A cranky biologist who means well. My hobbies include long walks off short piers and anything science related.
Nice response. It is so strange the conventional ‘wisdom’ around bamboo. And it’s usually people with no actual experience with the plant.
I mean, you clearly mentioned they are in containers (which incidentally may be the reason the culms aren’t expanding fully, few bamboos do well in containers and balcony conditions can be very harsh). I swear people think that it will crawl out and take over your town overnight.
Great idea and you actually built it!
I wonder if ‘marketing’ this site to journalists artists or writers who have tried in good faith to represent solarpunk would help it get momentum?
I am quite sick of the the trees-on-buildings trope as a symbol for solarpunk ideas. The world we want to build is so much richer than that!
They didn’t pick any sites in Colorado because we would fuck their shit up. We actually use our public lands.
This is just Sagebrush Rebellion bullshit. Their butt-hurt is still throbbing from the fact the Feds sought to protect delicate landscapes from short-sighted trashy troglodytes.
Here is the canonical list:
Love the idea, but capacitative sensors like this do degrade somewhat quickly. If you bump them, your calibration curve is no longer valid. Putting all of your electronics a centimeter from the soil, which will also be watered is also a mistake.
An esp32 dev board, a motor board and an unpluggable replaceable sensor makes so much more sense from a practical standpoint.
I feel the wave of exhaustion you are talking about. Everyone is in a different place, but the common experience of ‘hold up a minute’ during Covid has changed us all, somehow.
It’s going to be a long, hot summer here in the Northern hemisphere and everyone is in a ‘mood’. I can’t say exactly what shenanigans will occur, but I guarantee the Summer of '24 will be one for the history books.
Well, a much larger pot for sure. One challenge on a balcony is plants dry out much faster than inside due to wind and direct sun. The extra soil will help hold enough water. Basil don’t like getting wilted. Perhaps avoid terracotta too since they dry out even faster due to being porous.
It shouldn’t escape for it has no where to go! It’s on a third story above an asphalt parking lot. I harvested the seeds and took all the plants down just a couple weeks ago.
The three buckets each have different roles (starting from the right): electronics enclosure, water reservoir with a 5v pump, soil. So, no tap or electricity on the balcony. I have to schlep water about once a week, not too bad.
OP here responding to popular demand.
The solar waterer uses a 5v solar panel, a dfrobot charge controller and a Wemos D1 Mini clone board driving a relay. My proudest achievement is the uptime shown in the last pic. 55 days since last reboot and that was an intentional update of the tasmota firmware. All on solar and a 10500mah battery, no external power.
I have high hopes that the recycling market will catch up. There is strong economic incentive. Solar panels are a somewhat ‘concentrated’ (value-dense) form of garbage with a known form factor, so the costs of recycling can be predicted and the process optimized.
It will require some capital input, but because the end of life can be very reliably projected, the return can be calculated. Most reports I’ve seen say the equation is favorable.
However, this is also intriguing from an architectural standpoint. Use the unique color and texture of the panels as a design element has some possibilities. I’m imagining cutting the panels into ‘shakes’ and using them as a siding material.
Sounds about ideal! Even the clumpers like to have all the room they can get. I’ve been able to get phyllostachys nigra to grow well in larger containers, giving them ample room and excellent soil prep as you describe.
Good luck! I love bamboo