Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

closer to my choc. habs tree lol

jT

JT,

Awesome job there - I absolutely love it (especially the PVC structures which I assume gives you the option of plastic in winter and shade cloth in summer).

I recently made my first experimental wicking bed on a small scale in a square plastic tub about a foot and a half on each side. I just lined the bottom with gravel and then put in a layer of shade cloth and then composted soil on top of that. I just have a single tomato plant in there at the moment and it seems to be pretty happy at this stage but I guess time will tell.

I note that on your first bed you had a 2nd pipe for putting in scraps for the worms but it does not look like you put this in your subsequent beds. Is this because you only generate enough scraps to run one of these or did you discover that it didn't work?? If it did work and you still use it, could you please explain the setup a bit more so that I can understand how it functions.

Also, do you just put water in the reservoir or do you also include liquid fertiliser from time to time??

I currently have 3 x raised garden beds that are 1200 mm x 2400 mm x 60 mm and I am now thinking that I might convert them to wicking beds after this spring/summer growing season (I am in Melbourne, Australia and already have all of the beds planted out as the weather is just starting to warm up).

Keep up the good work!!!

Cheers,

Gags

finally got my rain barrels set up right....

been wanting to get them positioned for quite some time...

jT

water barrels continued

last one

A lot of capacity there, maybe 400 gallons? It looks like you have a metal roof?

Very good, collect some of that rain for use instead of just having it flood/float your sumps!!!!

Like geo-engineering the water away from the sump hahaha

The last couple of weeks we have had several frosts and two hard freezes....

even covered up with sheets and blankets, I lost about 50% of my outdoor stuff in the wicking beds...

So I thought about a way to stop this from happening again...

It comes in three phases....

first phase is to make frost frames... lower to the plants so any heat from the bed will not rise up
into the top of a high frame......

these frames are held together with zip ties so they fold up for easy storage.... if my plants are taller
then the frame, I can add a second frame on top of the first one....

second phase is to get some frost cover fabric - The one I got is good down to 27 degrees -2.7 Celsius

so if it gets colder than that, I can add the sheets and blankets on top of that...

the third phase is in the works and will show you when its finished...

JT

Theres no stopping you is there

Looks as if that type of setup would work with my handicap just fine. I'll be borrowing your ideas for sure... actually I've already started. Love those wicking beds.

Thanks F&F

gotta protect the little ones

until it's time to harvest then its everyone for themselves

thanks bill...

the frames are 14" tall and dont hamper planting, weed pulling or harvesting....

will be putting the frost cloth on tonight as it's supposed to get down to 30 degrees -1 c

will get a pic on later tonight

jT

Those Frost Frames are a winner JT

Hey moderators


where did that advertizing on my msgs come from? I didnt put it there....

can you remove it???

thanks
JT


Ok found it ... was a link to my old website.... I got rid of it......Thanks