Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Yea, In general, I just never felt the need to add the extra plumbing on top of a grow bed where it didn't seem to be needed.

And where it seemed to be needed, it also seemed problematic (I think in any of the beds where I am getting that kind of gunk build up, I actually need to turn the bed into a radial flow filter or add such a filter before the bed if I can. That kind of "too much flow" Plus Excessive solids" really just means the system needs expansion there I guess .)

Marc, couldn't you also unblock a drain hole in a standpipe, should it ever occur, with a carefully shaped piece of wire?

When I built the GBs for The Puddle I experienced the problem that you described earlier, concerning the vastly different drainage rates of different size grow beds. It can be an issue even when the GBs are set up for constant flood if the water is draining too fast for any/enough water to make it over the top of the standpipe. Consequently, achieving the correct valve setting for each GB has become somewhat problematic.

When I retrofitted GBs to my big concrete tank I got a bit smarter (well, by the 3rd one, at least). Not only was the standpipe made retractable but the joiner into which it is fitted is drilled with a series of holes of increasing diameter. A single large hole in the standpipe can be lined up with whichever size hole I need to achieve the rate of flow that I deem optimal at that time. It worked well in a trial run, although the standpipe can be awkward to dislodge, but I haven't had the need to change holes since the GB was commissioned two weeks ago.

You might want to consider variable flow standpipes, at least on your smaller GBs. It's all about having control.

The big trick is to make the stand pipes fairly east to remove from the bed so that you can adjust the size of the holes if needed or swap stand pipes. Or just simply for cleaning.

Hi PLJ, I would do that. I guess I was seeking experience of members if they have come up with a particular size. The problem for me if I have a small drain hole in the standpipe is that I may not notice from one weekend to another and the vegies may suffer. TCLynx's view that the extra flow wont cause problems with solids build up make me happier with a reasonable sized hole and a bigger pump to ensure the beds fill. The extra water flow through the beds can only assist with filtration so I think it is a win all 'round.



I like this idea PLJ, can you provide some more details.
I extend or reduce the size of my standpipe by having different lengths of standpipe (expensive) or using joiners and other misc fittings I have lying around. A retractable standpipe seems so much better.

Some quick pictures of the vegies I took on the weekend
Some oakleaf lettuce in the blue barrels


And the Kale, Russian red and curly kale and another I can't remember. Picture taken just after harvesting a couple of bunches.



This is about a fifth of my kale 'cos I love my Kale . we use it in most dishes that have a green leafy vegetable and smoothies, and the new leaves in salads. It's really not bad . I wish I had got into kale earlier but I always though that were an uninteresting and not a very nice vegie. How wrong I was.

Kale is super good for you AND it grows and grows and grows and there are so many different kinds.
Just keep an eye on the red russian to keep the aphids under control.

Have you made Kale Chips yet?

Thanks for the tip on the aphids. Its all good so far. Last year the aphids in the cabbages and broccoli were devastating.

This year I'm growing lots of different types (resistant types when I can get them) to see what works and what doesn't.

I have Tuscan Kale in the dirt garden and its over 2m tall!! Too tall for the growbeds.

We do make kale chips and I posted a recipe a few pages back. My wife and I love them, the kids are not so keen but then its green (well sort of) We use the Tuscan Kale for the chips.

Rupert raves about kale; I think it's his fav vegie as well (not)

how long does your Russian kale last before you have to replace it?

Well, I had some that just didn't do well last year and many of the plants got pulled early. I didn't keep up with spraying against the aphids I guess. And then other plants had problems as soon as it started getting hot so the red russian was the first of my Kale to give up. The collars, and all the other kale made it much further into the hot season here and it was mid summer before I finally said goodbye to the Tuscan Kale which was the longest lasting into the heat. To tell the truth some of it might have made it through the hot season with a little extra babying. Last year I started mine late (though it is still rather warm-hot here in October) October here is when we can usually expect the first cool down for fall. And I was harvesting Kale starting in January I guess The Red Russian was probably the first to be really ready for much heavy harvesting but It probably gave up by June. The Tuscan Kale and some of the other crinkled varieties made it into July and some of the Tuscan Kale was still surviving in the dirt garden in August but I had stopped making it available for sale by the 3rd week of July.

This year I have some Tuscan kale seedlings already started so once I get my new low narrow media beds built, I'll be planting it in there and I expect I might be harvesting Kale from November through July this coming season.

Now something I haven't tried yet but think is should is Tree Collards. I've heard they can survive a LasVegas summer. They are a less common harder to find seed though. Probably can't plant them in a high up grow bed as I've heard they can reach man height.

Thanks for the info on the kale TCLynx. I am glad i'm not the only one growing and liking kale.

So it looks like kale and trout go together for weather.

My Tuscan kale is 18 month old and coming into its second summer (that is why they are so big). It survives our summer OK so I think that will have to be my summer kale.

I have just Googled tree collards and you have me hooked. I will see if I can get some seed of them.

What do you use on the aphids? Cabbage aphids and white fly are my 2 biggest pests. I even got a hand held cordless vacuum cleaner for Fathers day so I can vacuum off the whitefly (it works to keep the numbers down)

I actually rotate using several different products and home mixes that so far seem to be quite fish safe. Unfortunately the products tend to be rather expensive. I actually Dip seedlings in AzaMax before planting out, it's active ingredient is actually extracted from Neem oil (I don't like using any oils or soaps around aquaponics) so this extracted ingredient is good as it is the one that seems to be anti feedant and messes with the reproductive cycles of many insects. I've also used Botaniguard wettable powder (I don't like the emulsion, oily and it killed a bunch of my strawberries when the sprayer started spraying out a foamy mix because it is really hard to walk around shaking a 3 gallons wheeled sprayer enough to keep it mixed.) I've also used SucraShield (wear your goggles) and of course against the caterpillars I use bacillus Thurengensis products.

On a more home made scale, I've done the worm tea or just simply some molasses in water. With the aphids, if you are not battling ants farming the aphids, you might even get away with simply spraying several times a week with plain water to knock them off the plants. But if you are going to be spraying that way you might as well add a splash of molasses or seaweed extract or worm tea or all three to the water and foliar feed the plants while you are at it and the worm tea if brewed right can have a detrimental effect on the aphids directly as I suspect the seaweed and molasses do to.

Thanks for the tips. I have tried the molasses on the cabbage aphids but it did not seem to reduce their numbers but they were hard to get to. I have not heard of some of the other products so I will chase up the ai and see if they are available over here.

I checked out botaniguard and it sounds like the product I need for my whitefly but unfortunately it does not appear to be available in Australia.

Well I now have a few more relatively fish friendly options for this spring and summer.

and some recently planted cabbages. these have only been in for 3 weeks and growing well.




Had a Chinese cabbage run up to flower. Ordinarily I would still use it but it had some frass in it and with all the kale I couldn't be bothered cleaning it. So I gave it to the Silvers.
next morning it looked like this.

The Botaniguard is actually using a fungus as the active ingredient so if you can find out what that fungus is and see if there are any other products out there that use it, maybe you will find a version available over there. Mycotrol O is the Organic certified version (but it is only available in the emulsion formula which gave me problems, it actually left a really nasty sticky residue on my towers that was nearly impossible to clean off.)