The Toolbox Assistive Technology Database logo

Back   |   Search   |   View by Category   |   Technical Articles
Homemade Floating Greens Bed
Woman in a large hoop house reaching across a floating greens bed to work with some of the plants.

A Homemade Floating Greens Bed can allow one to grow lettuce and other leafy greens without having to stoop over or kneel. The approximately 1-foot-deep hydroponic growing beds, made of wood frames and heavy-rubber sheeting, are filled with water containing a small amount of fertilizer then covered with thin sheets of foam insulation. The greens plugs are planted into holes made in the foam sheets, with the roots then growing down into the water. About four weeks later, the foam sheets are pulled from the bed and the now-mature greens removed - all able to be done from a standing or seated position. (Some growers build long, narrow beds that contain "rafts" that are planted at one end, floated towards the other end as the plants grow, then harvested after reaching the end-like a greens-growing conveyor.)

Estimated Cost Cost range: $350 to build a 4'x 8' bed

Limitations Limitations Addressed by Product: Lower extremity, Strength/endurance, Back, Visual


SourceNorth Florida Research & Education Center
(Institute of Food & Ag Sciences, Univ. of FL)
155 Research Road
Quincy, FL, 32351
Websitenwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/hort/2015/08/11/build-your-own-floating-hydroponic-garden/
Phone850-875-7100
Fax352-846-6617

SourceSustainable Harvesters
27800 Krezdorn Road
Hockley, TX, 77447
Websitewww.facebook.com/SustainbleHarvesters
Emailmatthew@sustainableharvesters.com
Phone936-372-3375
Last updated: Jan 28, 2025


Back   |   Search   |   View by Category   |   Technical Articles