Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

G'day Aquanate,

Iceman and I have put a lot of effort into our systems, and we are getting good results. I only hope that you can gain some inspiration from what we have done.

What is your process for seed germination in the Growgrips ? I use foam cubes and can achieve 90% + germination,maybe we could share notes,i know there not the same but maybe i do something that might help.

So far, I have just been putting the seeds in the foam, and sitting the foam in trays of Root Magic mix. It's similar to Seasol and works incredibly well in soil and AP. So far, the seeds have been in for almost 3 weeks and nothing? They were new seeds- arugula. But I didn't do any comparison in my normal starter mix. I was hoping to avoid that whole step of having to transplant and wash off the seedlings.

Thank You! I have gotten little foam pieces everywhere in the past. This is a fantastic idea. Hats off to your Dad.

Jason

coachchris,for lettuce seeds i soak the foam in AP water then place one seed in each,now i have found it helps to place the seed deeper than you would in soil i go at least one third down,this is i think where the water wicks to suitable for germination.
I picked up a trick from a link posted by scotty for lettuce and that is to leave the cubes with there seeds in the warmth for 6 hours,then in the fridge for 24 hrs,i have only tried it once but results were better.
Ok when the cubes are seeded they go in a propagator until the first signs of life,the propagator keeps the surface of the foam moist stopping the seed from dessicating,which i think is the secret to foam.As soon as i get the first signs of life they then go into a tray with enough AP water that the cubes just want to float,this allows there wicking action to keep the cube moist but not over wet and allow the roots to push down into the solution,air is added as well but very gently,oh and they have a black 50% shade cloth cover.
The only seed i have had a problem with is celery,everything else can be germinated or transplanted into the foam cubes,in my situation they are proving to be very versatile and reliable.

So you buy them from your son


Id say Iceman gets them from bigalow brook farm or maybe amazon. You can get 250 of them for $50 on amazon with free shipping.

Heres a list of places you can get them from Skeggly

http://growgrips.com/AboutUs/Purchase/Purchase.aspx




Im jelous of your strawberries, EEE. Very cool.

Yes he bought them from me... I, Western Aquaponics, am the Australian Distributor of them, i purchase them direct from Bigalow Brook Farm.

Ok cool, thanks for that.

Hi Charlie,

Well sleuthed!! Sherlock Holmes has got nothing on you! Yep, I bought them from Iceman, best money spent for a long time, so much so that I am putting in another DWC.

And the strawberries tasted as good as they look.

If you are ever down this way, you are more than welcome to call in for a cuppa.

Hi Ian, I PM'd you the other day but I'm guessing you don't frequent the forum too often. Just wondering how that Sproutwell greenhouse is going after a few years in the sun? Any yellowing or deterioration to the polycarbonate panels?

I really love the look of your system!

Is the wood you used recycled wood or new?

That really is a system to make others envious of. Everything so very well thought out and growing awesomely!

Only thing that I can see that would make it better is automated temp control for the greenhouse (Computer monitoring system running stepper motors controlling the exhaust windows).

That is a thing of beauty! You and your father get total points for putting together such an inspirational system!

I'll be using 20mm poly pipe to create a loop/hoop greenhouse for our system once it's actually running

Those strawberrries look amazing - are they in growgrips in NFT too?

From memory they are simply sitting in the NFT