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davidstcldfl
01-03-2012, 10:19 AM
It's a New Year....so I guess it's time for an update. I turned 'The Farm' project over to my buddy and his girlfriend. So, I had to find something else to do. I've been working with Sahib, in Orlando FL, for a month or 2. I've been trying to figure out 'how to build' some of the 'ideas' that he has come up with.

I guess I should share a little about him first......
Turns out, he was like most of us when we started....he read lots on what other folks were trying. But from his start....he started trying out several different growing techniques at one time.
The 1st time I took a tour a year or so ago...he already was doing flood and drain in gravel beds...using DWC with rafts...had different kinds of towers, some of which he designed, and had some NFT's growing stuff. Oh yeah, he had some plants that weren't in a system, but were being watered with AP water, just by manually opening a valve.

One of the projects I've been building, we call a 'zero lot system'. The idea we built around was....we wanted it to look 'nice enough' to have in a small backyard or pool area, but, we didn't want it to cost a lot.. Also, we wanted the parts to be readily available to anyone that wanted to duplicate it. Plus, we wanted it to be a hybrid system....and be expandable.
This is what we came up with.....

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/sahibbasicsetup-1.jpg

We have 3 mixing tubs from the home improvement stores....one of them is a raft system, the other 2 are media with modified Affnan type bell siphons. One of the media tubs is just river rocks, the other has mostly river rocks, topped with hydroton to make planting easier.
The fish tank is a 55 gallon food grade barrel that I painted with a can of paint made for plastic. Doesn't look too bad for $25. A 100 or a 150 gallon rubbermaid stock tank would be great for a system like this.....and then it 'could be expanded' if someone had the room.

I had the system ready for a class we gave on aquaponics a few weeks ago....since then, I've added a few things. The 1st was some modified towers, that I call sahib's sandwhich towers. They easily come apart in two halfs, just by un-screwing a wing nut.

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/sahibDavid-Hart-next-to-Backyard-Harthybrid-System-with-Sahib-Sandwich-Towers-hung.jpg

2nd, I covered it with bird netting, to keep the blasted squirrels out of it. They eat more veggies, then most parents wish their kids would... :roll:

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/sahibbirdnetting.jpg

I did add these boxes. They get watered manually by opening a ball valve. The extra water drains back to the fish tank.

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/sahibPlumbing-for-Recirculating-Wicking-Bed.jpg



If you'd like a better look....go to youtube and look for.....
Sahib Aquaponics Hybrid Urban Growing System: The Zero Lot / Backyard Gardener System

bsfman
01-03-2012, 11:51 AM
Sweet little system! I've been using those mixing tubs for both floating raft and flood and drain and they work great!
Thanks for the update!

Basil1
01-03-2012, 11:52 AM
Looks great and already getting some new ideas.

davidstcldfl
01-03-2012, 05:54 PM
Thanks guys... :D
If anyone would like to see it in person......there is a free farm tour this Saturday ( when it's to be warm again... :D ) starting at 10 am in Winter Park, which is part of the Orlando area.
We have lots of new things that we are trying out. Hope to see you there.
We do ask that you please sign up ahead of time...
You can PM me for details...or search for Sahib Aquaponics/free farm tour.

davidstcldfl
04-22-2012, 11:02 AM
Time for a little update...

I added a 3" nft to the front of the zero lot system. The water from the raft tub (above center) flows to one end of the nft, then the water exits and goes to the FT.....

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/ZerolotsystemSahibsAquaponics.jpg

Then I added a shallow tub to the side, which also has rafts in it. It works well for young plants...then I transfer them to other areas of the system to grow out.....


http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/ZerolotsystemSahibsAquaponics1.jpg

Here, you can see the system is really taking off.....the pots in the foreground have mint plants. The large pot, has been planted since this picture was taken. The pots are manually watered with water from the system.....
you can see I haven't had time to transfer the plants in the shallow tub, on the side... :lol:

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/ZerolotsystemSahibsAquaponics3.jpg

keith_r
04-22-2012, 04:13 PM
i love it.. especially your mini vert's!
great work!

bsfman
04-22-2012, 06:00 PM
Sweet! Great use of gravity and space!

davidstcldfl
04-23-2012, 03:12 AM
Thanks guys.... :)

The verticles have 2 open slits. They are bolted together....just un-do a wing nut and they open into 2 halfs. Very easy to plant... :D

I could of added another nft to the other side. There is a lot of food growing in such a small area. There's even a patio tamato or 2 in the 'jungel' somewhere... :D That's why we call it the 'zero lot system'. Most folks could squeez this in somewhere, even in a sub-division with tiny yards or even a pool area or patio.... :D

I'm using the basic design to add media tubs, over top of a large round pool (9 ft across) that we have some koi in. There will be a total of 10 tubs when I get done....working on the 1st rack of 5 now.
Will try to get some pictures of the build posted soon....

urbanfarmer
04-23-2012, 06:44 AM
Nice work David! :-)

davidstcldfl
09-23-2012, 03:46 AM
OK....it looks like this thread lost a few pages in the last 'crash'... :?
It's Obama's fault !..... :P

Heres a picture of a 9 foot tall okra....not counting the height of the container...

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/9foottallokraatSahibsaquaponics_zps10a5b8ff.jpg

It's growing in a 40 gallon container. The container has light weight shale. The container, along with several others, are fed system water by a pump on a timer. The pump runs for 15 mins...then the containers slowly drain back to a sump.

davidstcldfl
11-04-2012, 02:50 AM
Just a little update...
The 9 foot okra is more like 12 or more now. I wish I'd taken a picture because, the okra pods are so high, I haven't been picking them. There are so many large ones that the stalk has bent over and is growing horizontal.... :lol:

Some of our okra plants are forming new branches towards the 'bottom of the stalk' and are producing more pods. Is this normal...?

Here's a picture of some of our tomatoes. These are growing in rafts. The trough is about 2 feet wide and about a foot deep. The cherry tomatoes already have had a few tomatoes.

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/tomatoesoct31st2012.jpg

davidstcldfl
11-19-2012, 07:09 AM
Hi guys and aquapon ladies... :)

We're trying something new. If you've tried growing any root crops in aquaponics, this might be of interest. This way, we might just end up with 'staight carrots'... 8-)

We removed some shallow water culture troughs from one of the systems. Not because they didn't work, they actually worked very well. The problem was, that they were above a deep water culture bed. As the sun went higher in the sky during the summer, they started to cast too much shadow onto the lower bed.
This wouldn't of been a problem 'if' the beds ran North and South, but they don't, ours are set East to West. Since we are using wasted space in a shopping center, we don't have a lot of options on our lay out.

Here's a shot of the troughs new location....

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/Sahibaquaponicsstartofgrowbagsystem.jpg

You can see we have them up on one set of blocks. This helps to get the drain back to the sump. The sump is to the right of the picture. It's about 20 feet to the sump.
The pipe on the fence is the supply line.


Here's a few shots of the new set up...

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/sahibaquaponicsgrowbag.jpg

In the fore ground above....That's five different kinds of carrots, beets and radishes.


http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/sahibaquaponicsgrowbagdrainsandsupply.jpg

We ran a supply line to each one, with a ball valve to control the flow. Each bed has a drain, which ties into a common header.

The bags are poly grow bags. I think they are a 5 gallon size (Maybe 4 gallons ?) They come with holes already in the bottom and part way up the sides. The bags are filled with a potting mix. Regular soil wouldn't 'wick up' as well and the roots wouldn't get as much oxygen.
The water in the troughs, is just less then an inch.

The system feeding the grow bag troughs, is our catfish system. It only has 1 IBC with about 18 very large channel cats. You can see the tank in the background of the next picture.
The 3 bell siphon tubs are fairly new too. The water exits the IBC, by the way of a SLO drain. The tubs drain back to the sump.

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/sahibaquaponicscatfishsytem.jpg


I hope this gives everyone some ideas..... 8-)
Your aquaponic carrots really can be straight..... :lol:

davidstcldfl
12-09-2012, 07:12 AM
Here's a video update...
Part 1...inside phase 1


m5MUhoaAQ5g

It's hard to see in the video, the poor fig tree is confused.. :? It has leaves dying and falling off, like it should. It's also putting out new leaves and we recently noticed a few figs starting to form... :shock:

Part 2...outside, along the fence line.

TNKAXYVwaIY

The new troughs with the grow bags are towards the 2nd half of the video.

davidstcldfl
12-09-2012, 03:33 PM
Part 3 has some footage of another way we're trying to use potting soil. The tomatoes are in pots, set into some river rock. The flow is constant.

j2lP9GTm1qU

rangebob
02-04-2013, 11:58 AM
I wish he was still offering tours. I attempted to sign up and he said that they are re-doing it and not doing tours anymore. I need to try to learn how to setup a new system. I'm thinking of switching from Hydroponics to Aquaponics and getting lost very quickly with the amount of information that I'm reading and looking at.

davidstcldfl
02-04-2013, 01:23 PM
Hi rangebob, welcome to the forum... :)

Not sure when he'll start tours again. After doing them for about 2 years, it may just be a bit of burn out.

It was tuff for me when starting aquaponics. I have a terrible time remembering names...and there are plenty of names and lots of stuff to remember. Just to make it tougher, some folks call one thing by a certain name, and others call it something else... :?
I remember hitting 'info overload'...I kept reading and looking and one day, it started to make sense.. ;)

Have you checked out Oliver's postings (here at DIY) ...? It's a great starting point, with lots of good info....
Aquaponics 101-Part One: The Process (http://www.diyaquaponics.com/forum/showthread.php?754-Aquaponics-101-Part-One-The-Process)

urbanfarmer
02-04-2013, 05:02 PM
What is that white liner?

Technically, it's not aquaponics when you use soil. :lol: But yes, using soil in aquaponics is THE ONE TRUE WAY.

ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY SOIL!

davidstcldfl
02-04-2013, 05:46 PM
Technically, it's not aquaponics when you use soil.
Technically...?
It's a closed, recirculating system using fish water. That's technically close enough.
Besides....It's not soil....it's really fine media... :P

urbanfarmer
02-04-2013, 06:42 PM
:-) I knew that would stir you! :-)

But yes, if aquaponics by definition requires a hydroponic component, then technically all you've got there is an aquaculture system with some soil. :lol: With that said, I like your idea! :-)

davidstcldfl
02-05-2013, 05:07 AM
:-) I knew that would stir you! :-)

But yes, if aquaponics by definition requires a component, then technically all you've got there is an aquaculture system with some soil. :lol: With that said, I like your idea! :-)

You wrote just the other day..... :P
Nutritional content of aquaponically grown vegetables (http://www.diyaquaponics.com/forum/showthread.php?1651-Nutrional-content-of-aquaponically-grown-vegetables)
I think people are still trying to figure out what an AP system really is, how to define it, and how to operate one successfully. I think once that is established properly, there will be a standard to test nutritional values of AP grown veggies.


Again, it's not 'soil'...it's really 'fine media' that is not inert.. :P :lol:
I've got to remember to go 'correct' wiki's def of hydropnics and aquaponics.. :geek:... :lol:


Kidding aside.....
the system ( 1 ibc fish tank)... that has the grow bags in troughs, also has 3, forty gallon media beds (with bell siphons) and about 25 feet (by 2 feet wide) of floating rafts....(adding 25 more feet soon)
So...we're "still' trying to define aquaponics... :?

urbanfarmer
02-05-2013, 08:20 AM
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"

I'm not sure if it's soil you have in there, but if it was a potting mix it likely contains soil! :-) Indeed, I doubt that a consensus could be established with ease as to a standard definition for aquaponics. It is a thing, yet it is not a thing! :lol:

I do not believe that calling your system by any name adds or detracts from its inherent value as an agricultural technology. Do not let the words of others restrain or limit your freedom or creativity. Build what you must build and share it with the world once you are satisfied it's worth sharing, my friend.

rfeiller
02-05-2013, 04:09 PM
Uh, aquaponics is a form of aquaculture. :)
In specialized aquaculture there are those farmers that produce the spawn, then it is handed over for the initial grow and culling, then passed on to a grow out facility which could be commercial facilities or open water. Aquaponic farmers are no different some try to perform all three tasks others just perform one or two phases.
The ponics is the poop which depending on your perspective after the microbes get finished is soil.

dancinhrblady
02-21-2013, 01:14 PM
Toooooo funny--

Might I suggest, if folk are particular, that one call the system 'hybrid'... that leaves it open for all manner of variations on the theme.

davidstcldfl
03-13-2013, 03:29 PM
This past Saturday, we were like a couple of drug dealers in the hood.... :P ...but we were 'pushing' auaponics at a Lowes in Fern Park, FL.
Here's a short video (under 2 mins)....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AimrBCov5BY

Sahib goes into this one often and has gotten to know the folks in the garden dept. The lady that runs the dept asked if we would be interested in setting up an aquaponics display for their '100 days of spring.'

We got to talk about AP to lots of folks. I tried to mention DIY, to everyone I talked to. Hopefully, a little taste, has created some new 'addicts'... :lol:

On one end of the table, we had a small raft system set up. The pump was a little big, so I added a spray bar in the fish tank.
On the other end, we set up a small demo of a bell siphon. The stand pipe was pvc, but the 'bell', was part of a clear soda bottle. That way folks could see the siphon actually working.

In the 1st picture, the green pop up tent was the scotts vendors tent. Boy, did we get dirty looks when they heard us telling folks that with AP, you don't need to buy fertilizers.... :lol:

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/LowesGardenCenterdisplay_zps714b0e1d.jpg

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/lowesSahibpushingaquaponics_zpsb43b3f6b.jpg


If you want to get the kid's attention, just add a large gold fish or two. Lots of kids sat right there and watch them.
Hopefully, it'll be a 'seed' for them, later on in life... ;)

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/loweskidslikethegoldfish_zpsebbdee91.jpg

rfeiller
03-13-2013, 04:16 PM
Very nice, certain there will be a number of discusions in their homes

rangebob
03-28-2013, 05:21 PM
If you go up there again can you post before. I'd love to get up there that day since that is the Lowes that I goto.

davidstcldfl
03-28-2013, 06:23 PM
I'll try to do that rangeBob... :)

hawkiye
03-28-2013, 06:35 PM
Awesome job on spreading the AP word! I want to do something like that eventually and I was thinking of a similar set up as you had there a small aquarium with a grow bed or two. Thanks for the excellent pics. Yeah kids love fish you are planting more then just veggie seeds there!

davidstcldfl
03-28-2013, 06:42 PM
Thanks Hawkiye. That was a fun day. Wish we got to do it more often.
I really like when we get youngsters on our farm tours too.... :)

Here's the latest update....
I just added a small trough to the 'zero lot' system. We have about an inch of water slowly flowing through it, in which we place grow bags. The mix in the bags, wicks up water for the plants. Just another way to do aquaponics. I think we are using 6 methods, just in this one small system... :)

Here's a short video of the 'zero lot' system....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... WQGKKaS568 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EWQGKKaS568)

davidstcldfl
06-23-2013, 06:27 AM
I tied the airpumps, in phase 2, into a common header. This has resulted in a more effcient use of the air. This got me thinking about a project I've been wanting to do for some time...

I've been wanting to build an airlift ever since I saw one built by Mr. Glenn Martinez of Olomana Gardens in HI.
Just to give an idea how well this design works.... We are lifting water, 34 inches and have a flow of approximately 100 gallons an hour.

By building the airlift, we are using air, that we have been paying to generate anyway. With the airlift operational, we have removed a danner pump. It's job was, just pumping water to the shallow water raft bed.

This new project consisted of two parts. One, building the airlift, and the second, building a bigger filter to clean the water before entering the raft bed.




Here's the lower section of the airlift, that goes into the boittom of the fish tank......

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/F7_zps44842d14.jpg (http://s931.photobucket.com/user/davidstcldfl/media/F7_zps44842d14.jpg.html)

The 1 inch 90 on the right hand side, will have a 1/2 inch pipe installed. This will be the 'riser' that the air and water travels upward.
The air enters through the clear tube, the check valve keeps the air from going to the left. The air must travel to the right and go up the riser.



In the next picture, you can see the 1/2 inch riser coming up out of the fish tank. We installed a union on the riser, incase we ever need to remove the lower section.

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/F5_zpse50b9b24.jpg (http://s931.photobucket.com/user/davidstcldfl/media/F5_zpse50b9b24.jpg.html)

The upper section is secured to part of the wooden frame work.

The horizontal section is going to the new filter. If you look close, you can see the gray filter behind the upright of the strawberry tower.

Above the towers, is one of our shallow water raft beds, which works great for smaller plants like lettuce. It's a great way to utilize limited space.



From the angle in this picture, you can see the filter. The pipe goes all the way to the bottom of the filter. The water exits the pipe and the water must flow up through the material, which acts as a filter and as a bio surface.

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/F6_zpsdf884448.jpg (http://s931.photobucket.com/user/davidstcldfl/media/F6_zpsdf884448.jpg.html)

You can see the air bubbles on the water's surface. We installed a good size air stone in the bottom of the filter. This way, the water is being oxygenated before going to the plants.

The pipe exiting the filter (on the left) is going to the shallow water raft bed.

Roger L.
06-23-2013, 06:47 AM
Very nice setup and use of space. I see ways to change my set up to allow for expansion like you do. I learn more every time I get on the forum.

davidstcldfl
06-24-2013, 05:05 AM
Thanks Roger... :)
I like looking at other's set ups too. It's a great way to get new ideas.. 8-)

davidstcldfl
06-25-2013, 07:37 PM
I previously posted about building baki showers. The posting was lost in the last site shut down... :(
We decided to try a baki shower, since the raft bed above the strawberry towers, was already draining down aprox 5 1/2 feet into another raft bed.

DIY ing the baki shower was pretty easy. I took 5 small plastic buckets and drilled small holes in the bottom of each.

In order to support one bucket over the next, I used metal plumbers strapping.
I cut them to length, so each bucket had a few inches of open space between the top of one and the bottom of the next. The top bucket is the only one that has a full handle. I removed one side of the handle and slid on the metal strapping.
The lower buckets, I cut and removed mostof the handle. Where the handles atach to the bucket, I left a few incehes and then bent it in a hook shape.

We bought some kaldnes bio-spheres and added about 2 inches, in each bucket.

Once they were installed and operating, I ended up drilling more holes in order to keep up with the flow.

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/5bucket02tower_zpsd5247de3.png (http://s931.photobucket.com/user/davidstcldfl/media/5bucket02tower_zpsd5247de3.png.html)

We liked how well the 1st one worked, we replaced a spray bar in phase 1. In it's place, we added another baki shower


http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/02buckets_zpsa23d047a.png (http://s931.photobucket.com/user/davidstcldfl/media/02buckets_zpsa23d047a.png.html).

eddiemigue
06-27-2013, 08:55 AM
Nice display, and great looking baki showers.

davidstcldfl
08-04-2013, 02:18 PM
About a week ago...I gave a private tour to a couple of guys that came down from Jacksonville, FL. I'd like to see their set up. They are using solar panels and running everything on DC. Even the water pump is DC and they were able to vary it's rpm...sounded pretty fancy.

They mentioned meeting some crazy old, grumpy, truck driving Irishmen, that loved Aquaponics. They wanted to know if I knew who he was...? I said, sounds kind of familiar...just couldn't put my finger on a name.. :P :lol:

JCO
08-11-2013, 11:37 PM
Must have been Jonathon and Paul. A couple of forward looking Aquaponist of the 3rd kind. They have an AP system set up in an ocean going container complete with solar panels on the roof. Quite the set up. I have been working with them for quite some time. They were two of the speaker at my seminar in March which someone didn't attend :mrgreen:

Roger L.
08-12-2013, 06:21 AM
Seminars? In March? In Florida? Sounds like a good time for a road trip!

JCO
08-12-2013, 09:45 AM
That was this past March. Don't know if I am going to do it again in 2014 :mrgreen:

davidstcldfl
02-11-2014, 03:12 PM
Hi, I cut a bunch of suckers off of my wild FL tomatoes (some call them wild everglade tomatoes), and I'm trying to get them to root. This normally works well by sticking them into media beds. Usually within a week and a half, they'll have roots.
This is actually our 'tea barrels' with small media bed over them. It makes a great place to start seeds and to get things to root.
We've probably started 100's of papaya trees from seed in here.. :)

(You cant see it in the picture, but the 2 barrels have a pipe tying them together at the bottom. The water pumps up into the media bed, from one barrel, and the bell drains into the other barrel)


http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/Mobile%20Uploads/0211140926_zps22ba475f.jpg (http://s931.photobucket.com/user/davidstcldfl/media/Mobile%20Uploads/0211140926_zps22ba475f.jpg.html)


I'm hoping to have some of these tomatoes potted to hand out to folks, that make it to our next farm tour.
It's really close to the time to start our 'warm' season gardens. Fl is kind of odd...our 'cool' season gardens over lap our 'warm' season ones. We have about 2 months that really cook and only tropical plants do well.

I'm fermenting some of the seeds from these, when they are ready, I'll make another posting and 'give them' to any members, wanting to try them. They are easy to grow. They are considered a 'currant' type tomato...they only get about a half inch across. I like the flavor better then most other cherry type tomatoes.
They've done well this winter. I was too lazy to cover them on the few nights it got down to freezing, and they didn't seem to mind. They are supposed to do well even in the heat. I've read some claim, they'll even produce even in our heat and humidity.

samtheman
03-02-2014, 06:10 PM
Hello David,
It was a pleasure to meet you in person this past Saturday at the Sahib Aquaponics tour. I was very impressed at the ideas you guys come up with....specially the 5 gallon buckets and the hybrid systems :o . You guys are going to make history in the books! :mrgreen: Keep up the good work 8-)

davidstcldfl
03-03-2014, 08:01 AM
Thanks Sam...It was a pleasure to meet you in person... :)

davidstcldfl
03-04-2014, 08:48 AM
Saturdays farm tour....


http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/Mobile%20Uploads/March14apfarmtour_zps0fa9ce7a.jpg (http://s931.photobucket.com/user/davidstcldfl/media/Mobile%20Uploads/March14apfarmtour_zps0fa9ce7a.jpg.html)

samtheman
04-30-2015, 03:57 AM
Hello David,
I have a question in regards of the Grow Bags, you say you are using potting mix in them.
Is that all it takes? or do you add something else to it? or is there a specific formula for it? I have been using organic potting mix from Miracle Grow and it seems to be doing well on some plants but on others the soil looks too wet....

davidstcldfl
05-03-2015, 06:35 AM
Hi Sam..:)

I use a mix for 'wicking' beds.
The basic mix I use is peat, pine bark fines and perlite... in a 3-2-1 ratio

The mix can wick up to a foot. I try to keep my troughs with about an inch of water in them.

I do add to the top third of each bag, lime, Epson salts, and organic ferts. before planting.
I top feed as the plant grows. Heavy feeders, like tomatoes, peppers and eggplants get more.

To keep the roots from becoming root bound...I use containers with holes in the sides.

samtheman
05-04-2015, 03:51 AM
Thanks David for the info...I am going to try that mixing ratio :cool:

davidstcldfl
05-08-2015, 11:35 AM
Also...the smaller the container, the shallower the water.
A 5 gallon bucket...the water can be up to 3 - 4 inches deep
a 5 gallon grow bag (Dry gallon is smaller)...I use up to 2 inches
a 1 gallon grow bag...I use up to 1 inch