Geco-Gardens plans and builds vertical, automated allotment garden systems for the ecological in-house production of vegetables, fruit, fruits, herbs and ornamental plants in front of your own door in the middle of the city. This creates garden areas on balconies, terraces, courtyards or flat roofs.
The innovative, natural cultivation method of terrabioponics
The garden systems use the innovative, natural cultivation method of terrabioponics : useful and ornamental plants grow in soil (terra) and also in an organic nutrient solution (ponik). The nutrients are naturally recovered from your own organic waste (bio) through worm composting.
The modular Geco garden systems consist of several plant tubs and can be individually adapted to the respective location. This means that the usually limited floor space on the balcony or terrace can be used optimally. Due to the vertical arrangement of the tubs on top of each other and the lateral planting openings, the actual planting area is many times larger than the required base area.
All plant tubs are connected via an automated water and nutrient cycle. Driven by an electric submersible pump, the nutrient-rich water circulates through the plant tubs and the worm compost. The plants are automatically watered and fertilized organically. The electricity required is provided by a built-in solar module with a battery. The heart of the garden system is the integrated vermicompost. Hundreds of compost worms produce organic fertilizer in it - from their own organic waste. The worm solution is the best natural fertilizer and, in addition to all essential plant nutrients, also contains plant growth hormones and a number of beneficial microorganisms that improve plant growth over the long term.
In spring 2019, the garden system was completed with the 'Geco-Gärtner-App'. The smart app guides you through the gardening season with location-dependent planting information and supports the Geco gardeners for a rich harvest.
Gardening as part of a sustainable lifestyle
The terrabioponic and vertical cultivation method creates garden areas in front of one's own door in the middle of the city. Our own ecological food production connects people and nature. This creates awareness for the use of natural resources and their cycles as well as a tangible counterpoint to the hectic, often digital working world.
Your own biowaste becomes organic fertilizer for cultivation of useful and ornamental plants. The automated water and nutrient cycle significantly reduces the watering effort, fertilizes the plants and thus makes gardening easier. Decide for yourself what and how to grow: decentralized food production reduces the transport of food into the city, the required energy consumption and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions.
Community gardening promotes social togetherness and allows the harvest to be exchanged and ensures a large variety of useful and ornamental plants.
The vision of Geco-Gardens
Today, agriculture is facing the existential challenge of the growing world population, increasing food production by 70% - and that in view of the scarcity of fossil and mineral resources, the loss of cultivated land and the effects of climate change. Added to this is the trend towards urbanization, which means that more people live in cities and metropolitan areas and consume food.
Consumers become producers. The vision of Geco-Gardens is to create new garden areas for the ecological self-production of food in cities. Through the sensible use of modern technology combined with ecological production methods and one's own commitment, urban resources can be converted directly into tasty, diverse and local organic food without detours - production decentralized and thus sustainable.
Organic self-cultivation creates awareness of the use of resources in food production, which changes consumer behavior: there is more demand for seasonally, regionally and ecologically produced food - as a survey with urban gardeners as part of the research project 'FarmVille-in-real ' showed. Urban gardening ensures that the growing number of city dwellers actively participate in social change towards a sustainable, bio-based economic system (bioeconomy).