This system is a vertical hydroponic layout for a greenhouse, built from white food grade PVC towers carried on galvanized steel support pipes. Growing upward instead of outward means the same floor area carries far more plants, and the solution is delivered automatically so the crop is fed to a set point rather than by hand. The towers stand in rows with the working aisle between them, so the crop can be reached and the returns serviced without taking the row apart.
Floor area is the fixed cost in a greenhouse. A tower system changes the equation by growing upward instead of outward, so the same house carries a multiple of the plants it would carry in beds, and the solution is fed to them automatically rather than carried to each one.
In a horizontal layout the crop sets the footprint: rows, aisles and working space all take floor. Growing in towers moves the crop into the vertical space the house already has, which is space that was being paid for and not used, and it puts the plants at a height where they can be reached and picked from an aisle rather than from a crouch.
It also puts the whole crop in the same light and the same air. Towers standing in rows share the light from the roof evenly instead of shading each other the way a dense canopy does, and the air that moves through the house passes between the towers rather than over a closed crop. Hydroponic growing laid out under cover is grouped on the hydroponic system range page on this site.
The towers are white food grade PVC, which keeps the root zone cool and the working area bright, and they are carried on galvanized steel support pipes rather than standing free. The support frame is what sets the row spacing and the working height, and it is sized so the towers can be lifted out for cleaning rather than being built into the house.
Water moves down through the tower and is collected at the base to be returned to the tank, so the system recirculates rather than running to waste. The head and the return are the parts that decide whether every level of every tower receives the same share, which is why the layout is set out with the pipe run before the towers are placed.
The feed is automated, so the system runs on a cycle rather than on someone opening a valve. The pump moves solution to the towers on a timer or a sensor, the tank is topped up and dosed on the same schedule, and the return carries what the plants do not take back to the tank instead of away from the house.
Because every plant on a tower shares the same solution, the system is only as even as its flow. Filters, the pump and the return are the parts that keep it even, and a blocked filter or a pump running slow shows up along the row rather than at one point, which is why they are checked on a cycle rather than when the crop looks wrong. A layout built on the same principle at floor level is described in the automated NFT hydroponic planting system.
The table below is the standard build. Tower spacing, support height and the control package are set to the house and to the crop.
| System type | Vertical tower hydroponics, recirculating |
| Tower material | Food grade PVC |
| Tower colour | White |
| Support frame | Galvanized steel pipes |
| Feeding | Automated pump cycle with dosing and tank top up |
| Drainage | Collected at the tower base and returned to the tank |
| Crops | Tomato, leafy vegetables, herbs, flowers and microgreens |
| Use | Inside a greenhouse or a controlled growing room |
| Customisation | Tower spacing, support height and control package set to the house |
The system arrives as towers, support pipe, fittings and the control set, and is assembled in the house rather than fabricated on site. The support frame is set out and levelled first, because the row spacing and the working aisle are decided at that point, then the towers are placed and the feed and return are connected to the tank and the pump.
Maintenance is the water and the flow. Filters are cleaned and the tank is checked on the same cycle as the crop, the return is flushed when the house is turned over, and the towers are washed between crops so root material does not carry from one planting to the next. The pump and the dosing unit are the working parts and are serviced on a schedule rather than on a failure.
Systems of this type are used for soilless tomato production, for leafy vegetables and herbs, and for microgreens and strawberry work where a clean root zone matters. They suit growers who are short of floor area rather than of height, operations moving from soil to a recirculating system, and greenhouses that expect to add lighting, cooling or a larger control layer to the same layout later. A tower system built around a different crop is described in the commercial hydroponic grow tower for strawberry and leafy crops.
Standards for the materials and structures used in growing systems are published by NEN. Reporting and analysis on technology in agriculture and food production is published by AgFunderNews. The specification that matters is the one that still suits the crop ten years from now.
Floor area. The house already has the vertical space and was paying for it, so moving the crop into it means the same footprint carries far more plants, and the plants sit at a height where they can be worked from an aisle.
White keeps the root zone cooler and the working area brighter than a dark tower would, and food grade material is the right choice for a crop that is eaten. The towers are lifted out for cleaning rather than built into the house.
The PVC towers and the galvanized support frame are both built for long service under normal growing conditions. The pump, the dosing unit and the filters run on their own service cycle.
We provide a 10 year structural warranty and a 5 year anti-corrosion warranty on the galvanized support. Details are set out in the contract for each project.
Send your house dimensions, the crop you plan to run and the number of towers you want to work with. We reply with a layout drawing and a full quotation.
