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Potatoes are easy to grow in towers, you can also use hay instead of dirt.
I have seen plastic garbage cans, tires and fencing used for growing potatoes in towers. I still like the old ground my self. I tried blue paotaoes last year and the production was not so good. I might try again but it is too late for me to start them now.
I have reds, whites and golds planted now. They should be ready the end of April. I still haven't seen any flowers yet but they seem to be ready to set buds.
I have quite a bit planned for the aquaponic system. I mean probably doubling my garden capacity. I plan on running 30 foot by 4 foot beds, probably 3-4 of them and I'd like to build a hoop house over that for the winter months so I can keep my tomatoes and peppers going.
Right now I think I have about 20 tomato starts so far, I got 4 pintos, like 12 kakai pumpkins, 3-4 jalapeno plants (need to plant a few more), few bell peppers, cucumber, and I'm gonna try starting my Litchi tomato again (the other 10 seeds didn't germinate for me), 3 raspberry plants, and 2 blackberry plants. Gotta plant my Chilean Guava, and my 2 blueberry plants. Right now I'm filling in my beds full of compost! Have gotten 3 tons of compost so far this season, probably won't be getting anymore unless I decide I have to plant a pineapple guava.... Which I've decided to do so, just the location hasn't been announced. Been harvesting radishes lately, carrots are looking good, and need to figure out where I can get my potatoes going.
What are your plans for how you're doing the aquaponics? I've thought about this a few times but to use cior and perlite, let alone leca, is prohibitively expensive to me if I follow the 2:1 grow media volume to water rule of thumb.
If you are talking about the growing medium I will be using 1/2" to 3/4" rock (I can buy it by the ton for like $20 bucks) Perlite floats so that can't be used and I know some use lava rock because of surface area (the holes allow bacteria more surface area). Some do something like bottom lava rock and top 2/3rds of the bed some tyPe of gravel. Right now I have my fish tank 90% completed, 3 pond liners, and my koi pond pump. My tank is at max fill 1080 gallons, but in reality probably 900 gallons, current grow beds will have 635 gallons of water. I'm gonna have 3 separate beds (to start up with) and am considering if I want to do all constant flood and 1 flood and drain, as I want the nice flowing water and siphon sound (just think it makes the cool pond sounds). With the numbers the way they are I'm not even 1:1, which it'll take quite a few more grow beds to get my 2:1 ratio of grow beds to fish tank. I've decided against an edible fish as I think they will turn into pets, so I've decided to go with Koi (i have a local dealer that charges $1 per fingerling) as I figure once they get too big for my tank I'll either sell them cheap or give them away. The local garden nursery has an ornamental koi pond and don't really sell the fish, but when they did 500-1300 was general prices. So I was thinking maybe in the future if I enjoy the koi and selling them I may consider doing it as a hobby.
Right now I'm figuring out how I would like to build the sump tank, right now with my math it's going to be 1300 gallons and was thinking of using it as a grow bed. So lots of things to plan, but I needed to finish up my pergola, I've been requested to increase the bed sizes just after finishing the pergola and front yard raised beds. Gonna add another along the front yard fence probably 30 feet by 3 feet wide. I was thinking of using it for blackberries and may just hold off untily my fall season.
Mark,
You have put a lot of thought in to this project. I like the hydro idea, and wish I had the $$ to do it on a large scale like your plan. So much more efficient and productive.
I am sure you have thought this out too, but maybe sharing this info can help you cut cost.
I had an aquaculture protion to our fishing business and we used concrete septic tanks for our growing tanks and filtration systems. We sunk them in the ground with about 3 feet above ground for servicing. I am sure now days fiberglass or composites would be more cost effective and easier to handle. A simple swimming pool pump offers full time circulation a great reliability. I found looking for items that perform the same task , but not through the industry cut my cost substansially. In other words, gather your correct info from, classes, web sites, magazines and trade shows then do your shopping at Home Depot.
The Sump tank is going to be made out of concrete, it's going to be 3 feet deep, 6 feet wide, and 10 feet long. Filtration will be done via gravel, worms, and plants. The pump is a really efficient 2000 GPH Koi pump, this one here, it consumes 100 watts, and with the current math I have will give me a head lift of 1400 GPH, aquaponic sites recommend 1 tank cycle per hour (at 900 gallons that is 1.5 cycles an hour). The system I'm building is going to be able to handle 127 lbs of fish (this is the current design I'm building and does not include the multiple amounts of increases in size that I'm planning). I'm also planning on duck weed tanks, and other types of aquatic plants I can feed the Koi. I've already considered BSF (black soldier fly grubs), and a cock roach farm. I've got plans for a Fry tank if I ever decide to breed which I probably won't unless I build a second large tank.
This is what I did today (just so you know I wasn't slacking off):
Wow! Awesome! I used oyster shell as my medium in the filter tanks, The flat surfaces all jumbled together at odd angles gives a great place for biologicals to grow. Another tank source for smaller filters are 55gal drums. Here in farmland we can get them for $10 each. Using multiples is easy too for more filtration. We called it a step down, where the water goes through each of the 4 drums before entering the living system again.
I will be waiting to see the finished product. I wish I had pictures of our set up, but it was just business so I didn't really think about saving it to share. Now I wish I had. When I work for the state we had huge "raceways" for stock production. In addition we had out door ponds, an acre min. That was the largest scale I have ever worked. Keeping the water moving and your nitrates and nitrites in check is key to a balanced system. You have a lot of good organics in place. Keep up the good work.
The oyster shells is a really good idea besides the surface area, good way to protect against a rapid PH drop. I'm planning on setting up a degassing barrel (55 gal) so I can keep the fish tank topped off. Right now I'm still in the sump tank design as I've never floated concrete so I'm kinda excited to start. I gotta buy like 30 bags of concrete and mix it I'm gonna start the digging probably Friday and start pouring Friday and then finish the walls on Sunday.
I was talking to a concrete guy and I showed him my design and he said there shouldn't be any issues. I plan on using 3/8s rebar in both the slab and walls. He said if I did that and don't allow it to freeze it shouldn't crack. After I finish the slab I'm going to paint the inside with a moisture barrier type paint called drylock which will waterproof the inside. But to be honest even after reading about a cold joint I'm not completely sure I understand it.
Good deal, glad you have some support. You have taken on a great project.
I was just worried about you stopping in the middle of the "pour". I know cold joints will crack and seperate, then possibly heave. Nothing worse than doing all that work and having an issue
You are correct Ron. With Aquaculture it is not an issue( as long as the concrete is cured) but with hydroponics it would be. Important consideration for sure.
What in aquaculture will mitigate the pH shift of either concrete or lava rock?
I have done hydroponics for a few seasons but have dropped out for two seasons now. I have thought about aquaponics and read up on it but decided I have neither the space nor the initial capital for it.
I'm going to paint the inside of the concrete tank with drylock, it's similar to what someone would paint a pool with and should water proof the tank. I may use a pond liner, but that would double the cost of the project. I don't feel so keen on using wood in this situation as it would need to last a great deal of time. Plus a pond liner of the size I need is at least $200, for a 6 feet wide by 10 feet long by 2.5 feet deep. The pond liner for my fish tank was like $170. Another project popped up that needed attention. I'll post what I did once I finish it up as I want it to look nice lol.
I think I've about thought myself out of the concrete containers and am gonna to with ibc totes. Gonna go with 4 and see if the measurements workout for an additional 6 later on, but in the future I will expand an additional 4 for sure. Reason why I'm going back and forth is because I like the totes isolation qualities. So one tote can be let's say plants another duckweed or small fry. So I am gonna have to do a bit of thinking. Cause a tote can cost around 60 here so it's something I must consider. But the thing I like about the totes I can build a nice simple redwood boarder around the totes to give a nice look that would follow my gardens theme.
I just planted my blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, tomatoes, kakai pumkins (built a nice lattice out of cattle fencing and a couple 2x4's to grow the pumpkins vertically), bell peppers, and I wish my jalapenos but they didn't do to well in the potting soil I got, I think I'll make my own next time. I still have my worlds hottest pepper inside and I'm pretty sure I'll keep it potted for taking it outside. I'll be taking my topsy turvy planters outside tomorrow (I gotta hook it up to my irrigation), ran out of time today planting 11 kakai pumpkins and building the lattice for them.
I haven't got my Litchi Tomatoes to sprout (two different seed companies), but it's only been planted about a week or so. The seeds I've been having difficulty germinating I just sectioned off a small space, maybe 2'x2' and planted all the seeds I had on hand, and stuck the labeling right on them so if they germinate I can thin them out and transplant them in a proper spot. Crossing my fingers.
Mark, just curious about your plans for the Litchi-tomatoes. They are very seedy. Stickery too. I had to pick them with gloves on. They have a covering that tends to cling like a tomatillo, but not exactly. They do have a nice red color but the taste (to me) was between ho-hum and spitter. I thought about making jelly but got pretty sick during that time. Will you eat them fresh or have you got a secret recipe?
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