Gardening time here..

[brewmaster15]

I posted 2 months ago that I had started some seeds for the gardens here. Fast forward and things have been growing well. Ive got some cold hardy seeds un the ground and growing. Brought most veggies outside to harden off alittle before planting.

I went a little overboard with my tomatoes and peppers so a bunch will be gifted I am sure.



I made use of a bunch of tanks here with grow lights to get things started.

Still have much to do but off to a good start.

[brewmaster15]

Some yard shots..



Chicory..

[brewmaster15]

Grow area with aquaponics (a work in progress)



Will be growing "kang kong" in the water here...
its a fast growing vegetable used in Asian dishes. I have never grown it before.

I managed to get seedlings growing well.



This batch..

Is being grown in glass wool for aquaponics experiments.I have never done anything like this lol.


Chicken coop area with gardens...




Horse radish patch coming back nicely

[brewmaster15]

Definitely need to do some weeding.April has been warmer than usual... everything has shot up.

[jeep]

That's awesome. I love growing my own food but your garden is on a different level! I started some seedlings this year but most didn't make it. I just don't have room for them inside.

[jwcarlson]

Looks awesome, Al! (and a lot of work)

I had my dad till up a big patch for us. I've got early stuff started, but I need to bump them into larger pots. My lack of space and preparation for seed starting led me to use those little seed starter trays because I "didn't have room". Well, as I should have known... I needed the room eventually anyway. So, it hasn't gone great. Might end up having to buy plants, but that's not the end of the world. Still plenty of other stuff to start outside still. Work is an absolute dumpster fire for the next few weeks (and has been for a few weeks). So it's every man for themselves as far as getting things set up around the house at the moment.

I'm interested to know how the hydroponics stuff goes! Are there fish in it? Or does that make it aquaponics?

[brewmaster15]

That's awesome. I love growing my own food but your garden is on a different level! I started some seedlings this year but most didn't make it. I just don't have room for them inside.

Thanks Brian,
i ended up using a 125 gal that doesn't hold water, and after serious downsizing on the fish, I was able to use 3 ea 55 gals, 1 ea 40 gal. and a few 10s. I also have a 50 gal plastic box that I use to raise the chicks and normally houses some snakes... Its being used to harden off some transplanted peppers.

al

[brewmaster15]

Looks awesome, Al! (and a lot of work)

I had my dad till up a big patch for us. I've got early stuff started, but I need to bump them into larger pots. My lack of space and preparation for seed starting led me to use those little seed starter trays because I "didn't have room". Well, as I should have known... I needed the room eventually anyway. So, it hasn't gone great. Might end up having to buy plants, but that's not the end of the world. Still plenty of other stuff to start outside still. Work is an absolute dumpster fire for the next few weeks (and has been for a few weeks). So it's every man for themselves as far as getting things set up around the house at the moment.

I'm interested to know how the hydroponics stuff goes! Are there fish in it? Or does that make it aquaponics?

I would like to reclaim a 30 X 30 area in the front yard that I had as a garden when we moved in here....its so far from the house I need 200 feet garden hose to water it...so I stopped using it and focused on the back and side. Its so over grown now, I will have to spend a solid weekend tearing it up.

The black barrel will have my endler guppies and mystery snails...I had them in it last summer. That will be aquaponics using a simple modified Kratky method. If I can find the time I am going to try building a true hydroponics system. That depends on if I can find the time. i have always wanted to do hydro and aquaponics, but never had the time to really research the hows and whys.

AL

[brewmaster15]

Decided to try fabric bags as pots.... They come in various sizes and are dirt cheap compared to plastic pots. They have some benefits over solid pots too as they allow air exchange. This causes the roots to self prune. Basically the root tips die when they hit oxygen and grow in another direction.In a solid pot they circle the pot and the plant gets root bound. Fabric bags allow for better roots. ..

The down side is they also require more water as they can dry out faster.

Planted some of my Thai and Italian basil in them.




supposedly these bags last years..They are pretty sturdy and the handles actually carry the load. Impressed so far .

[danotaylor]

Awesome Al. Love what you’re doing. I have built a few different aquaponics systems over the last 15 years. I don’t have 1 running atm, and the last 1 I built we moved house 3 months later (unplanned at the time). Still have all the components though…
Heres a video. Not sure why I deleted the sound a few years back. The system has a raft bed over the fish tank, flood & drain bed over sump. Pump in the sump delivering water to both raft & media bed, solid waste filter between the 2 sides.

[brewmaster15]

Awesome Al. Love what you’re doing. I have built a few different aquaponics systems over the last 15 years. I don’t have 1 running atm, and the last 1 I built we moved house 3 months later (unplanned at the time). Still have all the components though…
Heres a video. Not sure why I deleted the sound a few years back. The system has a raft bed over the fish tank, flood & drain bed over sump. Pump in the sump delivering water to both raft & media bed, solid waste filter between the 2 sides.

Danny thats cool.. I was planning on picking up a few of those water bins as well for mine.
What media did you go with? expanded clay pebbles? What were you growing in there?

[danotaylor]

Yes Al, I used hygroton clay balls. I used gravel in the past and as far as the biological process is concerned it worked just fine, but it’s very heavy and difficult to plant into. The clay balls are more expensive but in the long run the system doesn’t clog up as easily and makes maintenance simpler.
Things that grew best for me were lettuce, kale, cherry tomatoes, salad herbs, bok choy, spinach and Swiss chard. My peppers never did very well, and regular tomatoes grew and produced fruit but the ones I grow in the ground are far superior in flavor!

[danotaylor]

Al my local municipal water treatment plant gets drinking water treatment in these 270-330gal food grade totes. They use 2 each week. I had a lose connection through church but you may try calling your local and seeing if they will swing you a few. Can’t hurt to ask. The going rate on Craigslist for food grade is around $100-120 give or take

[brewmaster15]

Thanks Danny. I have seen them advertised reasonable here in the classifieds.

I have Some of the clay balls here to use but I also planned on trying the gravel at least in my current set up as the plants will be on cinder blocks. The two veggies I plant to focus on in these set ups are water loving plants.. Kang Kong and watercress..

watercress..

The net basket has a layer of gravel at the bottom submerged. The plants were grown in a very thin layer of organic soil indoors. I plant on growing it out more and rooting cuttings to the clay balls and another to gravel and see which works best.

I need to stock the vat with fish now . I have a duplicate vat I have not set up yet. Thst one I may go with ferts.

I decided to go with this fert for hydroponics... had decent reviews and cost was fair.



Any experience with ferts for hydroponics Danny?

Thanks!

[danotaylor]

Al I was a part of a start up for commercial hydroponics production when we first moved to the States. We began outdoor in a greenhouse complex, and then moved indoors under lights. Our systems and processes were good, but the business was mismanaged and ultimately failed 2 years in. We had contracts with Kroger, Wholefoods, and a few smaller retail outlets in the Toledo area.
We used Crop King NFT channels for lettuce and microgreens, and bato buckets for basil. We purchased individual nutrients in bulk by the pallet and I mixed each batch by weight according to the crop needs.
As far as buying pre-mixes goes, I honestly don’t really know, and it’s been 10years since the business shut down.
I will say, that most of the commercial nutrients we mixed were actually salt based, and therefore the discharged solution was actually not very environmentally friendly. Aquaponics is great in that respect, but has limitations are far as plant that require heavy amounts of nutrients, particularly those not supplied in an AP system, and that cannot be added as the fish would die.
I have not done a lot of experimentation with compost teas etc, but they may supply a broader nutrient base and be fish friendly.
With you pots you could use gravel in the lower 2/3 & the clay in the top for ease of planting and managing your crop. The clay balls take a few day to waterlog and stay submerged though.
Here’s a few pics of what I used to be involved in. My friend Brian and I built and managed all the systems.