Kai Parthy is a pioneering filament creator who’s always pushing the envelope. His company Lay Filaments has recently introduced its new GROWLAY filament for indoor farming. While the filament is still patent-pending, it has some very promising applications. Layers of GROWLAY can produce organic structures upon extrusion.
Kai Parthy is looking into a means of making farming easier and machinable. As a result, the new filament has some very unique features. Despite being a thermoplastic material, the micro-capillary structure allows it to grow plants on itself. Adding water, seeds, and spores of any kind of plant will help grow them onto the filament, forming an organic layer.
Take for example the image above. It shows fresh printed GROWLAY brown (left), cotton-like mold growth (middle) and slow-growing lichen (right). These are the kinds of organic layers that people can create. The ecosystems require water but the filament even aids in storing the water properties and bio-nutrients.
Indoor Farming with GROWLAY
This next image shows another example of the filaments qualities, displaying a GROWLAY White structure that had some grass seeds in it. The seeds were left for a few days and natural grass grew into it. It could be great for anyone wanting to set up an artistic greenhouse or garden exhibit. Perhaps future versions could even serve to produce organic urban architecture.
GROWLAY comes in 2 types: White and Brown. They both serve different functionalities as well as color schemes. White is porous and has open capillaries. It is also fully compostable and consist of one pure material.
GROWLAY Brown, on the other hand, is not compostable but is made for tougher structures. Users can also sterilise its structures using gas or liquid, although not thermally. Users can also color it as they see fit. Both filaments are bio-degradeable.
Kai Parthy’s work with wood 3D printer filaments made him a household name. It appears he’s continuing down this same innovative route once again. These filaments are a great concept that produce beautiful results that also look unique. Clearly, everyone from botanists to amateur gardeners can find something to love about this venture.
All pictures courtesy of Kai Parthy.