Hi, I’m Frank.
Vegetables without soil are my passion.

My story

It all began in the school holidays

I actually gathered my first experiences with plants and farming at around six years old. In the school holidays I often stayed with my grandparents near Freiberg. Back then, holidays didn’t necessarily mean sleeping in and playing all day. For me it meant taking an old Ikarus bus out to the fields of the LPG, the East German farming cooperative. With me a whole troop of older ladies, and right in the middle, me, the little young man.

There I lent a hand growing tobacco and picking stones. Around half past nine came the best part of the day for me: breakfast in the old site trailer. There was eating, chatting, laughing and cackling like in a henhouse.

I probably didn’t understand every conversation. And some things I probably didn’t want to understand. But one thing has stayed with me from that time: the joy of being outside, making something with my own hands and watching plants grow.

So many years later I ended up gardening again. Only today a lot of mine grows completely without soil.

I started with drainpipes I bent myself and strawberries on the house wall. Today I 3D-print my HydroFlex Towers myself, have developed my own seedling system and my own nutrient, and show every day on social media what’s growing in my towers.

Why hydroponics

From raised bed to tower

Later I had a small garden, but the soil wasn’t suitable for growing. I still wanted to grow my own vegetables in a small space, and so the idea of gardening upwards was born. First I tried raised beds. But for me they had some disadvantages:

• Not very flexible: Great in summer, in winter a box full of soil that just takes up space.
• Costs: Filling them is expensive. Good beds cost a lot, cheap ones often don’t stand up to the weather and are small.
• Space and yield: Raised beds need lots of space or bring too little harvest.
• Care: Soil, plants and water make a lot of work in care and cleaning.
• Holidays: If you go away, you often have to give up the bed.
• Water: Constant watering, and a large part evaporates. With cheap beds waterlogging threatens.

Looking for a better solution, I came across hydroponics. With it I can grow lots of plants economically in a small space, independent of soil and weather. In my towers up to 33 plants grow on less than one square metre, and with much less water than in a bed. I was so excited that I wanted to make this idea accessible to everyone. So the idea became a vision, and I founded frankiesgarten.de.

My mission

I want everyone to have access to fresh vegetables, no matter where they live. I’m convinced: healthy food from your own growing shouldn’t depend on a garden, where you live or your wallet.

What I offer you

I make my HydroFlex Towers myself and adapt them to your space, from the windowsill to a big system in the garden. On top of that there are my videos, step-by-step guides here on the website, my book and, for all customers, my personal help on WhatsApp.

I look forward to accompanying you on your way into hydroponics and am happy to help with advice. Thank you for being part of frankiesgarten.de!
Best wishes, Frank