Fitostena is an interesting invention. After reading its description and step-by-step photos of the arrangement, you can make this decor element yourself. If you look on the Internet, you can see the offer of services for the creation of phytowalls. Of course, they are far from free. Armed with the knowledge, everything you need, you can make one for your home or office with your own hands.
Gone are the days when the walls of the rooms were decorated with carpets. A new trend in fashion is to arrange vertical flower beds right in the room. Plants are very beneficial as they produce oxygen. In addition, they delight the eye, pacify, allowing a person to feel their unity with nature, even in a city apartment.
What is phytowall?
It is a vertical panel that holds the layered fabric. That is draped in the form of pockets, each of which contains a plant. It is not artificial, but alive. The structure has soil, an irrigation system is provided. The phytowall is located indoors, the lighting fixtures help the plants to thrive.
Such a vertical panel is a picturesque interior decoration. Plants produce oxygen, which is very valuable for people, especially where there is a large flow of people in the room.
If you look into history, we will find the prototypes of modern phytowalls, which are now newfangled trends, even in ancient times. Hanging Gardens of Babylon also have a vertical orientation and are one of the eight wonders of the world.
Reasons for the popularity of vertical gardening
It is due to several factors:
- Limited space. Indeed, even on one small wall, a whole garden fits.
- Plants contribute to the enrichment of the air with oxygen, which is very important in a large office, an institution where there are many people. Plants are also important for megalopolises, where air purity leaves much to be desired.
- Lack of greenery. If you look closely at the interior design, we will see mostly artificial materials. In order for the room to have a good psychological climate, landscaping is necessary.
- With the correct arrangement of the phytowall, subsequently minimal care is needed for it.
- On a hot day, it will become a natural air conditioner, it will cool the air due to vapors.
How is a phytowall made from plants?
Here is a diagram of the phytowall device:
- Frame - its basis, it gives rigidity to the structure. It contains all the main elements, it is attached to the support. Also, the frame gives a gap between the plants and the wall, so that mold does not form.
- Waterproof material - any plastic is used as it: PVC, polypropylene, a thick layer of polyethylene, polycarbonate.
- Irrigation system. Green spaces will receive enough moisture if a tube is connected to each plant. You can simplify the irrigation system if you only run one pipe and place it at the top of the phytowall. Due to the capillary effect, water reaches all plants.
- Cloth pockets, they are made of durable linen that does not rot.
- Submersible pump - helps the water rise to the plants from the pallet.
- A tray for collecting water. Prevents excess moisture from flowing out, promotes efficient water supply.
Here's what you need to make a phytowall:
- synthetic felt;
- aluminum profile for the frame;
- strong threads;
- plastic sheet;
- fastening brackets;
- plastic pipe;
- pump - fountain or aquarium;
- hose.
Synthetic felt is perfect for fabric pockets. First, you need to do the calculations. Cut off a rectangle of the canvas. Its width should be such that it includes allowances for 2 side seams and for the device of pockets.
The length should be about 3 times longer than the phytowall.
Take the canvas, wrap the fabric on one side, sew. Then, in the same way - on the other. Now fold it as shown in the photo to form pockets, stitch it up.
Use strong nylon threads so that the structure does not creep at the seams under the weight of the plants planted in it. To stiffen the structure and provide additional waterproofing, attach the canvas with pockets with staples to a sheet of plastic.
Make the frame from an aluminum profile or a wooden bar, pre-impregnated with an antiseptic. Now you can fix the frame to the wall, leaving a distance of at least two cm for ventilation.
Insert a plastic pipe into the upper part of the canvas, in which you first make many small holes with a drill or a hot nail. This is necessary so that the water spreads evenly over the canvas.
At one end, close the pipe with a plug, at the other, attach a hose to it, which will lift water from the pan up.
Before you buy a pump, check out its specifications. If you have a phytowall, for example, 1 meter high, take one that is capable of lifting water to a height of 1.5 meters, that is, with a margin. Attach a pallet to the bottom of the phytowall, install a pump into it, to which a hose is brought. You need to connect a timer to it, which is set so that the pump turns on for half an hour 2 times a day.
Everything, the structure is assembled.
Vertical flower beds: which flowers are suitable for them?
Various succulents are ideal for her, which do not require frequent watering and can safely tolerate a lack of light. If it is, but scattered, then you can plant ferns, for example, plants such as:
- nephrolepis;
- pteris;
- maidenhair;
- pellet.
Choose the ferns you like from the listed ones and feel free to plant them in your vertical flower garden. To make it easier for you to decide, take a closer look at them.
- Nephrolepis belongs to the classic ferns. It gives a lot of greenery, so it looks good both in an individual planting and in a vertical flower bed.
- Pteris also belongs to the fern group. But this is not one plant, but a whole group, whose representatives differ in appearance. The leaves of these green spaces can have both variegated and green colors of various shapes and sizes.
- The maidenhair has beautiful delicate carved leaves.
- Pelleia grows well even near heating devices, transfers dry air. There are several representatives of this fern species.
Also undemanding to intense lighting and easy to clean:
- Dracaena Gotseff;
- fittonia;
- pilea (not to be confused with pellea).
- Dracaena Gotseff differs from other representatives of this type of dracaena. It has speckled leaves and is short. For better branching and renewal of the bush, it is enough to pinch the tops of its shoots. By the way, they can be used to breed new flowers.
- Fittonia is a short plant with spectacular leaves with reticules of red, white, pink veins.
- The pilea has variegated leaves. There are several types of this plant - bush and creeping forms 20–60 cm high. For vertical flower beds, low types of pelei are more suitable.
If you arrange the phytowall so that light from the window falls on it or provided for its artificial sources, then feel free to choose other plants. Such vertical flower beds look beautiful if it grows in them:
- zebrin;
- callisia;
- tradescantia;
- spathiphyllum;
- peperomia.
Peperomia has many varieties, which can be bush, ampel, erect.
Peperomia: blunt-leaved, clusiform, shriveled, silvery perfect for breeding on a phytowall. All these plants are compact, short, not capricious, and the leaves are green, colored, variegated or striped.
Zebrina, Callisia, Tradescantia are similar to each other, since they are part of the same group. In order for these plants to bush well, their tops are broken off.
Spathiphyllum is also resistant to the proximity of heating devices, grows well under artificial lighting. Therefore, it enjoys well-deserved success when arranging vertical flower beds. Among the glossy leaves of rich green color, its white flowers look beautiful, clean and festive. For phytowalls, compact forms up to 30 cm high are used.
How to plant vertical gardening plants?
It is important not to injure the roots of the flowers so that they take root well. To do this, you must first, even in the evening, shed the soil well, and in the morning start planting them on the phytowall.
Turn the pot upside down, cut rectangular pieces of cloth from felt, moisten them. Put an earthen lump in which the roots are located on one of these blanks, wrap it in a cloth. Insert the workpiece carefully into the pocket.
Arrange all other pockets in the same way. Plant a flowering plant in the center or side of the composition to create a bright accent if it is surrounded by solid greenery.
Pleasant and useful work has been completed.
If you want to use the fruits of such labors not only to purify the air in the room, for decoration, but also so that you can cut greens and use them in the kitchen, arrange the phytomodule in this way.
Then at any time you can pick up fragrant herbs, make tea or use it in the preparation of desserts, salads.
