Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I got some soaking for a ph test....not enough water left in the seed seed tray to test.


The heat mat to germinate stubborn pepper and other warm loving seeds. Once germinated, they will be moved to water trough. The chamber will keep temps between 60 and 80....hopefully....from residual house heat. The pump will be manually turned on enough to fill the troughs for wicking. A timer will be for a midday soak if I can't be there.


It's just a hillbilly garden window!



http://s249.photobucket.com/user/Rairdo ... 6.jpg.html

This is just a temporary enclosure to test temperature and layout. It didn't fare to well keeping it warm last night and needs much better insulation.

Sorry Rairdog I can be a little cryptic when posting, what I meant was why don't you move the starting tray to the bottom that way the water trays will benefit from the rising heat.
Re the wicking mats they work by capillary action so you would have a trough with water in that could be supplied by an inverted bottle ie when the water drops the bottle will let enough in to refill the trough this is wicked along the tray bottom. Bit like when you leave a towel over the edge of a bath and come back and find your bathroom floor is wet.

Am interested to see how the cat litter goes.

The heat mat doesn't disperse much heat other than contact with the tray. Once it warms the media/temp probe to desired temp it turns off. I was also worried about a dripping water hitting it with exposed contacts so I put it on top.

The DE cat litter wicks awesome without the need for capillary mats. I plan filling the troughs to about a 1/2 in water for 10 min or so and drain. The DE will wick up the water as needed. The granules seem to hold the perfect amount of water and the gaps give it oxygen. I looked into an inverted water bottle and might experiment with it.

After 3 days 8 out of 9 Giant Caesar have sprouted in the DE



These are Cos lettuce seeds I collected from the garden. I just sprinkled some in to finish out the 1020 tray and they started spouting in 2 days and are near 100% in 3 days.


The DE is outperforming my expectations so far.

It is easier to plant in IMO than soiless peat mixes
It wicks better and uses less water
It is cheap!
TBD will it reduce/prevent dampening off and fungus nats.

So far this has been a success for creating a temp controlled environment. The GH is 25 f, the chamber is 60 f. Outside temp is 21 f.

The DE (Optisorb) kitty litter has really worked well. When thinning out seedlings they pull up almost completely clean. This is not food grade DE but I am comfortable eating the fresh shoots. It would be great for micro greens. I have tomatoes, peppers, onions, kohlrabi and celery germinating and will post results.

The DE does not provide any ferts like most seed starting mixes. I am experimenting with a mix of 1 capfull of Maxicrop with Iron, 1/2 cup of dry compost and 1/4 tsp of 15-30-15(miracle grow or your choice) to 1 gallon of water.

What I really like is the way the DE holds water and gives gaps for air to the roots. Filling trays and placing seeds at desired depth is also very nice. The color change from dry to wet makes it easy to determine when to water.

No more rinsing for me! You'll thank me later!

Well I decided to play around with this and it was less than $12 for the 25lb bag. Should be interesting to try but can't beat the price. Just remember it's not good to inhale the fines. Thanks for the heads up Rairdog

Which brand of DE did you get. The Ultrasorb is like a course sand and the Optisorb is larger as in my pics. These are both marketed at oil absorbents for shop floors and such. There is also kitty litter sold at some of the dollar stores for 1 $/6 lb bag depending on location. Some of the kitty litter is clay and will dissolve so make sure it's 100% DE.

Lettuce, chard and spinach came up great. You can see the different shades of media to tell when they are moist.


Kohlrabi is sprouting in 3 days.




I am still waiting for tomato's and peppers to sprout.

Optisorb

Any updates please...

I can't say enough about starting seeds in DE. I've had better germination, easier watering and no damping. The plant pulls out easily by the stem and with a couple shakes it is pretty clean. The roots hold their shape like a spring and are better developed. The small particles keep them moist and I am noticing less shock. Here is a pepper that would be ready to go in media with no rinsing and droopy roots.

Wow, Thank you for the update picture.