What is a phytowall and how to make a phytomodule with your own hands

Recommendation points

• Vertical gardening of interiors
• Phytomodule design device
• How plants are planted
• Which plants to choose
• How to care for plants
• Installation of phytomodules
• Lighting for phytowall
• How to make a felt-based phytomodule with your own hands
• How to plant plants in a felt-based phytomodule

From this article you will learn what a phyto wall is and how to use vertical landscaping with phyto paintings in the interior. In the second part of the article, we will talk about how to make a phytowall with your own hands, and the description of the installation will help you organize a “green” wall yourself.

Vertical gardening of interiors

Phytodesign is a very popular and fashionable type of interior decoration today. A more effective use of plants reveals vertical gardening – growing ornamental plants in a vertical direction. The simplest example is the cultivation of various indoor vines. Today, landscape firms offer to use special designs – phytomodules, in which any plants can be planted, forming a vertical “green” area.

Phytowalls are used to decorate ordinary walls, their sections, and also as a mobile partition for zoning the territory of a room. Phytomodule designs can be different – a pyramid, a cube, a stele, which can be installed in a niche, thus organizing a beautiful solution to “difficult” places in the interior. You can also use phyto-paintings, which in any room will become the center of the composition, attracting the eye. If you have columns in your house, then using green modules will be an excellent solution for decorating them..

Benefits:

1. Phytomodule is a single structure where you can plant a large number of plants.
2. Plants are planted without soil, which avoids dirt.
3. The weight of the entire structure with flowers is small, so the phytomodule can be attached to the wall.
4. Phytomodules are very compact in depth (less than 0.2 m²), take up very little space when mounted on a wall / column, etc..
5. The design provides for the presence of an automatic irrigation system, and therefore plant care is much easier.
6. “Green” walls create a huge aesthetic effect, because they look luxurious and noble.
7. The influence of plants on the percentage of oxygen in the room is irreplaceable.
8. When using phytomodules for 1 m² can accommodate more flowers than if you were using pots or flowerpots installed on the floor or windowsill.

The disadvantages include the high price offered by interior landscaping companies. The average cost of a phytomodule measuring 1040×670 mm is about 10,000 rubles. Number of plants – 21-24 pcs..

Phytomodule design device

Phytoconstructions offered in stores are made of plastic (PVC) and are sealed from the back. Therefore, the wall to which the phytomodule is attached or near which is installed will not damp. No additional hydrophobic interlayers needed.

Cells are located on the vertical base – the planting zone. An automatic drip irrigation system is connected to these cells, there is a water tank and a motor for supplying water to the top, and a humidity sensor is installed..

On the control panel, you can set a specific program for supplying water to the plants, as soon as the sensor shows the lower limit of humidity, the automatic irrigation system will immediately work, and the plants will again receive the water necessary for growth and development.

The sizes of phytomodules are different, on average from 30×30 cm for paintings and 80×180 cm for phytowalls. The thickness of such structures is about 15-17 cm.

How plants are planted

For vertical interior gardening using phytomodules, almost any plants of medium and small sizes are suitable.

Prepare cells for planting plants, pour fine expanded clay into each of them 1/3 of the height.

The basis or “soil” for planting plants is sphagnum moss. It is sold now in flower shops. Moss absorbs well and retains moisture for a long time. Due to its bactericidal properties, it prevents fungal diseases.

In order to plant a flower in a cell, you need to remove it from the pot and shake off all the ground. Then cut off the tips of the roots by 1–2 cm. If the root system is too large, then prune one third of their length. Rinse the rest of the earth in a basin of water.

After that, the roots of the plant are wrapped in moist moss and inserted in this form into the cell. If there is room left, put some moss on top.

Thus, all other cells are filled. Try to plant the plants so that you cannot see the space between them. Form a beautiful “green” canvas.

Which plants to choose

All small plants are suitable for the phytowall. Even cacti will do. If the prefix mini is indicated in the name of a plant in flower shops, then feel free to take this plant to your “wall”. How to arrange the composition depends only on your imagination. You can use one type, for example, spathiphyllum or anthurium looks good. And you can make a picture of plants, for this, various types of rejuvenated are perfect. They grow for a long time and do not lose their shape..

How to care for plants

Plant care consists in periodically adding water to the automatic irrigation tank. Various dressings can also be added here. Plants do not require spraying, since wet peat evaporates moisture and thereby creates optimal humidity and a special microclimate that plants need. As plants grow, it will be necessary to cut off protruding shoots, remove dried leaves or flowers.

Installation of phytomodules

Installation of phyto-paintings or phytomodules is carried out using fasteners, the same as for hanging the cabinet. First you need to make the markup. Then you drill holes in the wall and drive in the dowels. Do not screw in the screws completely. Fasten the suspensions to the module itself. Now you can hang the module on the wall.

Lighting for phytowall

Lighting will stylishly highlight the structure in the overall design of the room. Lamps can be mounted directly into the phytomodule (top, sides, bottom) using decorative screws and directed at the plants.

You can also use LED lighting. To do this, you need to attach a wooden block (2.5 cm thick) to the back and top of the phytowall frame. On the free edges of the frame and at the back, glue the LED strip onto double-sided tape and connect it to the mains. When the lighting is on, the phytowall “soaring” effect in the air will be observed.

How to make a felt-based phytomodule with your own hands

The above describes the design of ready-made phytomodules, which are put up for sale by landscape and flower companies, but the cost of the products they offer is quite high. Can I make a phytowall with my own hands? Can! And its advantage will be the low cost of materials, the disadvantage is the lack of an automatic irrigation system.

For the device of phyto walls made of felt 25×50 cm in size, you will need:

• frame – needed for the strength of the structure and for attaching felt fabric to it. A board, PVC panel, etc. (about 250 rubles);
• film for waterproofing, it is advisable to take a film for greenhouses. (about 100 rubles);
• thin felt or any other fabric that is not subject to decay – for sewing pockets for planting plants in them. (about 300 rubles);
• a small narrow pan – to collect water from watering plants. Narrow flower pots can be used as such a pallet. If you work hard, you can find decorative options for such containers. (about 150 rubles);
• scissors, construction stapler, marker.

In total, our phytowall measuring 25×50 cm without plants will cost less than 1000 rubles.

The first thing to do is to attach the film to the frame with a stapler..

Now we make felt pockets (you can also attach the pockets to the frame with a stapler).

Sectional phytomodule design: 1 – frame; 2 – waterproofing film; 3 – felt fabric

We attach the water tank to the bottom of the frame with a stapler as shown in the sectional drawing of the structure. Fixing this entire structure to the wall is similar to fixing phytomodules described above.

How to plant plants in a felt-based phytomodule

The technology of planting plants in pockets is different from planting plants in PVC phytomodules. For this phytowall, the roots of the plant also need to be shaken off the ground, rinsed and cut off. Then we cut the remaining tissue into rags. The roots of plants with prepared new soil are wrapped in patches of tissue. Then we insert the resulting so-called plant pot into the pocket.

Important! Use a special soil for plants, it is much lighter than ordinary soil, so as not to weigh down the structure. For water retention, add 1 part sphagnum moss to the soil.

This phytowall is not equipped with an automatic watering system, so do not forget to water your plants as the soil dries up. Such a design, with proper operation and timely care of plants, will serve you for about 5 years..