Boxfarm benefits

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What you can achieve with boxfarm:

1. Plant almost anything anywhere -- small corners, rooftops, backyard, driveway etc.
2. No green fingers required -- it's so simple anyone can do it.
3. No need to water the plants everyday. The water reservoir needs to be topped up at longer intervals.
4. No need to apply fertilisers regularly -- slow release fertiliser strip takes care of this through one planting cycle.
5. No need to till the soil -- it's kept aerated and moisturised by the system
6. No weedings and less insect and plant disease problems
7. It's fuss free and clean -- this is important in home gardens because after all it's your house, it's not a farm.
8. Get your own really natural organic vegetables and fruits.
9. It has been proven this way of planting produces better crops with a shorter time to harvest.


Commercial applications :

Boxfarm can be applied on a commercial scale. In addition to the above advantages, boxfarm offers the following advantages:-

1. No environmental contamination due to leaching of fertilisers:
In normal farming, fertiliser eventually runs off and seeps into the water system and contaminates the environment. If you use boxfarm, the fertiliser is kept within the box, the slow release means the fertiliser is completely used up by the plants.

2. No fertiliser wastage :
In farms fertiliser get washed away by rains. In boxfarming, the plastic cover over the box prevents the rain from washing away the fertiliser. Thus preventing fertiliser wastage. This can mean substantial savings in commercialised boxfarming.

3. Topography independent:
Box farming is topograpgy independent. In a farm you do not necessarily get a perfect piece of flat land. There will be hilly and rough terrains which cannot be ordinarily farmed. There may be areas which are solid rocks with no top soil to farm. With boxfarm, you can plant anywhere and make every square foot of land productive.
Boxfarming allows the possibility of farming on barren, arid lands!

4. Soil independent:
In normal farming, you have to farm the type of plants that thrive best on the soil of your farm. That may mean farming something which may not necessarily be the best cash crop. With box farming, you can plant almost anything you want -- just use the right potting mix.

5. Minimal soil preparation:
Lots of effort is required in farming to prepare the soil before planting the crops. With box farming. this is minimised. Labour savings can be substantial.

6. The menace of flooding:
Flooding almost always wipe out the crops. With box farm, low flooding is no problem. If the flood level is below the excess water discharge hole of the box (about 5" above the ground) the flood has no impact whasoever. If the flood level rises, boxfarm allows you to salvage some of your crops by simply raising the boxes or re-positioning them on some higher ground temporarrily. Boxfarm is a mobile planting system!!
Boxfarming allows the planting of crops in low-lying flood prone areas. Simply arrange some stacking structures for the boxes.

7. Higher prices with better crops at shorter harvest:
The better crops produced by boxfarming means you command better prices. The shorter time to harvest means you get your crops to market at the beginning of the season where prices are higher.

8. The lower maintenance cost:
Less watering, weeding, tillage, fertilising, insects and diseases --- all these mean significantly lower maintenance cost for the commercial farmer.

9. Simultaneous planting:
Whilst one crop is maturing, you can start seeding in nurseries much earlier so that when one crop is harvested, you are immediately ready to plant the next crop. The production turnarround time is reduced significantly. The financial benefits in this is very substantial.

10. No need for crop rotation:
Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of dissimilar types of crops in the same space in sequential seasons for various benefits such as to avoid the build up of pathogens and pests that often occurs when one species is continuously cropped. Crop rotation also seeks to balance the fertility demands of various crops to avoid excessive depletion of soil nutrients. A traditional component of crop rotation is the replenishment of nitrogen through the use of green manure in sequence with cereals and other crops. It is one component of polyculture. Crop rotation can also improve soil structure and fertility by alternating deep-rooted and shallow-rooted plants.
Crop rotation means less options for the farmer. You can't plant what you want...which is the best cash crop that gives you max returns.
This is a non-issue with boxfarming. You can simply replace the potting mix and continue to grow what is best for you.

11. No time lost for land to fallow:
Farm land needs to be rested or allowed to fallow. This is an unproductive time. With boxfarming, there is no need to fallow. Just change the potting mix after several cycles and continue to be productive.

12. Organic farming -- no waiting time:
To convert to organic farming the land needs to be prepared and a waiting period of about 3 years for all prior fertiliser and insecticide chemicals to be washed away by nature. That's 3 years out of cash for the farmer! With box farmer, you can convert to organic farming anytime and serve a higher end market.

13. Increasing the farming space:
Boxfarms can be stacked. A simple structure can be set up to allow the boxes to be staked up 2 and maybe even 3 levels. In this way, the farming space can be increased 10% to 20% which can mean an incredible increase in revenues.


Conclusion:
Boxfarming indeed has such great potential for commercial application. The initial capital outlay for the boxes will be quickly outstipped by the rich paybacks that boxfarming offers.


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Boxfarm - the design

Planter Box :
Hard bodied box, anti-UV and strong enough for most vegetables and small plants. Can be used as a simple stand alone, or with optional staking systems or racking systems.
Box is tapered for stackability.
Size: 30” x 15” x H12”. Water – 2.2 gallons

The Diaphragm:
This is a screen to separate the box into sections – one for the soils mix and a water reservoir area beneath it. The Diaphragm is made of material strong enough to hold the soil mix. It has small perforated holes to promote aeration. The holes are not big enough to permit the soil to fall through. There is another hole cut through for the Water Filling Tube to hold up. Five other larger holes are for access to the Wicking Chambers.

The Diaphragm keeps the soil mix from being soaked in water which would have killed the plants.

Wicking Chambers:
These are like perforated cups whose function is to contain soil mix. Water from the Water Reservoir seeps into these Wicking Chambers and by capillarity water is drawn up into soil mix above the Diaphragm. The soil in the Wicking Chambers act like wickers in a kerosene lamp – its function is to drawn up water.

In this way, soil mix is kept moisturised. There is sufficient moisture in the soil for the plants all the time. When the soil is moisturised, it acts on the fertiliser strip causing a slow, controlled and continuous release of nutrients for the plants.

For plants that require less moisture, the number of Wicking Chambers may be reduced simply by blocking the openings on the Diaphragm with a piece of wood etc, and leaving the Wicker Chamber empty.

The cups making the Wicking Chambers also double as supports for the Diaphragm.

This method means – no need for daily watering the plants!

Water Reservoir:
Water is filled in the planter box up to a level about ½” below the Diaphragm. The gap between the water reservoir and the Diaphragm helps to aerate the soil mix. To ensure that the water level never touches the Diaphragm there is a Water Overflow Hole just slightly below the Diaphragm. This perforation on the box allows excess water to flow out.

Note: To prevent the Water Reservoir from becoming a refuge for mosquitoes, simply tape a piece of fabric at the top of the hole and let the fabric overhang and cover the hole. In this way, water may flow out, but insects can not get in.

No need for daily watering of plants! Unfortunately, periodic refilling of the water reservoir is still required. Nevertheless, this method saves a lot on the water bill. In normal watering, the water eventually seeps down into the earth and much more of the water is need to ensure the soil iis kept moisturised for some time..

Water Filling Tube:
This tube protrudes through the soil mix and reaches the base of the box. Water is poured through this tube to refill the Reservoir. The base of the tube is tapered to prevent the tube from being blocked by sediments that will prevent refilling.

Aeration Tube:
This is an open-ended tubing with many perforations. The tube protrudes on both sides of the planter box drawing air in. Its function is to help in the aeration of the soil mix. Before the tube is placed in position, it is wrapped in a breathable fabric, or some fine netting. This is to prevent soil from filling up and cutting off air flow. The tube is position somewhere in the middle of the soil mix.

No need for tilling! The soils is kept sufficiently aerated throughout..

Fertiliser Strip:
Fertiliser is placed in a strip of a few inches across the box right on the top of the soil mix. Along the mould of the soil, create a small trough and pour the dry fertiliser along the length. Then use some moisturised soil and cover the fertiliser strip.

How much fertiliser and what type to use:-
Use only dry fertiliser (powder form) and not those that require mixing with water.
Use about 2 cups of fertiliser. For organic fertilisers, use 3 cups.

The continuous moisturising of the soil allows the fertiliser to be released slowly over time. In this way, the plants receive continuous and sufficient amount of nutrients for one growing cycle. (Plant growth suffers with no nutrients and too much nutrients can kill the plants.)

No need for laborious regular fertilising!

Plastic Cover:
The planter box is covered with a plastic sheet with appropriate ‘X’ cut openings for the plants to grow through. This plastic cover acts as a mulch:
- It shelters the soil mix from rain. Rain water would have caused all the fertiliser to be washed away. Too much nutrients in the soil would have badly affected plant growth, as well as wastage of fertilisers.
- It prevents the soil from compacting after heavy rain.
- If prevents weed growth. Weed is really irritating. Time and effort is required to de-weed, and the weeds also consume the nutrients meant for the plants.
- The plastic cover helps prevent insects from getting to the soil.
- If insecticides are used on the plants, the plastic cover minimises the chemicals from getting into the soil mix.
- It helps inn regulating moisture in the soil. In cold climate the plastic cover helps retain soil heat, and in hot weather, it helps repel some of the sun heat.

The soil should by filled up to the brim with a moulded centre. This way the plastic cover will not sag to the centre and trap rain water.

For good thermal effect, light coloured plastic covers should be used in hot climate areas and dark colours for cold climate areas.

Staking system:
Simple system that make use of the weight of the box for anchorage and stability.

Base plate tucked under the box for stability .Flexible clamps on vertical support enable the horizontal support to be fixed at any height.Flexible clamps on the horizontal support allow stakes to be fixed at any position. Any number of stakes may be attached.Stakes comme in different lengths.If needed to support 2 rows of plants, use additional cross supports as show

Why grow your own vegetables

Are you :
- Frustrated of being held captive by the recent spat of sharp food price increases?
- Wary of what vendors spray onto vegetables and fruits to make them greener, and last longer on the shelves?
- Sick of use of excessive and banned fertilisers by farmers?
- Fearful of unwarranted use of questionable additives to make crops mature faster ?

If you are frustrated, wary, sick and fearful just like me, maybe it's time to consider doing a bit of farming ourselves.

I appreciate the turn off :
- Don't have the land to farm
- Don't know nuts about farming
- Expensive and not cost-effective
- Laborous and messy

I came across something on the internet recently. It's called Earthbox. It's a unique box designed to make backyard farming very simple, productive, and requiring very small footprints. By using the earthbox, any idiot can grow his own salad easily. You can grow anywhere -- in the backyard, at rooftops, some small little corner. Basically, it's a self-watering contraption, with slow-fertiliser release and continuous moisturised potting mix.

The bad news is, it's not cheap. The good news is, it really works remarkably well and the concept is easily duplicated. You can just go collect some plastic containers and knock in place something similar. It won't look as good, but it will do the same job.

I intend to construct some myself using fibreglass for the box. My design will take into consideration the much higher rate of evaporation in our tropical country. I will post in the next few days the drawings and explanations for the concept.

For those of you interested in planting some vegetables yourself, stay tuned in. I will show you green fingers are not required to create your own vegetable garden. Forget about those hydrophonic systems at rooftops. Does all those water pipes running all over the place, the water flowing all the time, the fertilisers circulating everywhere, make you cringe? You will have none of that. It's really very simple.

Apart from the box design, I am also putting together a collection of vegetables grown in Philippines which you can try to plant yourself.

Chiao for now.