Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I'm in the process of making ~10 "earthboxes" to take advantage of a very sunny, extremely heavily-rooted corner of the yard. One of the main parts of the earthbox design is the plastic tarp cover. It keeps the water loss low and condensation pulls fertilizer into the soil mixture. The cover also stops almost all weed and tree seeds from planting themselves in your growbed.
I plan on using the "square foot gardening" method of planting in the earthboxes, and will probably even use string to mark my SF.
I wanted to put a greenhouse AP system; but I don't think I'll have time for a system that large this year. I still may make a PVC hoop house around some of the earthboxes, but some will just be out in the open (ok that was rambling:) ).

In any case, I was thinking that these were both great ideas to incorporate into AP. The cover can either be dark to warm your growbed/water or white to reflect all light upward. You could even use red or blue if you wanted to promote certain growth. Perhaps most importantly though, wouldn't it save a LOT of the evaporation that happens? I would have to guess that 60-70% of evaporation in AP, well, S&S style AP, happens at the growbed.
Square foot gardening just makes a lot of sense as far as making the most of your limited space. SFG, of course, is more than just how you position your plants/seeds; but that's the only part I'm refering to in this case.

So anyway, what do you all think? I'll try to play around with it, but I would have to build identical systems and really analyze the whole thing with and without for a season. I wouldn't be able to do that until next spring, most likely.
Does anyone put either of these practices to use? What have you discovered? Has anyone done a good comparison of these ideas?
Has anyone done Earthboxes in general? How did they perform vs. AP?
I tend to think I would see definite positive results in the way of water savings. I'm not sure about how much of an advantage SFG-style planting would do; but it would certainly make it easier to cut the tarp for your plants. Makes sense to me...

I do SFG in raised beds outdoors, although I'm lax about adhering to strictly one foot increments, and I don't mark things off except with a line scratched in the dirt when planting. (I think the string is just Mel's way of getting you to advertise SFG for him ) I don't use plastic tarps, but tried a layer of paper over the soil one year. Not impressive. Bark mulch is nice of course, and a thin layer keeps most weeds down for the season, and can be turned in to the soil the next spring.

When planting in gravel, it's harder to drop your seeds exactly in a grid, I've found, but I do plant things in clusters or where ever there's a clear area in the gravel.

I think the biggest place for evaporation (and heat loss) is in the fish tank--which is why I have a lid. As long as you're not splashing water over the surface of the gravel or flooding above the gravel, I don't think there would be as much evaporation there. However, the idea of using color to adjust the temperature of the bed or encourage certain growth is interesting. Take one for the team!

Thanks Janet!
Like I said, I wont be able to do a real analysis until next year; but I'll be playing with different combinations this spring.
When I do get around to doing a full-on comparison, I'll have two identically simple S&S nodes. They'll be based on what I'm running now; but with a fully capped fish tank, with a sealed pipe rather than the "waterfall" I have now.

BTW, I ordered seeds online, and this is what I'll be planting in the Earthboxes, with a few being planted in my small AP node:
Items included in this shipment:


1. CORN YELLOW MIRAI 131Y (5539) Qty : 3

2. PEA DWARF WHITE SUGAR (5235/PKT P1) Qty : 1

3. SNAP PEA SUPER SUGAR SNAP (5231/PKT P1) Qty : 1

4. PEPPER SWEET RAINBOW MIX (5245) Qty : 1

5. TOMATO CUPID (5404) Qty : 1

6. TOMATO ILDI (5365) Qty : 1

7. TOMATO MARGHERITA HYBRID (5418) Qty : 1

8. CUCUMBER DIVA (5516) Qty : 1

9. CUCUMBER PEARL HYBRID (5557) Qty : 1

If you've never heard of Mirai corn it's supposedly the sweetest corn in existence. It was accidentally developed in IL or IA, depending on which source you believe. The farmer was trying to develop a more disease-resistant corn and came-up with this strain. It has to be harvested by hand, so hasn't "taken off" in the states; but it has become so popular in Japan (where most vegetable still come from "microfarms" and family farms) that it now accounts for some 38% of corn sold there. "Mirai" translates to "the taste" or something like that. I'm really looking forward to growing and eating the luscious-sounding veg.

What's everyone growing this year?

Hi bhsx:
I'm excited to really hit the plants this year rather than almost none last year. Don't know what varieties, but I plan to grow only things that we will eat. This would be tomatoes, peppers, beans, lettuce, peas, and I'll try to grow strawberries. Maybe even try carrots.

I'm actually looking into some strawberries myself. I haven't ordered any yet; but want to grow them in my current AP system with a grow light. I've been doing a lot of wheatgrass and some sprouts like sunflower and broccoli sprouts, and actually making a ton of yogurt as well. I love smoothies with plain yogurt, strawberries, bananas and wheatgerm. I figure I can probably get all the berries I need from the small AP system, only leaving me to buy bananas. That's my hope anyway.

I have a mate in the country. His strawberries were going nuts, sending runners everywhere. I said 'That's just what I want for my AP' so I cut off some runners and they're going well, and those have sent off their own runners. I get the feeling that I'm going to have a 'strawberry bed' cos it'll swamp anything else.
When they get big enough, I want to see if I can get the runners to grow up a trellis. I just don't know how they'll react by not being able to put new roots in the ground, and being entirely runner fed.

Yeah, I don't think I'd put strawberries in a system unless it was dedicated to them. They run almost as fast as mint. I have about 3 square feet of growbed, huge, I know; but I think by the time it gets filled with berries it'll be enough to suit my needs.

someone obviously forgott to tell my strawberries

at least strawberries run above ground, so way easier to control than mint, which sends out underground runners, under almost anything from memory, including pavers and concrete paths

There has been a few threads on strawberry towers, Jaymie has some in her system (and also F&F's spinning strawberry tower )...this effectively keep the strawberries from spreading out of control