Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

You're speaking of dual root zoning and it has been tried many times with mixed results. On a large scale I think you're pretty much always going to get soil transfer into your AP system at least to some degree but on a smaller scale I think the Aquapouch is the latest commercial product folks have been talking about.

What is the species of the timber that you have used there? Those are some pretty seriously wide boards

I wonder if you could put a slow AP water feed into an IBC size wicking bed that would keep the water reservoir at a constant level while effectively keeping the water moving thus providing a fresh supply of O2 and nutrients to the wicking bed. The overflow would feed back into the sump.

I suppose you could add swirl filters and radial flow filters to limit the amount of debris transmitted to the AP system. If you kept a non-organic media as a wicking material in the reservoir and ensured that the water in the reservoir did not exceed that height the amount of debris would be further minimized.

Good tip on "dual root zoning" this will be on my research list now. That aquapouch looks like a grocery bag. In fact we have soil potatoes growing that way right now just for an insect barrier... something my girlfriend found online and tested at our home.

Some of the old fashioned methods of wicking actually use like a candle wick between the soil and water barrier. One of the interesting parts to me is the introduction of earth minerals and things I don't even really understand much (yet) that are in soil and could be a good thing to leach back into the AP system. It sounds like a very complex and especially messy project but it sounds possible in the right hands. I'm going to read some more of this dual root stuff now. Keep building cool stuff "braddah" we need a time lapse camera in your backyard.

lol... thanks...

There aren't any additions to the AP system planned for the near future. Right now, I'm focusing on reclaiming as much of my yard as I can for growing vegetables and fruits. My lot is 100'x50' including the house and driveway but my goal is to repurpose as much as I can toward sustainability.

I've got my mind set on a series of wicking beds. I have a section of paved area between my carport and a short hollow tile wall I want to tackle first. I'm looking at making a wicking bed to cover that space. It would end up about 20 feet long and 2 feet wide and look more or less like the raised bed I posted earlier.

The original owner of this house (we bought about 6 yrs ago) put some low hollow tile walls around the perimeter but strangely didn't take the wall all the way across the front yard but only about half way. There is also a low wall running from the front door entrance area but it only extends about half way along the front of the house. I think he was aiming for some kind of feng shui kind of design. The front yard also has a bit of a slope toward the street. My goal is to build some kind of a wall along the front and sides of the yard so I can level it out and then build a huge series of wicking beds that are all tied together so they can be watered from one rain collection system. The entire system will consist of one long wicking bed that spans the width of the front yard which is about 36 feet and will be 4 feet wide. Then, I'll make 4 foot wide spurs coming back toward the house with 18" wide walkways between each. It is more or less an expansion on a keyhole raised bed but my version will have 5 keyholes.

I want to start with the long bed beside the carport so I can make sure my wicking bed design works well enough. Then I can tackle the one along the front of the house so I can make something that aesthetically blends with the existing hollow tile wall. Once I'm happy with that I can start on the super-wicking-bed project. All in all I will gain a huge amount of growing space and eliminate the need to cut the front lawn.

This is a shot of the front of my house as taken by google earth. Those are the Koolau Mountains in the background.

Now I see what you were talking about. Looks amazing!

That is one nice view!

Did a water test this morning. PH was quite low and I plan on adding some oyster shells. The nitrates seem pretty high as well. Are these values within acceptable limits for general growing?

My fruiting plants haven't been making fruits at all. Tomatoes have good foliage but seem to die off before they can make fruit. Cucumbers and zucchini don't survive either and seem to fall prey to aphids. Lettuce seems leggy but basil and garlic chives are doing great! I have 2 green squash plants that are doing well also but those things seem to be bulletproof.

Sorry Stuart... only just know saw this post.

Not sure what kind of wood that is. They are 2" x 12" treated planks screwed together with deck screws (I buy them as 20' lengths and cut them to size, in this case I bought 1 20' and 1 8') and 1" x 3" firring strips (which I don't think are treated) used as trim pieces around the top.

I lined the interior of the box with spare pieces of EPDM liner left over from the AP build but only along the interior walls while leaving the bottom open. I did this to try and prevent any of the chemicals from the treated lumber from leaching into the soil. Not sure how well it will work but thought I'd give it a try.

Hi Squatchaponics,

first time I've read your thread and I must say well done. Looks great, hope that it produces lots of food for you and your family.

God bless, froggo

Sometimes the plants aren't being pollinated when they don't set fruit.

Give the tomato plants with the flowers a light shake, see if that makes a difference.

They're really not even flowering that's why I thought it was some kind of environment/nutrient issue. I've supplemented with epsom salt and that hasn't seemed to had an affect but I have no way to check mag levels.

I have similar circumstances,in my case the only thing different is i deliberately raised my nitrate level to around 100,toms and cuds have grown well but are only showing little flower and fruit set.I ran the system before with as close to zero nitrate as i could and had good fruit from the Toms,i am in the process of reducing said nitrates to see if it will make a difference[the accidental water change this morning will help.. ]
I am also spraying with MKP to see if this helps.

I've read that Ryan will lower his nirates to 20 (once the plants are at a certain size), and raise up potassium to make them fruit like crazy.

Apparently potassium will be more deficient than magnesium.

I accidentily put my potassium through the roof (made all my lettuce bolt, but tomatoes are fruiting like mad). I was combatting snails, so I tried the iron based (ferric phosphate) snail pellets (breaks down into iron & potassium), supposed to be quite safe around ponds. Worked on the snails though, and made everything bolt.

I don't know if it's safe enough to recommend to others, but made my small tommies fruit very early. I think the iron is the wrong sort though, I'm still getting iron deficient.

I've read that Ryan will lower his nirates to 20 (once the plants are at a certain size), and raise up potassium to make them fruit like crazy.

Yes thats what i am attempting to do,i might have left it a little late though the toms are some big old plants now....