Research

 Problem:

We found that the problem was that the people of these flats had no personal garden spaces. To combat this we thought a balcony garden would be the best idea. Using hydroponics they could grow their own garden right on the balcony.

Hydroponics:

Growing plants in a water holdings with no or little soil.

Marijuana-wick-grow-systems

 

Positives of Hydroponics:

  • No soil is needed for hydroponics
  • The water stays in the system and can be reused - thus, lower water costs
  • It is possible to control the nutrition levels in their entirety - thus, lower nutrition costs
  • No nutrition pollution is released into the environment because of the controlled system
  • Stable and high yields
  • Pests and diseases are easier to get rid of than in soil because of the container's mobility
  • It is easier to harvest
  • No pesticide damage

Negatives

  • Expenses
  • Not easy to use
  • Different nutrient strengths for different plants
  • Electricity
  • Needs pumps
  • Difficult to learn
  • High maintenance

While hydroponics has many advantages for an avid gardener, we found with our research that this would not be suitable for tenants of these flats. So we re thought our ideas and looked at the features of what we wanted to include in the hydroponics garden, to see what we could carry over to our new design.

Originally we wanted a workbench area attached to the garden to make it an all in one experience and acitivity. We would still use this idea, and have planter boxes that look much the same as the original concept, but without the hydroponic kit.

A compost bin would be added to this workbench area and would be an important feature as it would encourage recycling and be reusable on their garden.