It’s a jungle in there (2)

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By Li Ying (Global Times) 08:20, September 03, 2013

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Checking air pollution readings. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Urban jungle

Sitting comfortably on his sofa under the lush canopies of fake trees, the indoor planting expert is talkative while expounding on his project. The sound of birds tweets from a stereo. The atmosphere inside is beautiful and colorful, in contrast to the dismal gray day outside.

Lü started building the trees after he moved into the apartment in 2009. "Now there are 4,800 plants in total in the 48-square-meter space," he said, noting that this works out to 10 plants for each square meter. He believes the sheer mass of plants can relax and nurture the human body by providing pleasant views and higher humidity, not to mention their ability to scrub tiny pollution particles from the air.

Pointing to the blueprints of his homemade mechanical trees, he explains that he borrowed from nature's arboreal growth principles. The wooden trunk is screwed together from modular wood components. The upper branches are created with steel braces.

Then there are the unique "leaves." Lü invented the plastic, circle-shaped water containers, which are installed on the stems to hold the flowerpots that are fed by hydroponics. Sponges are used inside flowerpots to keep the roots moist, reducing the weight of the water. Money plants were chosen because they grow easily in any water vessels. The tiers upon tiers of plants simulate the feel of tree canopies.

"It is very simple to irrigate the plants," Lü said as he pushed out a small wheeled vehicle that contains a plastic barrel for purified water. He used a small water pump to feed water into the containers through a rubber conduit.

"This is the most approachable solution for growing 'trees' inside," Lü added with confidence. Over the past two decades, he and his wife Wang Lizhi, 74, a retried missile engineer, have tried various ways to make growing indoor plants accessible. Their attempts include using mini greenhouses equipped with water sprayers, as well as covering an entire wall with plants. Their inventions wowed many DIY garden lovers and even attracted professional botanists. His experiments finally evolved into the modular tree project, which has won a patent under his son Lü Yigong's name.