Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi All

i have a few questions that I'm sure are easy for you to answer please.

1, Would the climate in Brisbane require me to have a green/glass house ? my reasoning would be more for pest's rather than temp control.

2, Would there be pro's & or cons in having one ?

3, If so would the one listed below be any good ?

Thanks for your help
Joe



http://www.sproutwellgreenhouses.com.au ... clone.html

I don't know where I read it but I believe an enclosed glasshouse can bring its own pests too, others might be able to elaborate as I'm not sure. I suppose they would be easier to control but pollination is also an issue. I've pondered this subject for my next build. All the big commercial systems are in enclosed greenhouses but they also have people working in them full time. I'd be interested to hear others opinions

Sproutwell are good - get the thicker walled one.

Yes pests harbor more - i.e. aphids and black mould during spring.

But more controlled temperature means faster growing plants.

how many people in Perth have a GH or are planning to build one?

I have been thinking about either putting mini hoop-house type units over my GB or building a large hoop-house which would cover the whole AP system area, that would be about 7m x 10m.

in any case I have shade sails to put over the area to protect it from the scorching summer sun.

One reason I am concerned about the GH build is I like watching the wag tails and minor birds picking the bugs off my plants.

How will the plants get pollinated if the bees can't get to them?

Hi, re bees and fertilisation of plants without them, I built an enclosed vegetable garden with quarter inch netting all over to stop everything I grew being eaten by parrots, rats, possums and mice. I discovered that a surprisingly large number of plants actually self-fertilise in the absence of bees. This includes broadbeans, dwarf beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, cougettes. I am not sure if the yield is lower for any of these, but I get plenty so don't really worry about it.

I had to enclose my system with fruit fly netting over the ends of the covered greenhouse (pics in my system thread) to prevent King Parrots attacking the veg, and also to keep Qld Fruit Fly out. The top of the greenhouse is opaque waterproof shade cloth to stop the system flooding in big rain events. The tomatoes don't need bees for fertilisation- just a bit of wind is all they need, and apparently the same with the capsicums, and I produced over 155kg tomatoes from 8 plants! I do a bit of hand fertilisation with the strawberries though, as they seem to need it. Lettuce, chard, onions, garlic, celery, wheat, etc dont need bees to produce.
Normally just about every tomato in the dirt garden would be lost to QFF if I didn't use protection, so enclosing the AP GBs is necessary in my case if I want to grow plants that QFF are attracted to.
As far as pests in the GH goes- White Fly seem to be a problem, although aphids dont seem to be much different to the dirt garden, and need to be controlled. A few small birds, mainly Superb Fairy Wrens manage to get into the GH through small gaps, and probably clean up a few bugs.

that's good to hear most plants don't need bees to pollinate.

My crops have been previously decimated by diamond back moth caterpillars and currently the aphids are into my lettuce!

how much does a GH enhance the growing season in a place like Perth?

Aphids like greenhouses


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that's a bummer, how does one control them in a GH?

Its a seasonal thing.

You can spray with hose or garlic chilli spray or seasol or thumb.

the best method is apparently home made white oil of detergent, milk and water