Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

So what I thought would be a nice dusting of snow is probably 8", wow!

Francois posted his lettuce foam growing experiment, where he has a bevel in two foam pieces that are held together using tooth picks. This really intrigued me, to know that the roots can fit in a very narrow space like that. I've been thinking about that since seeing his lettuce foam thing.

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Here's some musings in my sketch pad:

One thing to try would be to make a foam raft from pool noodles joined together using toothpicks kind of like Francois' foam, with the seeds sprinkled in the grooves, with some kind of wicking fabric (suggested by TC in Francois' thread) draped over the odd numbered noodles. That would make a hyper-modular raft with just three cheap materials.

The same kind of thing could be done to germinate seeds, using say 3/4" pipes running parallel over a shallow flooded container.

I have been continuing to think about troughs and how to simplify them more - I plan to use them in the open spaces in the new greenhouse area.

I was thinking a lot about ways to support the plant stems rather than using a net pot like usual. I had tried briefly to use a rubber band once to support a plant stem in a short piece of pipe, but the rubber band disintegrated very quickly: http://backyardaquaponics.com/forum/vie ... 96#p295596

I was thinking about wedges sliding down against the plant stem and another wedge or flat vertical piece. I also thought about pipe rolling down a ramp to act also like a wedge to hold the plant stem.

Instead I have some PVC flashing that is not too thick or thin, it has good stiffness and pliability and I could just use this to hold a plant using friction I think. I plan to make some new troughs using this method for my new system. This avoids using net pots and media, the plants can be spaced however you want, and re-spaced as they get bigger. The plants can be transplanted by opening the trough with something thick and pulling the plant out. Some kind of felt or other wicking material could be inserted to get stuff growing from seed.

Another thing I want to try is to make a nice flat lettuce wall, by using the flashing to make channels down against a flat piece of felt or something. Both surfaces could have some nice soft felt or other wicking material. The wall would be fed by a pipe with holes in it at the top.

Just sprinkle the seeds in that channel and away it goes, like in Francois' foam raft.

I think these will work but the pool noodle idea is the one I like the best. I'm not sure about the tooth picks. Do you remember those gizmos that were used on shoelaces where you could pull a shoelace through but they were spring loaded? You could connect the pool noodles by drilling through them and using a not on one side and the gizmo on the other to hold them as tight as you needed. Here are the gizmos I'm thinking of - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Triathlon-Running-Shoe-Lace-Locks-Adult-Child-Children-Lacelocks-Squeezums-/271037878869

Lacelocks, Squeezums... I always called them toggles. I would be concerned about what material the springs are made out of. Nothing to break an aglet over...

I like that, pool noodles are expensive this time of year and cheap in the Summer so I'll probably not try it until I can get them cheap(er). $10 apiece on Amazon + shipping is highway robbery.

You could also just drill holes and run them through a PVC pipe perpendicular. I don't remember how much they float but the might be too low in the water. Ideally the part where they meet would be a bit above the water line.

I realized after posting that the lettuce frame thing could be made by making each horizontal strip and matching one on each side so that they push against each other. That way you could just make a bunch of those with the fabric long enough to go a little past the next one down. A middle piece of felt and/or a flat board would not be needed then. It would just be a light frame.

They must be made with Spring Steel right?

I don't think there would be enough of these in contact with the water to matter - of course that would depend on the system volume. I'm pretty sure you'd have to replace these at least once a year. I wonder if the springs would be any safer dipped in the tool handle rubberizing compound (might be more dangerous )



Are these made from the same material as the pipe insulation tubes? Maybe they'd be cheaper if they're the same thing.



Maybe use Cable ties to go around a sealed floating piece of pvc and through the noodles.



I'd be concerned that the pressure would cause problems for the plant roots but if you used a spacer as you mentioned it should be good.

Intersting stuf DD

This PVC flashing is probably just a little too stiff, separating the bits more can hopefully make it so that little ones aren't cramped and the plants can grow larger without needing to be transplanted to a wider gap. Another way to control the pressure on the plant would be to put a foam piece inside the D cross section to provide pressure, rather than using the stiffness of the material to do it. Or maybe instead use rubber hose split so you can screw it into the rail.

Ideally you could grow from seed and up without needing to move the plant. Using foam is good because it yields nicely.

This year is ended, on to 2014, very exciting!

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