDM printer to the shop!
I was hoping in your follow-up video for this you could going to some of the settings that you used and maybe recommend a good printer for this as this will be my first printer for me and my son
Seriously. How much was it to print each piece?
Looking forward to the follow up!
I bought a 3d printer to print this hydroponic system. why buy a system when i can print it myself.... and then lots of other cool things. The printer will arrive tomorrow. I am very excited!
Superb!
11:40 layerhight doesn't affect the amount of filament you use dude. but wallthicknes does for example and the amount of infill. hope this helps.
Great tips, thanks for the correction
@@ALLYOURTECH3DP you are welcome :)
Really need a larger reservoir or a pressure compensating constant/intermittent water source. A few mature plants Will use up that bucket in a day or two?
From personal experience!
When mine are outside I have a drip irrigation line running to the bucket so it gets filled daily. That seems to get the job done, otherwise I agree. On hot days, mid-summer it needs daily refills.
@@ALLYOURTECH3DP What I will do also- put on existing drip line system.
What I love is that this system makes it possible for people like me who have limited mobility - can garden from wheelchair!
Love the design
Neat! Looking forward to trying this. Thoughts on using PP filament?
Better because less chance of micro plastics
New to 3d printing and hydroponics. Can I use a Qidi X-Max 3 printer with PETG filament for this?
Great video! Thanks in advance!
This is pretty cool, but I want to know, how long does the pump have to stay on?
That's a great question. From my research ~5minutes per hour is all the plants need. I haven't hooked mine up to a controller yet, but that's where I plan to start. Right now it is just running 24/7
You can get a smart plug and it can be set up to your needed time lengths without much difficulty.
When you 3D printed the parts, did you use any additional post-processing techniques to make the parts more waterproof, e.g., annealing, sanding, etc.?
No, I don’t do any post processing. PETG tends to hold up well with water. The only area that can sometimes leak is at the joints, but that hasn’t caused any functional issues
It will only provide water to each selected plant, so an umbrella top, will be required, so that the top does not need to look like a bridge to no where, if there is a diffuser, (like the head in your bathroom tub/shower), … & it must diffuse the water, in a drip methodology, … so, incorporating sectional pieces of the shower head options, will greatly insure that each plant gets the desired amount of feed precipitation, to create really great plant growth, …
great video thanks for everything!!
Where did you get your STL for the spacers between the 3 way pieces? I have the model printed but didnt have that in my sources. I'm printing a work around I designed but hoping you might be able to direct me to a STEP or STL. Thanks!
Absolutely incredible. what printer would you recommend for someone just starting out. Do you have a website?
The 3-way section i printed on a bambulab x1 carbon in just 3 hours with a 0.6 nozzle and 0.42 layer height
Awesome, definitely hoping to see a followup. I assume it's a relatively small variety of tomato you've put in?
Hello. Really enjoy your channel very well done and to the point well done. The pump your using works well but you are correct you can really power down on your pump will be find at a trickle. ALSO would one of these small novice type printers like the Ender 3 V2 suffice at making a few of these or would it burn out fairly quickly. Not in market for commercial printer just something under $500 I could have fun with. Thanks sup vid.
where can we get the print files for the one you showed at the end with the spacers?
PS the link for the files in the discription is not viable atm, pls help...
Ty
Have you thought about using Hemp pla/ filaflex purifier 82a, or olivine pla? The Hemp and olivine filament capture carbon and the filaflex purifies the air
I haven't looked at any of those filaments, but thank you for letting me know about them. Sounds like a fun research project!
Can you post a link for them?
I'd look into possibility of lead contamination. Brass often contain lead, and so all the plastic might pick up on some of that lead.
This stuff without everything being in stainless steel is definitely not even remotely food safe, but maybe it's good enough for this. You'd also have to look up your filament and it's contents.
I use diamond nozzles on my printers, so unlikely to be an issue. For the filament, there are several brands of PETG that are food safe. I would select one based on that criteria as you suggested.
Awesome
Question 🙋🏻♂️ does the Water circulate like a water fountain ⛲️ or is the hose running all the time ?
Yes, the water circulates with a pump similar to a fountain.
Bravo this will help i am preting one also.
“Other plants like mars… and … mars” 🤯
do this but as an areoponics set up. it would use less water an energy. also you could get away with much cheaper pumps. I guess I need to get the 3D printer going again and build one for the top of my aquarium.
Is there live protein on mars, can we make burgers up there.
Thank you for this video. I’d like to use .6mm nozzle . Which settings do i need to change on the code ? Thanks in advance.
In the middle of printing this system, thank you so much for sharing it! I found the link on Printables, but the hollow version of the 3-way module seems to be missing (it's available as gcode but not STL). I notice that the customized version you uploaded is slightly modified so that the walls are printed just as perimeters with no infill; the STL that I got by converting the gcode back to STL is much thicker, and uses infill like you mentioned in this video.
Do you happen to have a STL for the hollow-bottomed 3-way module that you figured out, and would you be willing to add it to the files on Printables? Thanks a bunch!
How or worh what do you clean the tower parts? Did a first time print and grow this summer and it is now dirty with mold.
Help! In the file, my lid file is one large piece that is too large for my print bed. Yours has pieces that you've bolted together. Am I missing something in the file? I have all the parts printed but that one.
I'm excited to build my own. But link in the description are broken, not in stock. Can you renew them please? Also, is it safer to use diamond nozzle than steel nozzle for food-safe?
I'm getting all my files ready to print while I wait for my PETG to come in. However, I'm having a hell of a time finding the files for the 5 gallon bucket lid. Any chance you can direct me to where you found those, please?
I’m an idiot. You had the files in your description. I have the thing about 60% printed off. I love it already!
Question : how do you put the plants into the net pots. Like do you just stuff dirt into it then plant a plant and put it into one of the 9 holes or will the dirt just be washed my the water?
that is what the rock wool is for!
Hydroponics does not require any dirt. Most people use rock wool or Coco Coir now
I just got a Bambu Lab X1 Carbon. Are you worrier at all for micro plastics getting into the food?
Hi dude, Do you think the crop turns out better because of the spacers between each Planter? Thanks :)
The spacers are pretty necessary for the plants as they get larger. My tomatoes had probably 3 foot roots after just a couple months. I keep them on the lowest tier so they can grow into the bucket.
how many "Lock" pieces make up the 5gal Lid. Not much explained with the print files..
Isn't the jury still out whether or not it's safe to grow things in PETG?
Probably. Some PETG filament is “food safe”, but once printed who knows. You could always add a layer of epoxy if you are concerned though I suppose.
Since my wife looked at your video she got me to print one, good job
Im printing it now but wow does it take for ever and to find the right parameter in Cura with that Petg im still adjusting to much stringing. Any hints loll Anycubic printer
I would print a temperature tower to get the right temperature for your PETG. From there you might also increase the retraction. Between those two you should be able to get rid of the stringing.
Thanks for the advice, I think I got it sorted out!! Great video btw!
Quick question, should the water be turned on/off for a few minutes? like 15minutes on, and then 30 off
Yes, and the length of time off will depend on where you live, how hot it is outside, etc. Ithink I'm doing 5 on 15 off currently, and the plants are doing well.
But is the material used for the 3-d printer food grade? Would they leach chemicals into the water which will go into the roots and plant?
PETG is food safe, you shouldn't use it for actual eating out of it though, if you don't smooth out the roughness from FDM printing first. For what we see here it's totally fine out of the printer tho.
I absolutely love this whole system. However, I finished putting together the lid yesterday and it won't fit on my bucket 😢 Has this happened to anyone else?
FYSA, white filament contains titanium dioxide that acts as an abrasive. Printing enough white filament will widen the nozzle diameter, resulting in printing inconsistencies.
Great call out. I use a diamond nozzle for my prints, so it’s a non-issue, but definitely worth discussing for brass.
just came across this video, will difinatly do this, have you thought about solar water pump