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Garden

ECOGIZMO

Volksgarden is a hi-tech hydroponics ferris wheel

By Jeff Salton

22:26 September 23, 2009 PDT

A fully-laden Volksgarden ... a ferris wheel ride for plants that produces optimum growth ...

Veggie and flower-lovers who don’t have much garden space, or whose gardens are deprived of necessary available sunlight, can use the Volksgarden to enjoy simple, clean and effective hydroponics gardening indoors. It’s like a never-ending ferris wheel ride for your plants. The Volksgarden unit has space to grow up to 80 plants at once. Herbs, vegetables, fruits and grains can be harvested easily and continuously without the need for a degree in horticulture. The Volksgarden manufacturers say yields from their product are much greater than other hydroponics methods because plants rotate around the growth-optimizing light source – once every 45 minutes, 24 hours a day. Read More

ECOGIZMO

Arty sunflowers look good and provide power, too

By Paul Ridden

17:38 August 24, 2009 PDT

By day the sunflowers collect the sun's energy to provide power for the LEDs after dark

A boring and unattractive loading area at the rear of a retail development in Austin, Texas is now hidden from view by a collection of 15 huge blue sunflowers, the petals of which collect energy from the sun to power the artwork's LED lighting and generate funds to help towards costs. Whether driving past or walking through the Electric Garden, onlookers will be treated to an awe-inspiring panorama where art meets functionality. Read More

AROUND THE HOME

Roll-out vegie patch for the time-poor (and non-gardeners)

By Karen Sprey

06:13 August 10, 2009 PDT

The Roll-out Veg Mat and Herb Gardens are corrugated cardboard seed mats, pre-sown with fo...

From the ‘it’s so simple, why didn’t I think of that?’ file comes the… Roll-out Veg Mat. Lack of time or a green thumb is no longer an issue (or an excuse). Just roll out the pre-sown-and-fertilized corrugated cardboard seed mat, add soil and water, then sit back and enjoy the fruits – or rather, veg – of your very limited labor. Read More

ECOGIZMO

Vertical Landscapes: The only way is up for green cities

By Darren Quick

06:24 July 28, 2009 PDT

Artists impression of a VES in New York

Demand for office and housing space in ever diminishing land space has led to taller and taller buildings reaching for the skies in cities around the world. This shortage of land in many cities has unfortunately also led to a scarcity of natural vegetation in urban settings. We’ve looked at several vertical-farming concepts - dedicated buildings that provide space to grow crops in city centers - but a new architectural system from Vertical Landscapes (VL) seeks to invite nature back into our cities on a broader scale. The architectural system transforms buildings into columns of vegetation to add a much needed touch of green, help clean the city air and possibly even produce small scale crops, all while retaining the building’s usual use for office or housing space. Read More

OUTDOORS

How does your garden grow? Find out with the Brinno time-lapse camera

By Michael Mulcahy

08:22 July 13, 2009 PDT

Watch flowers bloom (or grass grow) with the Brinno GardenWatchCam's time-lapse photograph...

Budding David Attenboroughs now have a means of creating home-made documentaries of their own gardens with the Brinno GardenWatchCam. A sturdy little time-lapse digital camera, the GardenWatchCam allows you to literally watch grass grow, taking 1.3 megapixel macro images at intervals ranging from one picture a minute to one a day. Read More

ECOGIZMO

The AIR-igator draws water from the air for thirsty gardens

By Michael Mulcahy

20:09 June 29, 2009 PDT

AIR-igator : A 24” diameter, 65 gallon polyethylene tank is buried in the ground and...

At a time of severe water shortages and ever-hotter summers, conservation of water for gardens is increasingly important. But you can only collect rainwater when it’s raining. What about the rest of the time? The AIR-igator ingeniously solves this problem by collecting condensate from air conditioners, storing it and then automatically drip-watering. So, the hotter it gets, the more water your garden gets. Read More

ECOGIZMO

Smart sprinkling with Cyber-rain

By Paul Ridden

04:29 June 26, 2009 PDT

The new control interface now includes a bigger LCD screen and a familiar dial control

With the return of Summer comes the now familiar imposition of water restrictions and the unwelcome return of headaches for gardeners and nursery managers alike. Fortunately, pain relief for lovers of all things horticultural is available in the form of clever green tech known as smart irrigation, which plugs in to online weather information to optimize garden watering and minimize waste. Timing being everything in business (as well as comedy), smart sprinkler manufacturer Cyber-Rain has recently upgraded its range to add more independent zone control, better wireless communication, a simple and clear interface and an enhanced software solution. Read More

AROUND THE HOME

AquaHub conserves H2O in the garden

By Anne Hanrahan

21:03 April 22, 2009 PDT

The AquaHub six-line water management system

With water conservation becoming an increasingly urgent priority in many parts of the world, we're always on the lookout for something that saves on H2O. Described as a "power strip + surge protector for watering outdoors", the AquaHub is a water management tool that connects to a standard garden hose, branching out into six regulated irrigation outlets to pinpoint and cater for the specific needs of different areas within the garden, saving time as well as water. Read More

GOOD THINKING

Vertical farming with seawater

By Darren Quick

04:03 March 24, 2009 PDT

The seawater vertical farm would make another stunning addition to the Dubai skyline
 Pic ...

The saying used to go, ‘only in America’, but in recent years it might be truer to say, ‘only in Dubai’, especially when it comes to architectural wonders. Buildings that would be unfeasible just about anywhere else seem to regularly spring from the ground in the oil rich emirate. The next eye-popping construction to grace the skyline could be a seawater vertical farm that uses seawater to cool and humidify greenhouses and to convert sufficient humidity back in to fresh water to irrigate the crops. Read More

AROUND THE HOME

EasyBloom helps gardeners make the right choices

By Emily Clark

22:33 January 8, 2009 PST

EasyBloom Plant Sensor

Incorporating the same sensor technology used in the NASA Mars Mission, the EasyBloom Plant Sensor from PlantSense helps even the most novice gardener select the right plants for their garden and rescue unhealthy plants from an untimely death. Read More

 
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