Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi F&F

Each have a stand/feed pipe into the reservoir like a normal wicking system.


They are all new (< 3 weeks old) and the Perth heat has not yet started (we had a bit of rain) so i dont know how much water they will use.

I suspect they will use a bit more than a normal wicking barrel.

A few more pictures.

I have moved the nectarines from the aquaponic system to the wicking barrels because they continue to have leave curl. The remedy is to spray with a copper fungicide but because of the risk of copper toxicity i have thought that is is better to move them outside the aquaponics system.

I now have 14 barrels. Most of them are air pruning barrels. I added a few normal wicking barrels for annual vegetables. The wicking barrels currently share the greenhouse with my cymbidium collection.

Sorry to see you have peach leaf curl there. Just about every peach tree here has problems with it if they aren't sprayed or covered to keep the rain off. There are some resistant varieties like Frost but I'm not sure how resistant they are.

Love the barrels, Gabe

great setup. what made you go to air pruning barrels?

I'm currently trialing root pouches vs wicking barrels, though am concerned about the wicking barrels being too wet (esp for citrus). The root pouches I'll just top water with drippers.

Hi Matt

I went for the wicking barrels because they were left overs from a previous project.


I have been looking at root pouches as well and have been contemplating getting a few and try them out. I was thinking of combining root pouches with some diy ollas made from cheap clay pots. I have been using the ollas in a few places in the dirt garden and they have been excellent to keep plants watered for a few days with little effort.


I can see a project coming my way!

Ditto, made my first ollas on the wheel a few weeks back. Waiting to get them fired...

Definitions please. Oh wait found one: Ollas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olla
Okay got the other as well Root Pouch is a felt pot. Interesting, now are you using root pouches in AP? I was given four tomatoes in plastic pots, I own several of these root pouches in 20 gallon (75 liter) containers, can these be incorporated in my aquaponics system somehow? Are you suggesting putting a root pouch in a pot to let AP water circulate at the bottom. Man O man this is intriguing.

Good idea, like putting a wicking bed into your AP. You could just have the bottom touch the water and it would wick up through the soil or whatever was in the pot or pouch (at least this is one way of doing it, sounds like maybe yours will be separate with the ollas in the root pouch but connected somehow to the AP) .

My fruit tress would be out of the AP system. I'm not convinced AP is the best place for trees as they prefer fungally dominated environments and also the high nitrates in AP systems may result in too much vegatitive growth - making insect attack more likely and reducing fruit production.

Gabe what was the reason for going with AIR PRUNING wicking beds over standard wicking beds? Had you found issues with standard wicking beds and fruit trees? The general consensus in gardening circles is wicking beds are not great for fruit trees, though I have not seen examples of them failing so I don't know whether it is people just assuming without trialing first (hence my question)

google grow bags - quite a few youtubes etc for ideas.
RodBob of http://www.bitsouttheback.net/ has some information on using them with AP.

the BYAP thread discussing them is here....viewtopic.php?f=1&t=23327&p=481185&hilit=root+pouch#p481185

Grow bags air pruning pots all those things I think you are missing a point
Integrating them with aquaponics what happens if the plants get leaf curl ect you cant spray them you will kill the fish
If you need to salt the fish you will probley kill most of the plants
I run mine like this fish tank pumped to a swirl filter then a bio filter then a scoria filled bed
The drain from the swirl filter goes to a 200 litre sump that is connected to the wicking beds Dutch pots 13 in total
they are filled with a combination of coco fibre sheep shit potting mix ect they also drain back to the said sump
If the fish need salting no probs it wont kill the plants if the the plants need spraying it wont kill the fish

For those that are interested. here is a few pictures of my DIY ollas. I made them by glueing two cheap pots from bunnings together. Total cost $2 per olla. (with a few cents of silicone),

They hold 5 litres of water. I have mainly been using them for establishing trees in my block. I have also added a few to the wicking barrels.

They hold water for about 4 days before needing a refill. They made a huge difference to

And also started a root pouch trial with an old shopping bag. Planted a sweet potato in the bag.

And one more post - these were available at the B store for $5 today. I planted a blackberry, a raspberry and the youngberry each in a separate wicking barrel.

My other half love raspberry's so I am hoping that the experiment is a success. it will allow me to spend more money on this addiction.