Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

They will pop up once the soil temperature is warm enough


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You could 'sprout' them first in a zip lock bag with moist paper towel on top of the fridge

Kiddo tending to the seedlings


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Mushroom box that I scores from spudshed for $4.99 has now been set up in the laundry. We'll see what happens, a bit late in the season but for that price it was worth a crack.


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"It's Magic Portabello Mushrooms" if they come up red with white spots, don't feed them to your kid.

Did the tears or teenage act work in getting your dad to bring the stuff over?

Sort of - I have the stand in my backyard now! And holes dug for the legs.

Also had an electrician out yesterday to put an outdoor powerpoint right next to the system for the pump etc.
I have new grass going down on Saturday morning, but in the afternoon I'll be wrestling it all into place. I'm going to put a square paver at the bottom of each hole and then fill said hole with concrete. Once it's level, that is...

Then it's plumbing time!!

I'm a bit nervous about doing the holes for the drain and the uniseals, especially since I've never used them before. Hoping it will all be OK and I won't have to patch anything.

If all goes according to plan, I should have the plumbing done and hopefully running smoothly by Sunday afternoon, and then I'm just going to take it easy with the gravel since I've done something to my back this week. I'll just do as much as I can each night after work. Should only take two or three days, since I moved pretty much the whole cubic metre in about an hour last time I had to shift it. I need more daylight. Not getting home til 6:30pm doesn't leave me with much time to see what I'm doing at this time of year unfortunately.

Oh well, at least being able to see the stand almost in place is making me feel like I'm tantalizingly close!

"I'm a bit nervous about doing the holes for the drain and the uniseals, especially since I've never used them before. Hoping it will all be OK and I won't have to patch anything."

I did some practise holes in scrap to test the holes for the uniseals, this gives you the confidence that it will fit ok.

Hole saw tips..

It helps if you have the ability to clamp a piece of wood to the back of the area that the hole will go through to, it gives a cleaner cut and a better solid surface to cut against, especial if cutting thin. Another trick is if you have a hole saw with an aggressive cutting edge you can run the drill in reverse, it will be easier to control and also a better cut.

Thanks Charlie, that's good advice and I'd never thought of running it in reverse.
Thinking out loud, I might have to clamp a thin sheet of ply on both sides to get a clean cut, the fibreglass is going to be too flimsy otherwise.

this works well - the reverse helps with IBC walls.

Uniseals are great.

I was about to say hit up Jay for tips on uniseals if needed, I found his tips handy! But he posted already!

One of the good things with uniseals as opposed to bulkhead threaded fittings, is you can warp the angle without silicone and you can also use them on non-flat walls of pipe and barrels, for example.

Hows your Koi Kat? Have you grown much in the container next to the pond?

Hey jay, the koi are going well, but I had to decommission the small container as the unseasonal downpours we were having flooded the bed and rotted the seedlings. It was such a rudimentary setup that I hadn't allowed for any unexpected weather etc.
they seem happy enough though, I guess it's no different to their past life of just living in the pond with the canister filter.
Did you see the GB stand and gravel in my FB pic? :-)


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So close I can taste it!
Didn't get plumbing done, the grass took longer than expected, but the legs are concreted in now, and she's pretty much ready to go!
Also two out of three chilli plants have flower buds, so hopefully I'll have some jalapeños and yellow siam chillies shortly! Plus some mignonette lettuces, and the pumpkin, spaghetti squash, and loofah seedlings are all looking good too.


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