Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello all,

I noticed a few comments on earth buckets. I have been using them off and on now for two years. Been very impressed with the growth. Best of all they are very easy to maintain and great for small area with little to no grow room.

Here is a PDF document I found some time ago on the internet. I in no way create or maintain this document.

http://geelel.com/mike/Earthbox.pdf

You can also watch these two video's from you tube. These helped answer a few simple questions for building a earth bucket / global bucket.

Video 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE8OrdUZQKk


Video 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8vgCy9w ... re=related

I will post some photo's of mine in the coming days. I just gave them all a good drink of worm tea, and will be perking up big time over the next few days!

Earth box bucket looks like a wicking bed to me

Yes F&F you are right about that. Its a very basic wicking system that seems to have a lot of people over thinking it. I just don't see a reason to spend $60.00 US for a name brand "earthbox" when you can build one for 1/4 of that price.

I made some from 55 gallons drums using the bottom as the plate full of holes. Using fish water you don't need to add the fertilizer.

Here is a photo of mine. I have used a deep bucket with overflow hole in the side as the reservior and a drilled shallow bucket for the plant pot. I have used cocopeat as the medium. Strips of an old towel are used for the wicks. Old crates are used to support the bamboo canes.

Here are mine. Made from cheap tubs from Kmart. They last well in the greenhouse but fall to bits quickly out in the weather. These are coming into their 4th growing season.
The resevoir holds about 30L of water whick is wicked up into the growing medium via a black pot sunk into the resevoir.

Of course the idea has been around for a very long time in plant pots like the "water well" pots... I like the idea of a simple modification using more of a standard pot with a tall saucer. Does pretty much the same thing, yet even simpler.