Grekkon Limited’s climate smart agriculture multi-storey gardens in Kenya are a vertical farming system popular with urban vegetable farmers. Growing herbs on a multi-storey garden in Kenya is now a common practice in limited spaces in densely populated locations. They are defined as climate smart agriculture because they conserve land and water

Multi-storey cropping in a greenhouse

What is a multi-storey garden?

It is a vertical farming method that limited space to create gardens stacked on each other. These vegetable crops (most common for kitchen gardens) provide a fresh supply of vegetables for subsistence or commercial use. Commonly grown crops are;

• Vegetables; kales, spinach, strawberry, coriander, carrot, garlic, leeks, black nightshade, amaranth
• Herbs and spices; rosemary, lemon grass, citronella, and mint
• Fruits; strawberry

A grower will choose to have the multi-storey farming system out in the open, or enclosed in a greenhouse or shade house. This multi-storey cropping is determined by the crop grown, or other factors such as crop destruction by pests or disturbance from pets. A grower will choose to have a shade net or dam liner as the supporting basis of this pyramid farming in Kenya. In this article, we look at the dam liner option

Spinach growing in on a kitchen multi-storey garden made from dam liner material

Our multi-storey garden price is Kes 2,500 a unit for the dam liner material type. This multi-storey garden cost covers all material and labor

How do you make multi-storey gardens in Kenya?

Key attributes of the dam liner material type garden

1. Layers. It has 6 layers including the base
2. Circumference. The base layer has a 6M circumference
3. Layer reduction by height. Each layer is a meter less in circumference as it rises
4. Height. Each layer has a height of 0.2M / 20cm
5. Material. 0.75mm or 1mm thick HDPE dam liner to hold the soil together. The dam liner is bolted or welded at the joint

Strawberry growing on a multi-storey garden

To reduce soil compaction, and improve soil aeration, we mix soil with manure at a ratio of 2:1. On a space of 2M x 2M, a multi-storey garden will hold 180 to 250 plants. Compare this with a sack/ shade net supported garden that has 100-150 plants. And again with conventional ground farming that has 30-60 plants over the same area. All calculations factor in the walking path

Multi-storey garden materials

• dam liner
• joining clips
• soil
• fertiliser

How to irrigate multi-storey gardens in Kenya

Pre-perforated rip lines or button drippers irrigate these crops. Frequency of irrigation is twice or thrice weekly according to the prevailing weather

Multi-storey gardens in Kenya

FAQs

1. How to prepare a multi storey garden?

As described under the heading How do you make multi-storey gardens in Kenya? above

2. What is the size of a multi-storey garden?

6 square feet

3. What are the advantages of a multi-storey garden?

• It is easy to assemble, and maintain
• It saves on land and water
• They are done over small spaces
• You can grow many typesof vegetable crops on it

4. What are the disdavantages of a multi-storey garden?

• It takes time to design and make
• It requires training to make for the first time
• Expensive to undertake on a large scale. Ideal for small spaces