I thought about building a automated plant care system for some time now. The main purpose was to grow camelia sinensis in a controlled environment, as my three attempts of growing it in a living room or balcony all failed after a year. I was unable to keep the conditions constant enough it seems. I gave up on that, as the grow rate of tea is too low to cover the necessary quantity anyway.

Instead I´m trying to revive my biotechnolgy knowledge and start a printable bioreactor design for cultivating algae. It is not targeted towards a specific species or purpose yet. The first goal is to test the printing process and finding a suitable material with a good transmission and suitable wavelength passthrough. Clear PETG should work as a starting point.

A quick sketch of the concept. The flattube design enhances the surface and therefore the optmum light yield.

I´m searching for suitable equipment that can be sterilized right now.