1st time NW missouri AP

[drdreww]

Hey everyone, have been reading alot on your forums soaking up the info, and thought it was time to join up and be apart. I work at a non-profit summer camp and conference center, and we try to grow a lot of produce to offset our costs ( we dont charge the kids anything to come , everything is on donations) and want to give the kids and summer staff AP experience to help grow the community and raise a new generation of gardeners! so I am adding on to out already 3/4 acre garden with this system, and hopefully i can convert everyoneto AP! here is what i have so far, have done a TON of research, and have hopefully gotten pretty close on most of this. advice is welcome, I'm a quick learner

our system so far

250(max) FT thinking 230-240 in reality

6 - 3x3.5 ft growbeds for a total of 63 sq feet of space

planning 12" of 3/8s smooth decorative rock for media.

55gallon sump burried for cooling

1800 gph pump with float switch

2 1inch pvc with 5/32 holes drilled to distribute the water. (splitting the GB in thirds)

1/2 inch recirc spray bar back into the FT for pressure regulation

[rfeiller]

3/8"media is a little small although it can be used. 3/4" is recommended.

what a wonderful program!!

where are you located, maybe you can ad that to your basic info. thanks and welcome to our forum. love pictures.

[urbanfarmer]

Greetings Earthling, and welcome!

[davidstcldfl]

drdreww , Welcome....

[JCO]

Welcome to the show....pull up an easy chair, relax and stay awhile. New voices are always a welcome addition to our family..! Whatever questions you have on you mind, this is the place to get the answers so pick a topic of your interest and start your own thread and Enjoy. Please go to your profile and put in the city and state where you live, there may be members close by.

[drdreww]

so does it seem that i have a setup that will work ? any suggestions/hints/critiques???

[cedarswamp]

Looks good. I would make the pipe coming out of the FT rise a little higher before going to the sump to keep your FT water level a little higher.

Edit: On second thought could you go through the flow of your system?

[drdreww]

Ya it will raise higher.. I was just building / testing at my barn. Moving it to the garden soon.

Flow is 250gal FT grav flow into buried 55 gal sump. Pump up into group beds via 1" line then grav flow back into ft via 2in split to maximize o2.

Once I set it all up I will have more pics

[cedarswamp]

OK that's what I thought.

One other thought. Is 55 gallons gonna be enough to fill 6 of those grow beds? I'm thinking no, but I myself am pretty green at this so maybe I'm overlooking something. I'm thinking at a minimum if each media filled growbed holds only 25% water you're gonna need about 120 gallon sump.

[keith_r]

when figuring the size of the sump, it's a good bet to use 50% volume of water.. you want the sump to have enough capacity to flood the growbeds and leave water in the bottom so that the pump isn't sucking air..
i'd be more comfortable with a 250gal sump, but thats just me