A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

Green houses in Sacramento

I was wondering how many of us in the Sacramento area utilize some sort of green house. What type is the best for this region? Can you winter tilapia outside in a green house without breaking the bank on heating bills? I was looking into a basic hoop house to start then moving up to a framed house with double walled polycarbonate. My main concern is keeping the bacteria happy through the winter. I know comets or koi make the most sense outside due to the 40 degree water in the winter and the 80+ water temp in summer.

0 members like this

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Paul Trudeau on April 28, 2012 at 8:51pm

Hi John,

Good questions! Thanks for starting this thread.

I'm just building my first greenhouse now. I'm not interested in heating via powered heaters at this point. Will deal with the cool of winter as best I can other ways: insulation, solar design, and choosing fish that do OK in lower temps. Particularly interested in trying what Joe in Fairfield does: getting trout fingerlings in November and harvesting them around May. They *prefer* the cold temps. See other posts on this forum re: legal status of raising tilapia here anyway...

I do have my porch enclosed with that double walled polycarb over winter. Great stuff. I figure the enclosed area was 5-7 degrees warmer on average with that. More of a season extender than full year-round production. Bluegills still were too cold to feed on anything.

Paul

Permalink Reply by Bob Campbell on April 29, 2012 at 12:35am

The bacteria dies in my Koi pond during the cold winter.

My latest attempt to go year round can be seen here CLICK THIS

My abandoned green house on the right gets too hot in the summer and way too cold in the winter. An evaporative cooler can keep the temperature down to 90F but the winter beat me.

There is a solar collector on the shop roof which I used to heat the green house. I would have needed ten of those.

Permalink Reply by Paul Trudeau on April 29, 2012 at 7:03am

Thanks for the concise post and the link Bob. Excellent info--nice job actually tracking and quantifying approximate power costs.

Permalink Reply by Paul Trudeau on April 29, 2012 at 7:57am

re: "What type is the best for this region?" I'm a newbie, but the basic greenhouse design I decided on and am building now is described here. There will be many more details and modifications to sort out over time, I'm sure.

In particular, I'd be interested in hearing what those with experience here have to say about shading in summer. One resource from a supplier: Farmtek Shade Material Buyer's Guide.

Permalink Reply by John Meehan on April 29, 2012 at 9:13am

Wow, thanks for all the great info! Bob and Paul. I saw the thread on tilapia, very interesting. Somewhere in the California group there was a aquapon using solar pool plastic covering with great success. Can't seem to find the link now. I do have the indoor set up at school. I think I'll have to figure a good way of switching back and forth between the two. A great source for indoor materials is greenlightgardensupplies they're in roseville and cheaper than the hydro stores.

Paul Trudeau said:

re: "What type is the best for this region?" I'm a newbie, but the basic greenhouse design I decided on and am building now is described here. There will be many more details and modifications to sort out over time, I'm sure.

In particular, I'd be interested in hearing what those with experience here have to say about shading in summer. One resource from a supplier: Farmtek Shade Material Buyer's Guide.

Permalink Reply by John Meehan on April 29, 2012 at 10:45am

http://aquaponicscommunity.com/group/greenhouses/forum/topic/listFo...
Here's the solar pool cover discussion.