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Comment by Kim Romen on February 23, 2014 at 9:34pm

anyone here have any ideas on what would work for outdoor lighting for the extra hrs needed each day during the winter mths to help seedlings grow faster?  also, any ideas for added heat for seedlings started outdoors?  a seed starting heating pad doesn't sound safe for the outdoors even though the seed starter station is enclosed.  it's enclosed with cheap plastic that I'm sure won't hold up that long.  loved opening it up today to feel the heat that was built up inside though!  this is my first go at planting in the shelf greenhouse, though, and some extra heat may still be needed.  this is my 3rd try at starting seeds this winter.  first two times failed miserably, but didn't have the mini greenhouse.  i think the seeds needed heat.  I checked indoors on top of the VCR, DVD players and the fridges not really any heat coming from there.  not much room elsewhere in the house to start a seed starting station.  small house and 3 kids.  i also like to use the natural sunlight as much as possible.  anyone else start seeds outdoors?  thx much

Comment by Kim Romen on February 23, 2014 at 9:02pm

@ Jacques, interesting down-side u had to a greenhouse-mosquitos!  that's good to know.  i haven't been to the gardenpool per se, just to several of the builds they were doing and have done.  pretty interesting to see how they do their set-ups. 

I have a pergola over my AP system.  before AP i used to soil garden there (or attempt to do so-my biggest prob was probably not having raised beds).  i have grape vines that cover it in the summer and they die back and get pruned in the winter.  works nicely although i still need shade cloth on the front of it.

@ Dr. Brooks, what is the top pic of?  beautiful chard!

@John, how long will u get lettuce for?  r those peas in a floating raft?

Comment by John Malone on February 23, 2014 at 8:40pm

This week I've been extremely fortunate to have an uncle staying with us who has a masters in horticulture.   He is fascinated with the aquaponic setup, and I have been picking his mind endlessly asking all sorts of inane and dumb questions.

We even did some dirt gardening and planted a couple of citrus trees.  

It's been a good weekend.

Comment by John Malone on February 23, 2014 at 8:33pm

This weeks progress.  All good.

Comment by Jacques L. on February 23, 2014 at 5:42pm

@Kim

The greenhouse I tried once with the film.. but it really was unnecessary, at least from a warming standpoint. I use two 500 watt tank heaters during the cooler months and that does well keeping the water temps above 55. For frost, I simply cover my plants directly with shade cloth.

During the Summer, I use the shade cloth all the time to protect the plants from getting burned. Last Summer I kept the film up till June.. it was so hot in there! Not too mention the water condensation brought on an onslaught of mosquitos.

For when I get the Pergola up, the shade cloth will be able to be attached directly on it during the Summer. For the rest of the time, I plan to use a protective netting to discourage birds.

I too have visited The Garden Pool. Remarkable setup ;)

@George

Nice harvest!!! :)

Comment by Jacques L. on February 23, 2014 at 4:04pm

@Jeff

Patience is a virtue, no doubt, but truth be told.. waiting sucks! Wish I had them all up earlier, but hey life is life.. never know what it gonna toss your way ;)

@Bob

Gracias muchacho! I think I inherited the patience thing from my grandfather, god bless'm :) Thanks for the well wishes!

@Matt

Hi ho there! Noticed your build a while back and was plumb chuffed that you decided to use my design for your beds as well. Imitation being the most sincere form of flattery.. I'm happy you decided on those.

In answer to your questions.

1. Yes, I DID have crawdads, but like 'The Highlander' they duked it out till there "can be only one!" and then of course that last one kicked the bucket as well. I know others have used them in there own systems, but they do recommend a number of hiding places as these bad boys are uber territorial. I'm now using Goldfish which seem to do quite well. Started off with fingerlings back in December and they are now 4-5 inches in size and FAT ;)

2. Thankfully I do have a large tank, roughly 720 gallons. Now if all 4 beds decided to fill at the same time (without rock media) that would be roughly 718 gallons. Thankfully with the media in the beds, they displace roughly 50-60% of the volume, so even if all the beds were to be full of water, that only comes out to about 360-430 gallons of water use. So the tank itself will never really be empty, there will always be enough water (no less than 200 gallons at any given time for the fish). I had decided against the use of a sump to keep the system as simple as possible!

Comment by Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. on February 23, 2014 at 3:59pm

Shutting down the system to rebuild it for spring. A couple of harvest pics.

Comment by Kim Romen on February 23, 2014 at 3:52pm

Jacques, really nice!  did u end up using your greenhouse?  i didn't see any covering on it.  do u take it off in the winter?  do u plan on enclosing your pergola? for part of the year or always?  i just went to a gardenpool build where they stapled up the covering and in the summer will put up shade cloth.

Comment by Matt Miskinnis on February 23, 2014 at 11:02am

Hey Jacques, great job on getting those other beds in!  I read your entire blog, Your system looks very professional and aesthetic!  Got two questions if you don't mind, noticed you started using crawdads - how is that working out, was always curious about trying those or fresh water prawns do you need extra hiding space for them?  Question 2, with that much grow bed space how are you filling the beds without running out of water?  Are you doing one at a time?  Your fish tank must be huge as I didn't see sump.  Thanks, -M 

Comment by Jim Troyer on February 22, 2014 at 10:12pm

@ Bob:

I just purchased a 55 gal barrel of fiberglass resin.  If we paint it on the both sides it should be okay for sitting on the ground in the irrigation water.  This is not the food safe resin I use for other projects.  I have some of the food service ISO resin  too and we can use it on the inside of your tanks if you decide not to use the liner. With a little fiberglass cloth over the gaps they should be be water tight for many years to come.  Let me know if you don't have my number anymore.

@ Jacques:

Nice going!  When all else fails, persistence will always prevail.  Tip of the hat to you my friend.

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