Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello Felix, I wrote some info on growing indeterminate climbing tomatoes here:
http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum ... c&start=15

I will hopefully soon have some time to write something a little more comprehensive on growing them.

Indeterminate varieties require pruning to keep it to one or two vines, only they will continue growing. In determinate varieties they reach a certain height and stop.

Awesome! Will read right now!!!

Thanks
Felix

I think that your ability to germinate tomato seeds in beds may have something to do with how frequently you flood. I have generally been unsuccessful germinating in the gravel.
Your night time temps may have an impact as well. They like consistent warm temperatures and even watering.

So there's no real "rule" as to how often to flood /drain? How often do you do it?

Thanks!
Felix

Felix I think people are turning over their "tank volume" at least once to three times an hour.....

So figure out how much water you move in one flood/drain cycle and compare that to your overall tank volume.... might give you a guide to start with.....

Every systems a little different and factors of temperature and humidity, stocking rates etc etc might all ultimately have an influence on the number of times you turn over your tank volume every hour/day....

the most important thing to remember is to turn it over enough times for the growbeds to filter the solids and nutrients for the plants to grow and to oxygenate the water returning to the fish tank....

How much water you pump, and how long a complete turnover takes, is dependant on your fish stocking rates.

As long as you pump around at least 20L per hour per big fish it should be fine.

So lets say I figure out my fish:LPH ratio. How long should I wait between fills in order to not drown the plants?

Steve has success with 1 minute flooding and only 30 seconds draining, other systems work with 10 minutes flooding and 50 minutes draining. I think anything in between that would be just fine, but then that's just from what I've read on this forum (my own system's not finished yet).

that will probably become apparent when you time your fill and drain rates....

you might find that your growbeds take say 20 mins to fill and 10 mins to drain.... just for example..... obviously the most you could do (other than turning up the pump vol) is about three of those circles per hour.....

then compare that to your tank vol etc.... really hard to give any precise figures without knowing your actually system capacities and parameters....

as they say in the classics Felix...... "build it and they will... answer your questions better".... OK I paraphrased that a bit

no risk of drowning the plants with AP, mate, you can grow them on floating rafts on the fishtank if you want! (i have)

Even tomatoes?

Tomatoes need good support, I don't think that'll work.

ok so here's what I plan to do:

1. Run a pump from the large pond to a 4" x 6' long PVC pipe (NFT lettuce pipe).

2. NFT lettuce pipe will drip into a 20 or so gallon container, & back to the pond.

3. In the container, I'll have a second pump with a timer connected to an 11 plant garden I just built http://www.hydroponicsonline.com/11plan03.htm

Does that sound ok?

Thanks!
Felix

Felix, I'd put your 11 pot system filled with gravel (or hydro clay) before the first nft lettuce pipe..... not sure how big your fish tank will be or how many fish you'll have.....

Here's the reason.....

The secret of AP is having an area in which the beneficial bacteria that breakdown the nitrates (and solids) in the fish water can do their thing...... the larger the area... the more the bacteria.... the more plants you can support.....

I don't think that a 6' long nft pipe will provide a great deal of filtration on it's own.... how much would also depend on whether or not you used net pots or filled the pipe with gravel..... and .....

Secondly by placing the pot system first the gravel or hydro clay will trap most of the solids in the nutrient water... otherwise they would become trapped in the root balls of the plants in the nft pipe and form anaerobic root rot areas...

How are you planning to supply your 11 pot system.... usually it's done in those type of systems by drip feed.....

Again I think you could have issues with the drip feeders clogging up.... you may have to use a straight feed from a 25mm pipe and/or 19mm poly tubing......

Then collect the run off from the 11 pot system and feed to the nft pipe....

Making sense??

Ruperts right, start at the beginning.

What i was highlighting with the floating raft was that the plants can live with their roots full submerged.