Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi,

Is it bad to have water left over in the bottom of a grow bed? I'm using half-barrel grow beds, filled with gravel, but I have the drainage hole about 4cm off the bottom. Is it a problem?

thanks
rob

Hi Rob:

This isn't a problem as long as the system is cycling over regularly, that the water doesn't sit for hours/days. The stale water will be flushed out the next time the barrel floods. As long as a large amount of water (half the barrel?) is not stagnant for a good while (hours?) it should be OK.

It is nice to get a grow bed to drain as much as possible but an inch or so of water left in the bottom of a grow bed after it drains is pretty normal.

As Dave said, if it isn't sitting there for too long you are ok. Water usually doesn't become stagnant in less than a day so if the bed gets flooded and drained at least a few times a day you are golden.

Ok, cool. Thanks for the replies. It floods about every 15minutes so it should be cool. Cheers