Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

i've been mulling over some system idea's and a design popped into my head for a growbed that closes like a book and sits upright.
you'd make a frame out of PVC and cover it with black plastic, pump water into the top pipes which have a slot cut into the side of them so they over flow in the inner edge and run down the roots and the side of the plastic (plastic can just be sheet stuff like pond liner) and flow out the bottom of the frame.
i'd make the frame hinged so it could open and close like a book so access to the root zone and replacements of the plants would be a breeze. i'd also make it deep - 50cm or so so the root mass could really expand and prevent plants tipping. i think the flexible walls would help with this to. keeping it flat and deep also means it can be mounted to walls easily.

Hey timmy can you draw what you mean I am having trouble picturing it

like a vertical nft - sweet

Would work well for plants like tomatoes that can be tied up, and stop them falling into the 'book'.

just picture a hollowed out book with the plants sitting in net pots attached to one side of the frame. both pipes that make up the top of the frame have a slot cut into them to allow the water to over flow and run down the inside of the plastic wall - you wouldn't even need to take out the solids because the book would have ample space to collect the solids, the slots in the top would be large enough to handle them and worms would take up residence in the root ball cleaning them out. the trick would be to poisition the over flow slots so that roots can't get into them.
worse case scenario the root mass expands to a huge size and fills with solids (it'd be visible due to the flexible sides expanding) you simply open one side of the "book" and trim back the roots. easy as pie.

Sounds sort of like the wall or curtain ideas.
If you have the materials, money and time to tinker with it, please let us know how it goes.
I would probably still filter out the solids first before sending to such a set up as the slits for the water to overflow and the pipe itself could tend to clog up. Any solids building up in the root mass will impede O2 and possibly cause rot problems but that is unlikely in such a situation unless it gets really hot in the "book" Perhaps calling it more like a cabinet might be easier for people to picture.

You still need a bio filter somewhere in the system as this would just be extra plant space really.