Vertical Garden Systems Research Articles

Performance of Ornamental Plants in Different Media Composition for Outdoor Vertical Gardening: Experimental Investigation

The present experiment was carried out during August 2022 to November 2022 in Research Field , Department of Horticulture SHUATS, Prayagraj. The experiment was conducted in Factorial Plot Design (FPD) with five media composition i.e (Soil, Perlite, Sand, Cocopeat,) in different proportion viz. M0-Soil,M1- Perlite +Cocopeat+Sand 1:1:1,M2- Perlite +Cocopeat+Sand 1:1:2,M3- Perlite+Cocopeat+Sand 1:2:1,M4- Perlite+Cocopeat+Sand 2:1:1 in plastic pot for outdoor vertical gardening. Total number of plants are 150, there are two factors .Five variety and each varieties have five plants with three replication. Second factor is the different types of plant such as Begonia semperflorens, Crassula ovata, Syngonium podophyllum, Coleus scutellarioide, Iresine herbstii. From the present experimental growth parameter and ornamental morphological characters observed. Among the five ornamentals plants used Coleus scutellarioide and Jade performed better as ornamentals plants used in vertical garden system with growing media and the media composition M4 (Perlite+Cocopeat+Sand 2:1:1) is the best media composition for the plant growth.

Çok Kriterli Karar Verme Yöntemleri ile Dikey Bahçe Sistemleri İçin Bitki Tür Seçimi

Vertical gardens are alternative green spaces produced for urban open-green spaces. In this study, the importance of correct plant use is emphasized in order to increase the sustainability of vertical garden systems, which have an important place for urban ecology. Multi-criteria decision making methods were used to determine the right plant. Bornova Metro Station, located in Bornova district of İzmir province, was chosen as a sample application area. The vertical garden application model was determined by SWOT analysis in the sample area. After the SWOT analysis, metal fence systems were determined as the application model, taking into account the environmental conditions, user profiles and application cost. Plant selection criteria were created by taking into account the characteristics of metal-fence systems, Izmir climate norms and expert opinions on the subject. Then, 68 alternative plant species are listed for multi-criteria decision making mechanisms. As a result of multi-criteria decision making methods, ten ideal species used in the sampling area were determined among these plants. Plants determined to start from the most ideal; Trachelospermum jasminoides, Tecomaria carpensis, Hedera helix, Solanum jasminoides, Jasminum officinale, Distictis buccinatoria, Hydrangea petiolaris, Lonicera japonica, Bougainvillea glabra, Vigna caracalla.

Use of spicy aromatic plants in vertical greening

The article presents the advantages of vertical greenery to create urban development and improve the ecological condition of urban areas. The possibility of using spicy-aromatic crops in vertical greenery, which is an effective way of urban farming. The classification of vertical landscaping by types of plant placement is given and it is determined that modular phytowalls are the most suitable type of vertical plant placement according to the morphological features of spicy-aromatic plants. It is noted that additional research is needed on the possibility of growing perennial aromatic plants in light and relatively inexpensive hydroponic panels — Vertical garden system technology, developed by French designer Patrick Blanc. The technology of creation and functioning of spicy-aromatic phytowalls with the help of container and modular systems of vertical landscaping such as Cascade Wall and Pixel Garden PG14 is described. Attention is focused on the importance of the correct selection of the species composition of aromatic plants to create vertical compositions. The morphological and ecological features of the most common spicy-aromatic plants of the Lamiaceae family are characterized, which are the key parameters that determine the suitability of the described plants for use in vertical greenery. To create phytowalls outside and indoors, it is recommended to use rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.), plants of the genus Thymus, Salvia, Mentha, as well as Cymbopogon citratus family Poaceae, Levisticum officinale Koch family Apiaceae and others. Attention is paid to mineral nutrition and protection of spicy-aromatic plants in closed soil conditions. Improvement of vertical landscaping systems and simultaneous search for adaptation of spicy-aromatic plants to the conditions of modular cultivation are relevant research topics for the further spread of this type of landscaping in temperate climates.

Techno Evaluation of Developed Vertical Gardening System for Livelihood and Food Security

A vertical garden is a technique used in growing plants in upward direction by using vertical frame and other supporting systems. The present study was carried out for design and development of stand-alone solar powered semi-automatic vertical gardening system with cost effective locally available materials for different crops at the Department of Soil and Water Engineering, SVCAET&RS, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Raipur (Chhattisgarh). Mild steel flat was used to develop this structure. Solar power energy was used for irrigating plants with the help of drip irrigation system. This action is normally done with a DC submerged pump that is connected to lateral pipe. The results of the study indicated that on vertical frame the drip irrigation with water soluble fertilizer gave maximum yield of cauliflower i.e. 891.91 q ha-1, followed by cabbage and minimum under broccoli of 323.28 q ha-1. The results also revealed that the same quantity of water was applied through drip but the water use efficiency was found maximum for cauliflower (40.84 q ha-1-mm) and minimum was recorded in broccoli (15.05 q ha-1-mm). Similarly, the fertilizer use efficiency was observed maximum in cauliflower and minimum in broccoli. The present study is very helpful to accept solar powered stand-alone semi-automatic vertical garden system to save space, water and give healthy vegetation and environments benefits.

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF SMART VERTICAL GARDEN SYSTEM FOR URBAN AGRICULTURE INITIATIVE IN MALAYSIA

Vertical garden system has the potential to increase vegetable production in the urban areas in Malaysia. This research designed and developed a compact and smart vertical garden system for the urban agriculture. It also analysed the growth performances of lettuce in the smart vertical garden system which involved two phases; the development of vertical garden system and the monitoring system for nutrient solution. The growth performances of different stacks of lettuce (Lactuca sativa) in the vertical garden system were observed and compared against the commercialised conventional hydroponic system. The growth performances of lettuce in the vertical garden system showed that the most bottom stack (stack 5) of lettuce achieved the maximum level of lettuce height, and had the highest number of leaves and leaves width. Nevertheless, from the overall ANOVA results, at different levels of the stacks of lettuce, only lettuce height was observed as having a significant difference (P < 0.0001) while no significant difference was found in the number of leaves (P = 0.0002) and leaves width (P = 0.0046). The growth development varied due to different amounts of water and light exposure. On the other hand, no significant difference was found when comparing between the vertical garden system and the commercialised conventional hydroponic system (lettuce height, P = 0.4997; number of leaves, P = 0.5325; and leaves width, P = 0.5231). In short, the smart vertical garden system can give the same performance as the commercial conventional hydroponic system.

Standardization of plant species and growing medium for vertical garden system: A new urban horticulture concept

Vertical gardens are becoming a common component in contemporary garden designs at urban living space because of shrinking land spaces. Successful growing of plants in vertical garden systems depends up on growing container, plants chosen, growing media, etc. Hence a study was carried out in the Department of Horticulture, Annamalai University, during the year 2013, with the objectives to study the influence of Coir pith, Stockosorb and Geohumus as components of growing media along with FYM, Vermicompost and Leaf mould compost on growth and performance of ornamental plants for establishment of vertical garden and to study the performance of ornamental plants Viz., Philodendron erubescens Cv. ‘Gold’, Chlorophytum comosum Cv. ‘Variegatum’ and Polyscias fruticosa plants in wooden containers for establishment of vertical garden. The experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design in wooden containers, with ten treatment combinations of various growing media mixtures comprising red soil, river sand as basic components in combination with organic manures (FYM, vermicompost, leaf mould compost, coir pith) and hydrogels (Stocksorb and Geohumus). The plant growth characters and ornamental value index were observed. Among the three ornamental plants used, Polyscias fruticosa and Philodendron erubescens are performed better as ornamental plants in vertical garden system with the growing media of Red soil : River sand : Vermicompost @ 1:1:1/2 + Stockosorb(25g).

Standardization of plant species and growing medium for vertical garden system: A new urban horticulture concept

Vertical gardens are becoming a common component in contemporary garden designs at urban living space because of shrinking land spaces. Successful growing of plants in vertical garden systems depends up on growing container, plants chosen, growing media, etc. Hence a study was carried out in the Department of Horticulture, Annamalai University, during the year 2013, with the objectives to study the influence of Coir pith, Stockosorb and Geohumus as components of growing media along with FYM, Vermicompost and Leaf mould compost on growth and performance of ornamental plants for establishment of vertical garden and to study the performance of ornamental plants Viz., Philodendron erubescens Cv. ‘Gold’, Chlorophytum comosum Cv. ‘Variegatum’ and Polyscias fruticosa plants in wooden containers for establishment of vertical garden. The experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design in wooden containers, with ten treatment combinations of various growing media mixtures comprising red soil, river sand as basic components in combination with organic manures (FYM, vermicompost, leaf mould compost, coir pith) and hydrogels (Stocksorb and Geohumus). The plant growth characters and ornamental value index were observed. Among the three ornamental plants used, Polyscias fruticosa and Philodendron erubescens are performed better as ornamental plants in vertical garden system with the growing media of Red soil : River sand : Vermicompost @ 1:1:1/2 + Stockosorb(25g).

More than just a Green Facade: The sound absorption properties of a vertical garden with and without plants

Up to 44% of EU residents are exposed to noise levels that are detrimental to health. In this context, vertical gardens could play an important role in architectural acoustics, where the main absorber material is the substrate soil. Plants have a beneficial effect for higher frequencies when planted in a large density. In this paper a vertical garden design developed at the Pontificia Universidad Católica of Ecuador (PUCE) was tested for interior acoustic design. The modules solely with substrate and planted with ferns were tested. The objective was to ascertain and explain the random incidence sound absorption coefficient of vertical garden modules. 50 modules making up a total floor area of 10.125 m2 were used for the measurements. Six different configurations were measured: connected versus dispersed and directly on the floor versus with an air cavity of 5 and 10 cm. Furthermore, each configuration was tested with modules solely filled with substrate and with substrate filled modules with densely planted ferns. The weighted random incidence sound absorption coefficient of the modules densely planted with ferns equals 1.00. This applied to all different configurations tested. The sound absorption coefficient in the lower frequencies (100–315 Hz), mid frequencies (400–1250 Hz) and high frequencies (1600–5000 Hz) was 0.59–0.80, 1.00 and 1.00 respectively. This makes this type of building technology highly suitable for applications where sound needs to be attenuated, paving the way for applying vertical garden systems as a design tool for improving the acoustics of indoor spaces or urban squares.

Jardins verticais: modelos e técnicas

O presente artigo objetiva descrever e sistematizar as principais tecnologias existentes para sistemas de jardins verticais e discutir os benefícios da sua implantação na escala da edificação. A metodologia consiste em uma revisão bibliográfica e busca por patentes e produtos disponíveis no mercado, que ajudam a entender quais são os modelos existentes, como eles funcionam e suas vantagens e desvantagens. A revisão evidencia que os sistemas de jardins verticais surgem como estruturas possíveis de plantio em superfícies verticalizadas, contudo, o sucesso destes não apenas está relacionado com a escolha adequada da tecnologia de suporte, mas também do sistema de irrigação, da utilização de espécies adequadas ao clima e ao tempo de exposição à radiação solar. Ao discutir essas questões, o artigo objetiva, ainda, contribuir para a difusão do conhecimento dessa importante tipologia da infraestrutura verde.

Water Absorbing Plantation Clay for Vertical Greenery System

With the arises of environmental conscious, the usage of vertical garden system has become more popular in urban cities. Citizens can enjoys the benefits of energy and cost saving besides ornamental effect. More investigations have been conducted on green facades led to the cities ecological enhancement.However, limited plants species can be planted for green facades systems as this system does not provide sufficient soil and nutrients for common plants. Alternative plantation methods such as planted box and felt system required additional maintenance attention. The idea of using clay composite which consists of nutritious soil, water absorbing polymer and flexible cement clay potentially become alternative vertical greenery systems that offers economic and sustainable plantation platform for more variety of plants.The fabricating of clay composite involved three processes, they are: mixing, moulding and drying. Physical properties characterisation (density, pH, compression test, aging test and water immersion test) were tested on the dried fabricated clay composite to ensure their sustainability in tropical climate. The results showed that clay composite with 1.5 wt% of cement and 0.3 wt% superabsorbent polymer shows optimum water absorbing properties. This system are expected to enable more agriculture activities in urban living.

A Novel Sensor Platform Matching the Improved Version of IPMVP Option C for Measuring Energy Savings

It is easy to measure energy consumption with a power meter. However, energy savings cannot be directly computed by the powers measured using existing power meter technologies, since the power consumption only reflects parts of the real energy flows. The International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP) was proposed by the Efficiency Valuation Organization (EVO) to quantify energy savings using four different methodologies of A, B, C and D. Although energy savings can be estimated following the IPMVP, there are limitations on its practical implementation. Moreover, the data processing methods of the four IPMVP alternatives use multiple sensors (thermometer, hygrometer, Occupant information) and power meter readings to simulate all facilities, in order to determine an energy usage benchmark and the energy savings. This study proposes a simple sensor platform to measure energy savings. Using usually the Electronic Product Code (EPC) global standard, an architecture framework for an information system is constructed that integrates sensors data, power meter readings and occupancy conditions. The proposed sensor platform is used to monitor a building with a newly built vertical garden system (VGS). A VGS shields solar radiation and saves on energy that would be expended on air-conditioning. With this platform, the amount of energy saved in the whole facility is measured and reported in real-time. The data are compared with those obtained from detailed measurement and verification (M&V) processes. The discrepancy is less than 1.565%. Using measurements from the proposed sensor platform, the energy savings for the entire facility are quantified, with a resolution of ±1.2%. The VGS gives an 8.483% daily electricity saving for the building. Thus, the results show that the simple sensor platform proposed by this study is more widely applicable than the four complicated IPMVP alternatives and the VGS is an effective tool in reducing the carbon footprint of a building.

GREEN WALLS RISING WITH THE BUILDING

One of the rapidly developing social and physical processes in the 21st century is urbanization. One of the most negative consequences of the development is the destruction and even vanishing of the natural equilibrium. The solution of the increasing environmental problems worldwide caused improvement of eco-friendly applications. Landscape architecture and architecture developed vertical-live gardens with a quite simple, aesthetic and ecological concept to find solutions to the increase in the CO2 level with the reduce of the green areas, the de-colourization of cold modern buildings as a result of streets changing to grey gradually, the increasing energy problems due to the decrease in the energy sources. The integration of nature and buildings intending to re-gain the green areas destroyed by the mankind caused an increase in the present green-roof systems and the addition of vertical-live gardens to the designs. The vertical gardens acquire similar advantages like rain and waste water control, sound and heat insulation, recycling, flexible use, aesthetic and social benefits as the green-roofs. In this study, the vertical garden systems will be evaluated among the present applications, as they form a resource with their passive climatization, energy effective use and eco-friendly properties.

Studies on vertical garden system: A new landscape concept for urban living space

Vertical gardens are becoming a common component in contemporary garden designs at urban living space because of shrinking land spaces. Successful growing of plants in vertical garden systems depends up on growing container, plants chosen, growing media, etc. Hence a study was carried out in the Department of Horticulture, Annamalai University, with the objectives to study the influence of Coir pith, Stockosorb and Geohumus as components of growing media along with FYM, Vermicompost and Leaf mould compost on growth and performance of ornamental plants for establishment of vertical garden and to study the performance of ornamental plants Viz., Philodendron erubescens Cv. ‘Gold’ and Polyscias fruticosa plants in wooden containers for establishment of vertical garden. The experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design in wooden containers, with ten treatment combinations of various growing media mixtures comprising red soil, river sand as basic components in combination with organic manures (FYM, vermicompost, leaf mould compost, coir pith) and hydrogels (Stocksorb and Geohumus). The plant growth characters and ornamental value index were observed. Among the three ornamental plants used, Polyscias fruticosa and Philodendron erubescens are performed better as ornamental plants in vertical garden system with the growing media of Red soil: River sand: Vermicompost @ 1:1:1/2 + Stockosorb(25g).