Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Johnnie, jaymie edited the linkon the page before by removing the [img] boxes at the ends and the link works now

Thanks Axl , Thanks Jayme, I know how to do a link, its posting an image actually in the thread that I am having difficulty with.

Xzorby .. Oh .. so I think that means I have to host the image somewhere or other (eg. photobucket rather than here) before I can get the pics to actually display on the thread?

Thanks folks.

Just click the "add attachment" button, Johnnie. That should work, though you'll have to upload your picture again.

Thanks Xzorby

Or should I say ThanXz Thomas?

sorry Johnnie, I misunderstood what you were trying to do. I've never added an before, so I've never had it fail before

No worries Jayme!

Yep, to add images inside the post using the [img],%20they%20must%20already%20be%20uploaded%20on%20the%20internet%20somewhere,%20like%20a%20photobucket%20place%20etc...%20%20%20Then%20you%20just%20put%20the%20url%20into%20[img][/img]...

Thanks Joel.

Hi Johnnie
We have a similar set up with four horizontal rows of 150mm pipe on an A frame with 32mm holes cut out and pieces of waste pipe inserted to support strawberry plants. It is on the website under strawberry project. However in May when the plants should have been building up good leaf development the weather turned hot and for three weeks the nutrient water temperature sometimes hit 85 degrees F. The plants must have eased up on the nitrogen and switched straight into flowering/fruiting mode. Nice strawberries for three weeks out of season then the plants just shut down. Only now are they starting to leaf up and produce flowers again.
I note your system is outside so you might not get so warm inside those tubes but it is something we learned and we will alter the system next year.Admittedly ours is an NFT and yours is flood and drain so temperature may not be such an issue. I have seen these pipe systems where the pipes have been wrapped in tin foil to reflect the sun and keep the temp. down.
WD

nice little setup there johnie.. you gave me some ideas

Johnnie, that is very nice looking and can help make many a new plans for those of us that are looking for more ways to expand.

Thanks WD, good idea regards using foil it can get pretty warm here during summer. I have shadecloth over the pergola, so it will be good for summer, but in winter low light under the pergola will stunt growth rate a little. So far things seem to be growing well an fish seem happy. A few year ago when I did NFT I found dissolved oxygen was a problem. By the time the water got to the end of the pipe the plants got shorter and shorter. That is one reason why I decided to do a flood and drain using tubes this time.

Teknix and Joyce, thats what this place is about, trying stuff out and feeding from each others ideas.

Hi Johnnie
I'm using the same pots (from Woolies) and PVC combination. I found that having the pots 3/4 filled with perlite, planting the seed into this, then covering with a small amount of gravel kept the seed/seedling moist enough without having to water them. The beauty about having removeable pots is that you can raise your seedlings somewhere else eg place the pots in a plastic tub with a little water, covered with plastic and left in a sunny/warm spot, then use them as you harvest from your system. As for the plants getting shorter, you can always move them around to a different spot on occaision if necessary.

i'm mindful of the temp rises and do porblems in my nft setups, so i've made them half like nft half like dwc, there is always just half a tube of water and when the pump is running the water flow rate is quite high. worked for stsve and ange, so i've adopted it for all the ones i help set up

Steve
Dr Lynette Morgan at Suntec in Manawatu New Zealand published a good article in MaximumYield called Nutrient temperature,oxygen and pythium which details how the rise in temperature of say 30 degrees F can virtually half the oxygen ppm with drastic result on the plants. I have lost her website s but I know she is well quoted.
WD