Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Do the manufaturers also say that EDPM is 'potable' or 'food safe' Hayden.

Fish safe and plant safe.
If it were roof rubber EPDM I would not use it, but is designated as highly stable.

Here is the MSDS from Firestone:
http://www.firestonebplatincaribe.com/l ... 41185,23,1

There is a dust on it that should be washed off prior to use though.

Hayden

EPDM is also used to make beverage tubing. I take that as food safe.

you said in teh small system thread that yoou used High Pressure RO water in some mister nozzles, iwas just wondering why as RO water would have verry few Minnerals
CHeers
Pete

The pressurized water is misted upon sprouts in trays with little or no medium(depending on sprouts or microgreens...none for sprouts)
During that stage of growth, the seed contains sufficient nutrition within to reach an edible size as a sprout, so mineral content in the water is not important. Also a bonus misting nozzles will not plug as quickly from hard water.
I will do an update with newly taken photos to show better how it looks now that things are stable.
I have grown aeroponic sprouts for some time, in a large plastic container with misting lines and drains with great results, so I just decided to put it above the aquaponic tank to catch the used water and replenish evaporation in my system.
By the way, to anyone interested in this, very fine mist nozzles are required. Highly atomized water droplets contain a saturation of oxygen, and this is a key element to successfully growing the sprouts in this way. They are fogging nozzles more than misting really.

Ahhh thanks for explainign, it makes much more sense now

In the thick of it:

An update.
-A flout is now in use to flood the grow beds.
See Flout thread here (latest and operational DIY version on page 4)

-A sprouter is integrated into the duckweed channel
See Aeroponic sprouting thread here

Currently growing:
-3 varieties of mint
-Basil
-Oregano
-Tomato
-Cucumber
-Stevia
-Vicks plant...just cuz it smells really good
-duckweed
-snails? oh well. another source of fish food...now how to effectively gather them (2-5 mm in size)?
-sprouts

More photos

Hey raimiuso, things have gone really well for you.

You surprised or is it about what you expected?

Thanks Rupert,
Growth appears reasonable, I'm happy to see fruit, and have already harvested some tasty oregano, stevia and basil.
I do have some signs of deficiencies:
Cucumber leaves - yellowing around edge of leave, most likely indicating potassium deficiency

Occasional yellow spots of iron deficiency. Wanting to avoid iron chelate, very interested to hear of an update from someone in the "Conversation with a really smart guy" thread, talking about anaerobic reactor idea for breakdown of unusable iron.
Some recent flower abortion, probably resulting from trials with the flout and not getting sufficient water...all fixed now

Excellent work Hayden. Love the toms.

hayden, haven't you heard that you cant grow fruiting / flowing plants in AP? LOL

There is so many people doing it now that the jokes not going to be good for much longer!

I'll be interested to hear how you go with taste tests of your ground tommies compared with AP tommies Hayden..

Indeed, I also have planted a graft tomato plant at the same time as in the ground, so we will see the difference. They are grafted with Maxiforts, an incredibly fast and resilient tomato, just not good fruit production. The roots are gold though

Hi Hayden,
I have no good update on the anaerobic iron reactor for you. Although I did install the rusty washers and nails with carbon in the bottom of a growbed, it was small scale. It has not caused any harm, nor any stench. I don't have the space to set up a really scientific experiment to measure iron levels in a very controlled environment. It's hard to know if it is producing soluable iron when the plants are taking up any iron in the system as fast as I put it in. I have been trying to measure iron in my water, but I keep coming up at zero, even after addition of iron chelate. I'm starting to wonder if my test is bad. My squash and cukes really want a lot of iron, whereas eggplant and basil don't seem to care.

You have a nice big greenhouse, right? Any space for your own testing??