Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

While not technically an Aquaponics system I'd like to share the easiest way to get into growing plants in water (hydroponics).

Originally I had some mint in baskets floating in a styrofoam sheet on my pond's sump. One day I tried to clean the sump and, due to the weight of the mint, when I moved the sheet I cracked it in half. Needing a place to hold my plants I grabbed two trusty 5 gallon buckets and filled them up with water. I put the baskets inside the buckets and they fit surprisingly well. So well that instead of replacing the styrofoam I decided to leave the mint in the buckets. And so was born Bucketponics. I know lame name but it works.

So now that it's been a few weeks and the mints doing good so I figure why not share with everyone so that they can have a small and easy (cheap) to build system of their own


Materials:
Most of the materials are found at Home Depot but I'm sure you can go to any hardware store and find them. I can't remember the exact prices so I'll give a range of what I think they cost me.

Plants- this system is good for use with leafy vegetables and leafy herbs.
For instance mint, lettuce, etc. Located in the gardening dept. ($2-4)

Pond plant basket - Square basket located in gardening dept. by pond supplies ($2-3)

5 gallon bucket- Get some that are reinforced at the rim like the Home Depot ones. ($5)

1 bag cinder gravel- Gardening dept ($5-7)

DRAIN- [optional]
3/4" PVC fittings- male adapter; threaded cap ($ .50 each)
O-ring (These are in the plumbing section. I can't recall the exact name but just look for one that fits over the threaded part of the male adapter.)


The air system (parts available at any petshop or kmart):

1 aquarium air pump ($10) If you buy a bigger air pump you could expand your system later with the various valves/manifolds that they sell at the store.

3-4' air line tubing ($3)

air line check/ antisiphon valve (if air pump is higher than the bucket not necessary) ($2)

1 air stone ($2)





Assembly:

Rinse cinder gravel in bucket. Just like washing rice. You should only need half the bag for one basket.

Preparing plant:
Remove plant from pot. Gently remove as much soil from the roots as possible. Gently rinse remaining soil from the roots.
Fill the pond plant basket with cinder gravel halfway. Holding the plant in the center of the basket fill the rest of the basket with gravel to the top (just like potting up a plant).
It is okay to run water through the gravel for one more rinse but try not to distrub the gravel too much.

DRAIN [Optional] :
Drill a hole (size of the threaded part of the male adapter) into the side of the bucket about an inch or two off the bottom. Put the o-ring over the male adapter and put the male adapter through hole from the inside of the bucket. Twist threaded cap over male adapter from outside of bucket till flush with bucket side (tight). If you cannot make a tight connection you may have to cut a 1/4 inch off the threaded side of the male adapter with a hacksaw.
To drain simply unscrew the cap.

Assemble air sytem:
Figure out desired length of air line tubing. Cut 1-2' from end and put in check valve/ antisiphon valve into line. Connect airstone on opposite end of tubing. Place airstone into bucket all the way to the bottom. Connect tubing to air pump.

Fill the bucket with water 2/3's of the way to the top.

Put plant basket into the bucket gently working it into place. Do not force the basket all the way into the bucket or the bucket rim may crack. When it is snug leave in place.

Now you just need to top off the bucket with more water and plug in the air pump.



DRAINS- If you don't add drains you will have to carry heavy buckets around if you need to move the system. Also, you would have to remove the basket so that you can drain the water for maintenance. Doing this you might crush the roots when you set the basket down.
However if you don't have a drill or aren't sure you can make a water tight connection then skip the drains
(K.I. S.S.).

For fertilizer you could use miracle grow. As these are leafy plants nitrogen is the most important nutrient to supply. I use fish pond water to fertilize once a week.
I use a thin necked watering can to add the fertilizer and to top off the bucket (to make up for evaporation). Because the baskets are square the thin spout fits right on the side of the basket. You could just pour water straight onto the plant if you don't have a thin necked can. Just try not to move around the gravel.


These could be modified to use on an AP system but I was having a hard time figuring out what kind of siphon to use so it's just basically a hydroponics system.

Good luck. I hope to see a lot of Bucketponic systems here soon.

I've used two stacked 5 gallon buckets to make auto-watering containers. They work the same way that the Earthboxes work. The bottom bucket is used as a water reservoir and the top bucket holds the plant and some type of wicking soil. I've had great success with the system. Check out globalbuckets.org.

Wow I just had a look at the global buckets link and think it excellent!
I will be having a go very soon, so innovative in design and concept and wonderful to see youg fellas out there doing something very positive.
thanks for the link.
DAle

globalbuckets.org is indeed an interesting site. Cool to see two young men learning, improvising and sharing! I showed it to my boys so they could get a glimpse of being able to make a difference at their age!

Certainly, the ideas they present are easily incorporatable into an AP system... Have a few ideas now... (Also, that would be a very easy system to set up for a nursing home or somesuch for enjoyment as well as a few fresh veges for the kitchens...)

Thanks for sharing that link.

CB

Glad to share. The system is easy to build and very effective. In fact the United Nations has used the commercial Earthboxes and the PeaceCorp has used in Globalbuckets in an effort to help people in the third world. Both Earthboxes and Globalbuckets use methods that have been used before - they each improved in it an simple way. The lads from Globalbuckets.org are indeed making a great difference.

The simple deep water bucket method is great for very small things where one doesn't mind the extra plumbing. I don't think I would try to incorporate many buckets into a large system as the extra plumbing involved could get extreme.

Keep in mind that must plastic buckets won't last indefinitely in the sun, the plastic will eventually get brittle and trying to lift the bucket will eventually break it. We often get food grade plastic buckets of all sorts of sizes from bakeries or deli departments of stores. They are handy for all sorts of things from washing and moving gravel (I recommend small buckets for moving gravel as trying to carry a 5 gallon bucket of gravel is a little much for me to do gracefully and if you can't do it gracefully, it will eventually hurt you.

Anyway, an alternative to trying to get PVC fittings to seal a drain in a thin plastic bucket would be to get some uniseals (top hat gromits) where you put the rubber piece through the correct size hole and then simple push a piece of the correct size PVC pipe through the hole and it's good.

Beware root clogging if hooking it up to a constant flow from a system. And if you do set up a constant flow, you might not even need the air stones so long as the water isn't too deep on the basket or if you work out some way to flood and drain. Totally possible to fit in as part of an AP system.

If you have the lid for the bucket, you can put in just about any size of plant basket, just cut a hole in the lid the right size to support the plant pot or plant basket. If the plant cups or baskets are not long enough to reach the water level, rayon mop strings can be added that will wick water 3 or 4 inches up into the plant basket and help get small seedlings going until their roots can reach the water.

For those of you who are interested more about GlobalBuckets, here's a picture of some eggplants that I started about 3 or 4 weeks ago... maybe 5 weeks actually - my memory isn't what it used to be.

I started them from seedlings I got from OSH.

I have used earth boxes, and earth buckets for the last two growing seasons while I've had my AP system collecting dust. I love them, they are great for all types of plants and perfect way to grow veggies when you have very limited space.

These mixes with my compost tea, I have things green all over my yard. I need to take a few pics of some of my buckets and tubs.

Michael John