Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Here is the plan for what our garden will look like next year. The brown beds are existing beds, I'm going to add 3 more full size beds and one more half size bed (we're planning to move our asparagus, strawberries, and rhubarb in to permanent beds in the garden so they are in better soil and a little better protected than they are currently... raccoons beat me to the strawberries right now so moving them inside the fence). The two full size beds on the side will be asparagus and strawberries, the small bed will be rhubarb, so those will be permanently planted, then we'll have 8 beds to rotate our garden crops through plus the vine crops in the ground, plus a new bed in the new greenhouse.



I was going to do two beds in the new greenhouse (because original goal was raft aquaponic beds) but my wife suggested we just make it one big bed even though the support beams will be in the beds. So that bed will be one large 6ft x 25ft bed. Plus around the outside of the greenhouse I plan on having a large bench run the entire length for setting seed starting trays on, and we'll have a large 4ft x 8ft work bench at the back of the greenhouse to use for preparing seed trays and such. I have not sketched up the benches in detail yet because right now my concern is getting the materials to build the second greenhouse so I'll sketch the details of the benches once the main structure is up.


My wife suggested we need to get this second greenhouse built this fall that way it is ready to go for starting seeds in the spring. So I plan to start cutting back weeds and expanding the garden fence and buying materials to build the greenhouse in the next few weeks. Hoping to have it all up by November so I can have my dad help me attach the poly when he is here in November.

Current budget for this looks like I should be able to do the greenhouse (not including the beds, benches) for about $650.

I'm so glad you and your wife are going this route. I'm certain the way you guys want to do this is going to work fantastic as well make you both happy and satisfied with the AP projects you've created, also I'm super envious
Now if only I can get my wife on-board with doubling our AP too. Doing it this Fall and Winter is another brilliant plan

At least initially the new GH will not be AP. Really all I will probably get operational this fall/winter is getting the structure up and getting the work bench and seed starter benches built so we have more room for starting seeds in the spring. I will probably need to order another 10 yards of dirt to be able to fill the 25ft x 6ft bed in the new greenhouse plus the other 2 1/2 beds I'm going to add in the garden... I have about 1 - 1 1/2 yards of dirt left from the 10 yards I ordered this past spring so I might be able to fill one additional garden bed but that will be it.

I'm still learning how to get things to work properly in the AP system, so I don't want to add a second AP system until I figure out how to manage the first one better, so we'll make the second GH just dirt beds seems how we know pretty well how to grow in dirt =)

I am doing OK with tomatoes in the current AP system other than the iron deficiency, and I can grow kale and swiss chard but everything else I've tried doesn't do great in the AP system, might just be that I'm trying to wrong things at the wrong times and haven't figured it out yet... I have some romaine lettuce I picked last night that looked nothing like romaine lettuce. It was about 3 feet tall with a leaf about every 6", so I think that is probably due to being too warm in the greenhouse that it is growing vertical instead of bushing out. Same problem with my basil, got really tall but not many leaves compared to the basil I put in the garden. Need to figure out those type of issues before tackling another system. I haven't got a hang of when to transfer plants to the DWC yet either... I'm currently starting seeds in gravel beds or dirt then when they get a couple inches tall put them in grow grips and put them in the DWC, but I've had a number of them not survive the transfer... working on figuring it out, again might just be too warm in there for some of the lettuce and such that I'm trying to get going in the DWC again.

I have peppers doing OK in the AP system too, but they are also growing really tall and not many peppers on the plants compared to the ones in the dirt beds in the garden.

Maybe once I finish my second greenhouse and can show how big you can go for $650 you might be able to show your wife that you could do something bigger without breaking the bank (originally I was thinking even half of this would be good, but got the wife to agree we might as well go big so we don't feel cramped again in the new GH) I'll keep track of actual costs and post all of the details as accurately as I can.

Will the new green house be run during winter?


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I'm going to see what I can do in it during the winter. Currently I am not planning on adding the second layer of plastic that would be needed to be able to maintain some temperature in the hoop house, so it probably won't be warm enough to grow much... but I have seen youtube videos and read that some people claim you can still grow some greens in the winter even if they get frosted at night as long as they thaw during the day it won't do extensive damage to the plants.

The other thing I heard recently was that by adding a low tunnel inside of the high tunnel might be a way to continue growing greens in the winter. That person claimed that for each level of cover it was like moving 1.5 USDA zones south, so if that is true then growing in the high tunnel would make it like I was growing in Ohio / Northern Kentucky, growing in a low tunnel inside of a high tunnel would make it like I was growing in southern Tennessee/Alabama/Northern Georgia... But there was no real proof that it was true, so only time will tell.

Our paper had a report about one of our growers. They put over their grow beds in green house loops and covered them at night and had those Christmas lights under the cover, for heating.
They produced all winter long, even with serious frost.

I will try that this winter.

I have thought of building a greenhouse for my system but I run things during winter and winter where I am is cold like -20 C cold and can get colder


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Was it the old fashion bulbs or the mini bulbs? I know the old fashion bulbs put off a LOT of heat, the mini bulbs might have still put off enough heat to keep things from frosting (but I think just growing in low tunnel in a greenhouse would likely do that). Of course now everyone is moving towards LED's next, they probably won't put off any heat.

I did just recently see someone who had built seed starting benches which had insulation on top of a bench then ran rope lights back and forth between more insulation then put a chunk of drywall on top and used it for starting seeds, said it worked great... can't remember now if that was on here or someplace else... I will probably incorporate something similar in to the new greenhouse, although I don't look forward to having to run electric to the greenhouse, but at least I can come from the existing greenhouse now so I only have to dig up a small area of the yard to bury the wire then the rest can be ran through the edge of the garden so it won't make a big deal if I dig it up to run a wire because I'll bury it back under weed mat / mulch along the edge of the fenceline... if I bury it at all in the garden... maybe I'll just leave it in conduit along the fence and only bury it where it goes from the greenhouse to the garden.



I'm surprised you can grow anything at all being in Canada with your constant winters....! Kidding, I don't know about SK but I spent a while in Winterpeg, MB over the years (my dad had moved up there and remarried for a few years before he went the other direction and headed to Florida instead). Winterpeg wasn't much different than here for winters. -20C = -4F, we spend at least a few weeks at or below that every winter it seems, but our averages stay around 15F = -9C most of the winter.

Really with your trout business you would probably be fine in a greenhouse (assuming you wanted more space for growing or expanding your business / just wanted it out of the house...) with my existing greenhouse I managed to keep it above freezing with the greenhouse not being completed last winter so hoping to keep it at least in the 40's this year.

Ya Winnipeg always colder than where I am. I live in the warm spot of Saskatchewan. We call it the Arizona or Florida of Saskatchewan due to the chinooks and often above freezing temperatures. That said during winter we do get to -20 a few days -30 and odd time -40. The worst is the wind. I would rather take -40 dead calm over -20 blowing 30 mph.
The main thing with a greenhouse idea is I do want to expand or maybe better said diversify with some different fish and in the middle of winter fresh local greens are a bonus. Also I hate having to send all that nutrient rich water etc down the sewer system. Feels such a waste to me.


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What do you think your worst wind storms gust up to? I think we've had some 50-70mph gusts this past year... lost a lot of my roof on the house back in March (just got a new roof put on yesterday!), I'm not sure what the polytunnel will be capable of for wind, but I am bracing the center of it along the peak with a beam and several posts you can see in the image. This is more of a concern for snow in my mind, but it will help with wind too by tying all of the PVC hoops together. I don't have the perlins or hip boards shown, but they will also help a lot with wind I think. Really the biggest issue for wind I think will be the bottom section of the poly that will be left loose to roll up in the summer for aeration. I am thinking I will install screen at the bottom from the beginning to reduce issues with pests (damn cabbage worms/moths! and tomato horn worms!), and I will try to come up with a way to have the bottom piece attached during the winter but removeable to roll up in the summer (maybe wiggle wire installed at the bottom?) I'm hopeful wind won't be an issue. I am going to frame in the ends with 2x4's and plywood though to add a little more structural rigidity.

Sounds like you have a good plan.
How deep is the soil in your yard Rob?
Here is another thing you may want to consider. If the soil is two or three feet deep you might try to sink the greenhouse however deep it is easy digging. Everything below the surface will have very little heat loss. What is left above the surface should be less susceptible to wind sheer.

Our worst are around 100 km/h. But it will regularly blow from 10-70 km/h. Anything below 10 is practically considered dead calm. You will definitely want to make sure it is solid enough for wind and snow


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Brian I don't really have soil.. I have clay, then I have more clay... And if you finally break through you find more clay. That is why I went raised beds in the garden to add better dirt. And in the spring I have standing water in many areas, so sinking the greenhouse would possibly mean turning it into a lake in Spring. Plus I would have to do all digging by hand

Cracken I watched a video last night where greenhouse megastore.com tested how much weight it would take to break the poly they sell. Had about a five foot square attached to boards suspended by two desks. It took about 580 pounds in that concentrated area to break the plastic, so I think it will hold up to wind and snow quite well.