bcotton's backyard system

[bcotton]

This journey starts about two years ago. In the midst of the hops shortage and [me being a home brewer] I decided I wanted to try to grow hops. I lived in an apartment, which limited my options. Understanding that hops was in the same family as a very popular indoor and hydroponically grown plant. I figure there was enough applicable information on the web to try.

I'll skip past my failed hydroponic hop experiment, just know that you have a couple of very important things working against growing hops indoors. 1) theya re a huge plant. 2) It typically takes 3 years for the root system to get mature enough to meet maximum production. The hops *MUST* have winters for vernalization. I tried to simulate vernalization in my kegerator but i had difficulties with mold and the majority of my root systems rotting or dying.

Anyway, while i was studying hydroponics, i stumpled upon this whole idea of aquaponics and sustainable agriculture which interests me greatly. i cannot explain my fascination with it... It's entirely possible i just enjoy designing something, building it and improving it and i havent stopped finding ways to improve my aquaponics.

Currently, I have moved to a house and i have expanded my setup outdoors, but i am going to go ahead and start back in my apartment. And then move forward to present day.

So I start with lets call it.. phase 1

Phase 1

October, 2010
I am using 2 metal racks that i got from home depot. I think they were specified to allow 400 lbs per shelf. I was exceeding the recommended weight with the 55 gallon aquarium, but i hypothesized that they were just being cautious with the weight recommendation and i rationalized that it was close enough to the ground that i could risk it. Behind the 55 gallon aquarium is a 27 gallon heavy duty Rubbermaid tote. I use a homemade syphon (made of 3" PVC, some 1" clear tubes and a 1 gallon bucket) to overflow into the sump where the pumps are.

I am using bell syphons that flood and drain but dont always stop draining. As gunk builds up in the plumbing, the flow to each bed changes slightly from day to day. Instead of driving myself insane trying to always adjust and regulate the perfect flow I just let it be and i put the water pump on a timer. Off 15 minutes every hour or so so that the entire tray could drain and it will fill back up the next time the pump came on.

I am using botanicare grow trays that i had left over from my hydroponic experiments. The top tray is 3'x3'x8" and the bottom 5 trays are 4'x6"x4"


I drove 2 hours to buffalo, tx (from dallas) to buy 1 lb of mozambique tilapia (12 fish) for $10. The man at the fish farm said "just feed them what they will eat in 20 minutes, then take what they dont eat." I established that i fed them just under a tablespoon once a day.



I was very interested in trying to utilize vertical space to optimize the amount of food i could produce in a given amount of floor space. I have 2x 4'-4 bulb t5 florescent lights. One for each teir.

[bcotton]

1 more picture.

Every day or so I will add progress, what i learned and changes.

Mostly lettuce and herbs a week or so after planting seeds directly into the hydroton. The furthest of the 4'x6" botanicare trays was not filled with substrate and I attempted to grow duckweed. I called it duckweed pond.

[keith_r]

looks good.. duckweed likes low flow..
the plants will do better if the light is closer

[rfeiller]

very nice, keep us posted on the progress.
yup, some plants just don't lend themselves that well to ponics.

[bcotton]

Phase 1 Update

1 week progress

Peppers are sprouting, The large plants in the back right are soy beans. There's also some transplanted lettuce around the sides.



Assorted herbs sprouting. The lettuce is taking off. Duckweed pond is filling out. I turned off the 1/2" valve on the duckweed bed. I was pushing water from the sump to the duckweed bed at the far end using that clear tube and a small 100 gph or so pump in the sump.



The romaine lettuce was planted very thick. I started thinning it out and moving it around to grow areas that didn't have something planted.

[bcotton]

Phase 1 update

3 week progress



Bottom tray growth



Basil. Dill and parsley

[rfeiller]

things appear to be coming along very well. what temp is the room?

[kneedeepinwater]

That is a very nice and clean looking setup. Plants look like they are growing very well. Keep up the good work

[bcotton]

Keep in mind this is not my current setup. I am documenting from oct 2010 to present day and I am still in november2010 right now.

This was my den in my apt in Oct-November. I kept my apt at approximately 72-75 degrees. I left the door open to the rest of my apt most of the time .

This room was typically 78-82 degrees.

Keeping the door open also helped keep the humidity down.


brian

[bcotton]

Phase 1, Nov 6, 2010Update
5 week update


So it's the first week in November, the system is about 5 weeks old. The plants look healthy but they are competing for canopy space. The lettuce are growing more tall than full.

To improve the lighting I moved both of the 4x4' T5's side by side on the bottom rack and added a 8bulb x 4' T5 hanging over the top rack.

Top rack: The peppers are growing well. The soy bean in the back sprouted up very aggressively then started turning yellow and brown. it ended up being spider mites and it was so bad I eventually pulled out all of the soy.



Bottom rack: oregano, thyme, dill, parsley, lettuces and one sad spinach. There's some small broccoli's in the back but you cant see them right now.