Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Cauli... in full sun in your climate... not a bad effort.... usually a cooler climate plant

May need to shade the flower so that it doesn't "purple" over....

Used to do that by bending the leaves over... mind you there were quiet a few more leaves and were a lot larger

yup i am realiseing that the cauliflower growing in this system are maturing faster than usual and there are a lot less leaves and the leaves are smaller to.

They look a little like the mini caulis that you pay a fortune for in the shops because they are trendy...

Hey cg, I am wanting to put an nft system in after the growbed and on the way back to the fish tank since I have such a long run. Can you give me the dimensions of the pipe you use, the size wholes and how you hold the plants in the pipes? a few close up pics might be helpful. I hope it is not too much bother. Thanks

DT

DT, by the looks of it I'd say Damian is using 100-150mm PVC pipe...

I'm guessing 70-80mm holes, (actually they might only be 50mm) with a "slitted" neoprene collar... could use net pots filled with media as an alternative

See pics below.... saved ya the work CG man

Have a look at Steve & Anges system thread for similar ideas as well DT

CG, i must say that of all of us, it seems you have had more than your fair share of troubles. Things seem to be clicking now. Good luck.

Thanks Rupert. I guess I could have looked for all that.

Those look like specialized collars. I am thinking of using just regular sponge. I hope that works.

Also,there will be no gravel since it is the return line from the growbeds to the fish tank. I am hoping that will give me some results. The roots will touch the water every half hour for about 8 minutes.

dthawk can you buy those foam rubber 'noodles' that people buy for their pools over there? All you need is one and just cut it into pieces... that should work.

Only problem I see DT may depend on the length of the pipe and the heat of your location...

If the roots are only exposed to water for 16 minutes/hour I'm wondering if the plant might dry out... indeed if the pipe itself may become considerably heated..... fine if you want to heat the water a bit, but not so sure about the plants... if you can grow broad leafy stuff quickly then the pipe wont be exposed to the heat of the sun as much ....

You can see from the pictures that CG feeds the roots of each plant via 19mm black tubing and uses the 100/150mm pipe as the return line and support structure for the plants.... he feeds each plant directly into the pipe via the poly tubing.... not sure why he does this, possibly to minimise evaporation...

However I'm wondering if you might be better of using a net pot filled with cocopeat.... might absorb and hold some moisture for each plant a while longer

well thank you muchly Ruperto you are correct in most things but the pipes are always half filled with water and the pump runs constantly.

The 19mm tubing was when the system was aeroponic hydro now its AP nft. the pipe has to be covered with shade cloth or the heat will slow the plant growth considerably.

i am shifting to net pots fill with gravel that will offer more protection to roots than just the pool noodle.

Thanks that info helps. I will take all that into account.
CG do you have any pics of your current setup as an NFT system?

i think page 8 or 9 has in pics of the system

i am looking at growing only heirloom tomatoes in the system from now, black brandy-wine to be exact, well see how that goes

just an update
I took a cutting using floating raft technik and added a syphon to the slump - to aid in water circulation and most of all to quite the water splashing sound. While maintaining water DO

some more pics

Cool Damian, looks like you're getting some better growth now.... you think that's due to moving everything to the new position.... more sun.... or has the extra aeration caused the extra growth???