Fiddler on the Roof: An Experiment In Roof Top Container Gardening (Part 1)

The musical comedy, Fiddler on the Roof, was one of the most successful plays on Broadway; opening in 1964 it ran for over 3,000 performances. 

The play takes place in a small village in Russia in 1905 and tells the story of a man's efforts to keep his family and traditions intact as outside forces begin to change their traditional way of life.  The plays title comes from from a symbolic character in the play, the fiddler on the roof, who represents the precarious and fragile nature of life in the village.

I think a lot about the fiddler these days because I too have been trying to play a tune without breaking my neck.  Here's why...

Earlier this year, I decided to experiment with gardening hydroponically on the roof of my house.  The impetus for this was the desire to grow more veggies in the the space I have available in my suburban back yard. By moving some of the crops onto the roof, I was able to add sweet corn to my regular garden.

The sad truth is that housing space is limited in our area and most lots are 5,000 to 7,000 square feet.  In my case, about 1/3 of of our lot is the house itself, then there is the lawn for the kids, a patio, and shaded areas where things can't be grown.  The area available for growing in full sun is just about 250 square feet including the greenhouse. 

However, our ranch-style home has a flat roof andit  is in full sun.  The roof area is 7 times larger than my current garden.  With that much additional space, I decided to test the practicality of growing veggies on the roof.  The limiting factors are -- no easy access to the roof (need to use a ladder), no spigot on the roof from which to draw water, weight restrictions (probably not practical to do raised beds on the roof since they were not designed to hold additional weight).

Since squash, watermelon and cucumbers need lots of space to grow.  I decided they would be my candidate plants for this experiment.  Since bringing soil and compost to the roof on an on going basis seemed impractical, I decided to grow the plants using Auto Pot hydroponic containers.  This is the same system that I've described in a prior posting and is unique in that it does not require pumps or electricity to run -- perfect for a roof top garden.

I'll describe the challenges of implementing this system on the roof in my next posting and provide a final analysis in a few months after I harvest.

Comments

[Julianne Idleman]

I'll bet this is a great way to avoid squash borers and other pests as well. Can't wait to see how it works.

[H. Mark Delman]

The bug pests may be lower but I may encounter other issues. As you know, we have very cool nights and water condenses on things. On soil, the water gets absorbed fairly quickly, but on the roof, it takes a while for the sun to burn it off. I think this might be ideal for powdery mildew. To minimize this, I decided to trellis everything except the water melons. So far, so good, but its early in the season.