Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

HELLO:

I wanted to introduce myself and thank everyone who posts information. I've read a LOT of the posts about AquaPonics and have decided that my greenhouse needs something like this.

I live in Hartford City, IN and teach at Ivy Tech State College in Marion, IN - low level computer courses. Otherwise, I'm in a retirement mode.

I belong to the Indiana Gourd Society and last spring had so many gourd and garden plants growing on my porch that last fall I decided to build a greenhouse (hoop house) similar to the one shown in one of the Mother Earth News magazines. Built it using 12 X 12 4X4s as the foundation and set those on blocks - done before the cold weather came.

While looking for covering material though I ran across some AquaPonic article and wondered what that was so dived into the site. WOW! I got hooked right away. But, my greenhouse was covered with snow until a couple of days ago and I expect more. That is not stopping me.

I'm working on a system to grow lettuce. I have a sturdy plastic shelving unit on which I am installing 3 each 5ft PVC guttering with nipples installed (partially done) so I can pump water in the top tier and have gravity feed it down through the other three levels, but constricted so the trays will fill and drain. This isn't AquaPonics, but, if I can get this working also I plan to incorporate it into my system.

I still need to buy all of my tanks, pumps, plumbing, etc. to build my system. I saw a 150 gal RubberMaid tank I have an eye on for fish and a 5 ft feeding trough made of the same material for grow beds. I'll do only one fish tank and two grow beds to start and see how that goes.

I do have parts and pieces and a 5 gallon bucket to play around with a bell siphon to see if I can actually make one and have it work.

Again, thanks to all who lend their expertise to people like me - too dumb to be told "you can't do that!"

Pics of my greenhouse and the beginnings of . . . . .

JayGee

Welcome JayGee!

Looks cosy in that greenhouse Jay gee! Would love to see some pics of your gourds if possible. I have grown a couple of different types and have seeds to plant, but have not been overly successful, may be because the chickens and pig distrurb lots of things and I often forgot where I planted them.

Gourds did not grow well this year. And, I only grow out to prove the seeds are growing what we are selling seeds for. If you want to see some nice artwork on gourds to to these two places to start.
http://www.indianagourdsociety.org
http://www.americangourdsociety.org

I do have a trellis and a couple of small fences that I try to grow on. Maybe this will be a better year for it.