Built a project box for wirelessly controlling lights on our mobile green wall via our Zigbee mesh network and Hubitat hub. Now, these lights seamlessly join lighting scenes controlled by voice, app, or household events.
Category: Apartment Gardening
Dimming Fail
Settled on black gooseneck lights for our climbing plants. As a prototype, ordered one light from IKEA which arrived today. It’s almost perfect, it’s almost invisible, but it’s not dimmable. The bulb can’t be swapped, so back it goes and the search continues.
Catching the Sun
Today’s early morning sun highlighted Dwight’s use of grouping, repetition and height on an industrial wheeled pallet.
Cactus Blooms, Christmas Looms
Our Christmas cactus is living up to its name, with many buds still waiting to open. We won’t assemble the tree for another week, but Dwight is busy creating two or three gingerbread houses using his architectural LEGO.
Thanksgiving 2023
It’s finally time for dessert: Dwight’s apple crisp and whipped cream. Life is good. Grateful. Table centerpiece by LEGO from a kit, rolling plant racks by Dwight with lighting by Tom.
Lighting a Moveable Vertical Garden
Researched unobtrusive nighttime front lighting for plants on a vertical grid on a moveable rack. Tried various paradigms, including: green wall, large artwork, trade show display, and wall wash. The sun shows backlighting is also a possibility.
Earthy Comeback
Dwight sterilized soil for our next batch of microgreens, the last batch having succumbed to fungus. The kitchen was filled with an earthy scent, which was not unpleasant. He sterilizes the seeds in diluted hydrogen peroxide.
Sunscreen on Wheels
Our wheeled garden is on the move. This rolling rack now keeps the afternoon sun off the kitchen island at dinnertime, reducing the need to lower the blinds.
Plants Without Roots
I played with LEGO while Dwight worked on the apartment garden. It’s a lot of work to keep all the plants happy. He recently acquired some new epiphytes, Tillandsia (rootless air plants). Here, the automated misting system is providing them with the moisture they need to thrive.
Houseplant Corral
Consolidated houseplants so they could be hooked up to our irrigation system. Periodic misting runs automatically but Dwight prefers to initiate watering himself, even when we’re traveling. Two cameras provide visual and auditory evidence that the system is operating correctly.