this is a remix of Dani's Indoor Grow Towers

Miniature, Modular, Indoor Grow Towers

What is this?

These are hydroponic1 grow towers! The concept isn't new, and it's pretty straightforward: Instead of planting in soil, you plant in a loose medium like perlite or coco peat. Rather than the plants deriving nutrients from the growing medium, nutrients are dissolved in water, and that water is circulated through the system to deliver moisture and nutrients to the plants' roots. Because the water is recirculated and delivered directly to plants' roots, grow towers can be extremely water-efficient! Because nutrients are dissolved in the water itself, it's easy to control exactly what you put into the system, which means you can tailor it to the needs of whatever you've planted.

That said, I'm only a novice gardener, so I take a more simple approach: I use a general-purpose nutrient solution for all of my grows, and it seems to work out great for things like herbs and tomatoes! Hydroponic gardening can be as in-depth or as straightforward as you want it to be; it can be easy to start, and the complexity of the hobby can grow alongside your level of experience. :)

All of the parts in this project are designed to be 3D-printable without supports, and they're modular, meaning you can choose how many "planter" modules to put together to build your tower.

The planter modules come in two varieties: modules which fit a single 80mm net-pot per module; and modules which fit three 50mm net-pots per module. These net pots are easy to find at your local hydroponics shop or online if you don't have a shop nearby. For most herbs, lettuces, and even fruiting vegetables like tomatoes and peas, I recommend starting with the 50mm modules. Whereas you would normally need to use pots large enough to contain a plant's entire root system, net pots are designed to allow the root system to grow beyond the pot and down into the tower itself, so as long as a plant's base can fit in the diameter of the pot, you're golden!

What can I grow in these?

Pretty much anything except root vegetables! Lettuces, herbs, and peas are an easy place to start. Tomatoes are pretty easy too! It could even be fun to grow ornamentals in the towers, but my primary goal is to get people growing their own food.

How do I get started? What do I need?

First things first: Talk to the folks at your local hydroponics shop. They're going to know way, way more than me about hydroponics and about growing plants in general. They'll be able to recommend nutrient solutions, pH buffers, and tools. More importantly, they'll likely be able to advise you about hydroponics safety. Not only does hydroponics involve the use of some simple chemicals like acidic and alkaline solutions for balancing pH, but a hydroponics system improperly tended to can become host to unwanted pathogens. The following advice is general in nature.

To get started, you'll need a few items outside of the tower itself:

Non-printable components:

A submersible pump to sit in the tower reservoir.2 I use Aqua One Maxi 103 pumps in my towers, but your hydroponics shop can advise you. You'll need to compare the height of your tower to the pump's maximum head height. If your tower is taller than that head height, your pump will struggle to push water to the top! If the maximum head height is significantly higher than the height of your tower, you may end up with too much water pressure for the system to handle.
An outlet timer to switch your pump on and off automatically.2 I recommend a cycle of 15 minutes on, then one hour off.
A way to adapt your pump's outlet to 13mm tubing.
A length of 13mm tubing equal to the distance from your pump's outlet to shower head inlet about halfway up the "chimney module" -- that's the module at the top into which the shower head is inserted.
A bucket to serve as your system's reservoir. At the moment, the design suits only Ayva brand 5L buckets. These are an Australian make of bucket commonly available individually at Bunnings Warehouse under the brand name Handy Pail. My hope is that as people take notice of the project, folks will contribute revised bucket lid designs suitable for buckets available in countries other than Australia.
Either 50mm or 80mm net pots. While I haven't included a design for those in this project, there are actually a ton of available printable versions!

Tools:

A pH meter is really important to make sure your nutrient solution is in the right pH range for your plants.
Eyedroppers are a great way to dispense the small amounts of buffer needed to balance your nutrient solution's pH.
A small graduated cylinder or conical medicine measure -- that's what I use -- is perfect for measuring out concentrated nutrient solution for mixing. Conical medicine measures can be found at chemists (pharmacies), and they're very inexpensive.

Consumables:

Concentrated nutrient solution
Hydroponics acid, often called "pH down"3
Hydroponics base, often called "pH up"3
It's best practice -- many would say a must -- to use a cleaning agent to sterilize your tower as much as possible before planting and filling with nutrient solution. The folks at your local hydroponics shop can advise you.
A planting medium. I prefer perlite for its excellent drainage, but coco peat is a perfectly valid option too. Your local hydroponics shop can advise you.
Water of course!
Your local hydroponics shop can advise you about other additives to help keep your system healthy.

Optional stuff if you wanna go wild:

A grow lamp
A grow tent
A little fan to help air circulate through your plants
A trellis or trainer and twine is quite helpful for plants like peas and tomatoes.

How many modules should I use?

I recommend starting with just one or two of the 50mm planter modules. Each 50mm module will give you three net-pot receptacles, and you may be surprised by how much water your chosen plants will consume once they reach a decent size. One of the limitations of these towers as they are is the reservoir size. At 5L, the reservoir can be drained pretty quickly by a fully populated, reasonably tall tower! However, I've also provided what I'm calling a "bulkhead fitting", which can be fastened with screws to larger reservoir lids as an alternative to the printable bucket lid for those who want to try building larger systems (or even systems with multiple towers attached to the same large reservoir).
This is some info on hydroponics

https://extension.psu.edu/homegrown-hydroponics

https://extension.psu.edu/hydroponics-systems-nutrient-solution-programs-and-recipes

https://extension.psu.edu/hydroponics-systems-calculating-nutrient-solution-concentrations-using-the-two-basic-equations

pots;

https://www.crealitycloud.com/model-detail/641f451631dc5492d10b77a1?source=5&isFree=false

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3551847

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3536760

Remix of Dani's Indoor Grow Towers - indoor hydro growing

0.2mm layer, 4 walls, 15% infill

0.2mm layer, 4 walls, 15% infill

0.2mm layer, 2 walls, 15% infill