Hydroponics

Notes on growing food hydroponically through the winter in an unheated-ish garage — built around a 3D-printed Vertical Garden: Large Hydroponic Vegetable Tower (archive) from MakerWorld.

The model page blocks automated fetching, so the tower details here come from a PDF printout of the page (captured 2026-11-01), summarized in The Tower. The model’s own page is the authority on parts and print settings.

Pages

• The Tower: Parts, Pot, and Pump — what the MakerWorld design needs besides printed parts, pot and pump requirements, assembly order, print notes, and what its commenters changed
• Hydroponics 101 — how a tower works, how often to run the pump and feed, pH/EC targets, weekly upkeep, and the best crops to start with
• Seed Starting for Hydroponics — rockwool and plug starts, germination temperatures, lighting, and when to move seedlings into the tower
• Garage Grow Setup — lights, heat, timers, meters, and a shopping list for a winter garage