It's a joy to have green, living plants in one's living space, but if you're not gifted with either a green thumb or a large living space, growing greenery can be a real challenge. Aiming to give brown thumbs living in small spaces hope, Citysens is a hydroponic, vertical gardening unit that can grow plants with a minimum of fuss, and without soil.

 

Hailing from Spain, Citysens is a crowdfunded modular design that assembles vertically into a 5-foot tower of four modules in less than five minutes, and inserted into a base that holds about 6 litres (1.5 gallons) of water. Single units can be placed on countertops or windowsills. It's made with bioplastics and equipped with an automatic irrigation system that feeds whatever plants you choose (the company recommends air-cleaning plants to get the most environmental benefit from growing houseplants) with nutrients -- and with an "irrigation range of at least 30 days."

 

According to the designers, Citysens includes an energy-efficient pump that moves water through the system, consuming only approximately USD $3 to $6 of electricity per year, since in a hydroponic system, water and nutrients are recycled over and over again.

 

Coming in two colors (white or black), the idea behind Citysens is simple: to allow urban dwellers to grow air-purifying or space-beautifying plants in a modern design, without too much maintenance.

 

 

PHOTO CREDIT: Citysens.