Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I decided to run the first grow bed constant flood, mostly to help with water clarity. Again we are just pulling out of winter, so things are sparse. Though I keep getting the feeling that the plants that are still alive might do better on f&d. I decided to remove the distribution pipe on this grow bed, mostly because right now all of these little flowers from a nearby tree keep clogging the distribution pipes. The cabbages seem to be doing well, except for slug damage on the leaves that are lowest. I bought some décolleté snails today to combat them. My lime, lemon, peach plum graft, and grapefruit trees are blooming!

More cabbage.
The tomatoes I planted earlier in the soil punnets have mostly died off, two San Marinzano tomato plants look like they may have survived. The tomato plant in the back center is a striking that came from my existing tomato plant, it looks like it might be viable this time around, which would be awesome as I have yet to have any luck with tomato strikings.
However, all of this emptiness in the grow beds will soon be resolved because I have a proper seed starting kit with 72 cells growing pumpkin, dill, muncher cucumbers, strait 8 cucumbers, cabbage, romanesco, sumpter cucumbers, sweet peppers, San Marinzano tomatoes, oregano, basil, sage, and watermelon. There are a lot of cucumber types, because I have yet to have any luck with cucumbers. Hopefully at least one type will be successful because I want to make pickles!
I also buried a piece of ginger by the pear tree.

Wikipedia says those snails will eat your worms. :-/


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Drats. Too late now, but I am afraid that the slugs do more damage than benefit of the worms. But I would be surprised if they could eat all of he worms. They stay well hidden. In fact, I have not seen any since I put them in. I am sure they are there, but they are very good at hiding.

Killer system. Question, you're using blue barrels and lava rock, and was told (early on) that you need to support the beds in the middle, not just the sides. Do you think that was necessary, seeing as the lava rock it not terribly heavy? Seemed like the blue barrel handled the weight in the middle just fine in our test run yesterday, but there was only water and rocks in it, no plants obviously. We can still add a middle brace without too much difficulty at this point. Wanted to get your opinion on if it's necessary.

I was thinking the worms can probably get around in the gravel better than the snails, with their hard shells, so maybe they can keep out of reach.

I had idly wondered just the other day whether there was a land-based equivalent of the aquatic assassin snails people use to get rid of other snail species. Now I know!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

The support system I am using has been working well. 2 cradles at about 1/3 in from the sides each, with two cross supports. I suppose some people have been having issues with their barrels bowing out, but my barrels tend to curl inward. Cylinders are one of the stronger shapes out there, that is why barrels are that shape. Of course, if they were flat, we could just rest them on a table. If I had more space all of my grow beds would be made from IBCs. They have a lot more growing space, with far less plumbing. It is the plumbing that gets expensive.

My supports are x's, bolted together and with supports attached between them. The hubby (6'4, 270 lbs) got on top of them and jumped a few times to show me how strong they are. I know they can handle the weight. As long as the barrels can handle it (and I don't see why they wouldn't), I can leave them. But at this moment, if I wanted to slightly adjust the x's, the barrel would sit not only cradled in both V's, but also on the cross support as well. Just not sure if it's needed.

Sounds like your hubby and I have similiar ideas on how things should be built. I usually build my projects to handle more weight than I could ever put on them. If it isn't moving, why not over engineer the s@#t out of it as long as it doesn't make it more expensive. Besides I can repurpose it later if I decide to stop using it.

Thats why I over engineer all my GB frames out of steel (50mm square) as I am suspending 4-500kg of gravel. I would never forgive myself if they fell on my kids or anyone else for that matter.

Thinking about getting one of those. BTW did Burpee pay you or something cause that logo came out Oh So Clear.

No, Burpee did not pay me. It is the condensation underneath the lid that did it. It is the type with wicking fabric. I am thinking of a way to incorporate it in an indoor system. I just don't have the means to build the indoor system at the moment. I was given some target gift certificates, and after finding nothing in the electronics section that I wanted, I found it. Now I am hooked. The only thing is that some of my seedlings are getting too tall for the plastic now, and some seeds have yet to sprout. That does not change the fact that I am very happy I bought it.

Another member was kind enough to pm me about the spotting on the cabbage. I added some kelp fertilizer to my fish tank. I have a feeling the tilapia like the murkiness that followed. Hopefully that will give a much needed boost to the poor plants in the raft too.

Yes, and I feel the same, lol. Growing up with a carpenter father and spending my entire childhood helping in the garage, I know how things should be built. I won't build them myself, lol, but I know how solid they better feel when they are done. That's why the hubby knew he'd have to prove to me that his simple design worked, lol. I'd rather see a ton of wood, he'd rather go for strength and stability with a good design. In the end, his way exceeded my expectations, and I'm thrilled.

(ok, done talking about my stuff on RonMaggi's thread, sorry!)

Would the addition of a (SGF) Smart Guy Filter with the iron in it supplement long term? In Vegas, we have such hard water, and it is utterly devoid of iron... I've always added ironite to my dirt gardens.... I know it will be a long term issue...