Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello all.

I'm designing some 5' towers to put out the front of my house. I'm going to make them from uPVC tubing with a slot cut down the front and filled with folded reticulated foam (You are all probably familiar with this design)

I've spoken to a few manufacturers who have sent me samples of 10, 20 and 30 PPI reticulated foam. Now I'm trying to figure out which is best.

10 PPI seems like it might be a good choice as the holes in the foam are much larger for both water and roots to pass through. It might also be the easiest to clean after use.

Is there a reason that I should go for either 20 or 30 PPI instead? e.g. more supportive for root structure or larger biological surface area?

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Welcome to the forum LOMAX

50-60 ppi we've always have used. The white strip they are now using you can buy at a fabric store, its 100% Polyester fabric.

Does your manufacture do 8' or 10' sheets, otherwise you have scrap left over out of a 8' sheet. make sure you get that pc. By the way this is what the same as Matala is.

Ok, thats a surprise. I have a 40ppi sample and even that looks far too dense for roots to grow through.

Do the roots grow through 50-60ppi or do they stay sandwiched between the two strips of foam?

If they stay sandwiched between layers of 50-60ppi, would there be an advantage to using 10ppi so the roots could spread throughout the material?