Keith's basement winter system

[keith_r]

some more pics

the carrots planted at the same time as the onions;
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a couple of rosy red's i found doing a dance;
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another of the rosy red dance;
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[keith_r]

the last of the pic's i resized

another shot of the new fish, there are 6 sunfish in with them;
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the bigger fish in their tank (yp and sunfish)
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another of the bigger guys;
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[fritz_monroe]

I notice what looks like soil on top of the grow bed. Is this added to the grow bed or is it just solids from the fish?

Also, carrots, do these grow into decent carrots when growing in GB media?

[keith_r]

its coco coir,,, those little pellets that expand when you put them in water.. i used it when i planted this time because i though that many of my seeds were probably washed away, it seemed to help the plants get a good start
i'll try to get some more pics tonight, i added some ladybugs last night because of an aphid problem that wasn't going away with garlic/pepper spray

[rfeiller]

the lady bugs are migratory they will go back to where they were born. They do a great job. I have gone through several hundred of them in the last 3 months. They are either squeezing out of cracks in the greenhouse, or getting eaten by the fish.

[keith_r]

my step daughter hosted a b-day party, so no pic's, but i'll be working on the system this weekend and will get some then

i read about the ladybugs being migratory, and i'm sure they'll be trying to leave, but right now with the basment temps in the mid to high 60's, they seem pretty content hanging around the gb, chowin down on aphids.. saw quite a few doin the nasty last night when i was feeding the fish and checking everything over, looking forward to finding some ladybug eggs.. i wonder if the ones that are born in the basement would want to stay there..

i had a pineapple plant that i brought in for the winter, it was doing fine until the cats discovered they liked to chew the leaves.. so i put it on a table near the gb's, when i was moving stuff around the other day i elbowed the plant and snapped it off right at the stalk, anyways, i think that's where what i think the fungus gnats came from, at least i think they're fungus gnats, looks like i need some nematodes to manage them, but not sure how that would work with the fish,, feels like i spend a lot of time looking for info, but it's worth it

[rfeiller]

The nematodes won't hurt the fish. The primary nematode to be concerned with fish is capilaria. So?

[cedarswamp]

looking forward to finding some ladybug eggs.. i wonder if the ones that are born in the basement would want to stay there..

Careful what you wish for Keith, ladybugs are quite prolific, and good luck keeping them in the basement. We had an infestation last year, and ladybugs were everywhere in the house for about 3 weeks.

[keith_r]

yeah, i know.. i get a little excited about the whole mini eco-system thing..
i'm planning on adding to the basement system, maybe nft. bit i'll be working with what i can find on the cheap
really debating keeping the fish in the basement over summer, i know i'll gain heat from the gb's, but i think it's worth checking.. maybe... it's gonna depend on what a pump with that much head would $, up-front and energywise

[JCO]

So how did the ladybug venture turn out?