mattyoga's bathtub wicking bed

mattyoga

The water shown in the pic was just my leak test

When I set the height I'll set it to 50% of the reservoir pipe, give or take a bit. The bath started off with about 4cm for the leak test and ended up with about 15cm after a few good days of rain!

Good pickup though F&F - You're on the money as to why my other WB (at start of this thread) did not work so well - Need to dig that one out to change the level

- hence the reason for designing this one so the drain level is set externally.

Food&Fish

Managed right they are a great thing a good accumpiant to aquaponics

jayendra

Brilliant Idea ! Love it.
The shade cloth could be substituted for geofabric if you wanted.
Where do you put your overflow?

Food&Fish

Rule of thumb is overflow 1/3 up from the bottom saying that i put a valve right on the bottom then you can adjust the water height to whatever you want
And in 5 years of wicking beds its worked

jayendra

I've been putting sand or just potting mix on the bottom for my wicking pots, but I'm going to try some rocks and a screen of some sort like you Matt.

mattyoga · 2013-05-14-137e.jpg [ 112.66 KiB | Viewed 2971 times ]

Heres a pic of the completed system utilising a P-S trap to set the level (and a bit of string!). The end piece on the trap swivels enabling me to raise/lower the level, or completely drain the WB if I want.

Also shown in the picture is an artists impression of the future blue barrel pawpaw

. I plan to do one in a WB and one on an AP system. The fence faces north-ish so is a nice little sun trap - I also plan to throw some poly sheeting between the shed and the fence to make a greenhouse (shadecloth in summer)

planted some broad beans, carrots, spring onions, brussel sprouts (yuck - the better half likes them) and cauli. Need to add a mini worm farm and it'll be job done..... other than the blue barrels and other two baths (may do one pure media and one AP wicking bed)...

jayendra

mattyoga wrote:

... brussel sprouts (yuck - the better half likes them)

Found this out from a chemist the other day

Code:

Why do some people seem to enjoy Brussels sprouts, while others can't stand them? The answer may be that genetic variation prevents some people from tasting bitter flavors found in certain vegetables. About 25% of people are unable to taste a chemical called propylthiouracil (PROP) similar to the bitter components found in cabbage, raw broccoli, coffee, tonic water, and dark beers. These people are essentially "taste-blind"—and compared to those who do respond to PROP, taste-blind people find most food and drink to be less bitter, or not bitter at all. It turns out that sensitivity to this kind of taste is due almost entirely to a single gene that encodes receptors in taste buds on the tongue. A SNP in this gene is responsible for whether a person is bitter taste-blind.

https://www.23andme.com/health/Bitter-Taste-Perception/

seamonkey

Wow Matt you got fruit on your Paw Paw already!!

mattyoga

not sure that's the answer Jayendra as I like dark beer and coffee (though not at the same time!)

though she likes cabbage and tonic water (and I don't).. unless its got lots of gin! (the tonic, not the cabbage!)

Yeah Sue - got to be the quickest fruiting variety in town - just click the colour change pallet and get busy with the brush - if only it were that easy!

seamonkey

mattyoga · 2013-06-07-154.jpg [ 58.91 KiB | Viewed 2908 times ]

Noticed some peas I have in the wicked bed looking decided anemic. One ore so than the others, then noticed I'd planted some garlic next to it. Looks like they don't get on!!!

Backyard Aquaponics A place to discuss aquaponics

mattyoga's bathtub wicking bed

Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics