G-Towers

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Intro

  • See playlist from Larry Athey - [1]

  • Food Safety Facts - The G-Tower is just as food safe as any other plastic flower pot on the market. The next time you go to a greenhouse or commercial lawn & garden center that sells live plants for your garden, take the time to look for a food safe label on the container that they're growing in or on any other plastic flower pot they have for sale (you stand about a .01% chance of finding such a label). The fact that the G-Tower is made out of ASTM-D2729 drain line means that it is far more resistant to acids, which makes it even more safe than other types of PVC. The only time ASTM-D2729 could possibly be considered unsafe is while it is hot enough to be pliable. But, once it returns to its rigid state, it no longer off-gases like hot pliable or liquid Poly Vinyl Chloride like you would find at the manufacturer. Taking a shower or bath in a house that uses PVC plumbing is far more dangerous than eating any plant grown in a G-Tower because the 135~150 degree (F) water passing through your pipes would potentially release more toxins from the PVC than the 72~78 degree (F) water in any aquaponics system. Considering the fact that hot water opens the pores of your skin and you are far more likely to absorb toxins that way rather than from eating any plant grown in a plastic flower pot or G-Tower, the safety of your own plumbing should be of far more concern to you.

Sourcing

  • Reticulated Urethane foam, artificial soil medium, open pore filter type material, 20-25 Pores Per Inch (PPI), very course.
  • Keith Pavlansky, kpavlansky@hibco.com
  • Larry Athey suggests 2"x3-1/2"x3' pieces, cost of $1/board-foot, or $1.75 per piece, minimum order quantity (MOQ) of $300.

Videos

Example small-scale G-Tower based home aquaponics system that only requires a 4x4 foot corner in any room.

Hibco Plastics materials - artificial soil medium foam explained - interview of Hibco's Keith Pavlansky by David Cunningham of Smart Grow Technologies.

How to plant the G-Towers with no need for netpots or commercially manufactured plant starter plugs.

Links