Currently building a FarmBot for inside the first story of a corporate office.
Finding a grow bed was difficult as I am avoiding wood due to the potential leakage issues, I instead intend to use a 1m x 2m plastic tub with premade drainage points.
The tub is very deep so am wondering how best to fill it with empty space so I don’t need a crazy amount of soil (and weight!). I am thinking that additional plastic containers placed inside the bin before soil might be a good bet. (I can stand on the containers and weigh 100kg so I think the soil weight will be just fine).
What might the minimum grow depth need to be? My container is 570mm deep and I was considering dropping in containers that are 290mm tall leaving a soil depth of 280mm deep – will that be deep enough?
I see in the build guide that when attaching the rails to the edges of a wooden raised garden bed, that it is done on the outer edge of the wood.
In my case the edges are plastic and are quite thick, appx 65mm-70mm. Would I be wiser to install the tracks on the inside of the plastic tub?? Or can the farmbot software accomodate for different sized grow areas independently of the track width?
It may be worth it for you to meet up with others in NZ or Australia that already have theirs working. Join the Farmbot Genesis Facebook group and see if there’s any Kiwis who would meet up with you.
Marc -Mar 21
Yes! The Farmbot software and hardware can accommodate those dimensions.
What part of the world do you live in?
To answer my own question in full, I was worried about having the large sides of the plastic tub, in case the farmbot could not accomodate for such wide edges.
Turns out you can move your stops inside these areas to physically stop farmbot hitting them (belt ends on X and Y axis)
I could see this sitting inside of a slate type enclosure that could be in the lobby of a corporation. I’ve been thinking about going even smaller in terms of a micro FarmBot designed for house plants and container gardening. It’s great to see your implementation. Best of luck and would love to see how it turns out.
Hooray! Watering loop setup with " Loop-Plants-With-Filters" farmware!
Seeds hand planted, just sorting watering at the moment; water was gravity fed from about 2 metres and was VERY weak, was using 8 second watering times. Have since installed a constant pressure pump which has made the water nozzle spray water very nicely.
We have high water psi in our area (~100 psi)
I am currently waiting for a second water pressure valve to arrive that I will install at the water source. The goal is to bring the entire water system pressure down to <20 psi, and then let the FarmBot-supplied pressure reducer lower to 15 psi, and then only when the solenoid is open.
The type I ordered is this:
Note: I already asked about moving the FarmBot-supplied pressure reducer to the water source, but the FB folks said that the supplied reducer does not fare well if pressurized over long periods of time. It is designed to work only when the solenoid is open, and then only for short periods of time. Over long periods under preusre the device tends to either freeze open or performance degrades.
My pressure reducer is ‘downstream’ of the solenoid so I imagine it should last just fine? This was the way it was shown in the assembly manual - though I found it counter-intuitive. I had guessed before referencing the manual that the pressure reducer would be the first part of the FarmBot water system instead of second in line!
yes its indoor, over carpet. the hose broke away from its fitting at the top of the water pump (high pressure side). Buying more expensive (thicker walled) hose has saved it
