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Comment by Dave & Yvonne Story on December 16, 2011 at 4:29pm

 I set it up as Sheri stated and made it work for my style:

I have a 100 gal Rubbermaid tank (for some fish) under a 50 gal Rubbermaid tank (for the duckweed). I will aerate the 100 gal tank. The auto siphon in the 50 gal will kick-in at 6 inches and kick-off at 2 inches. The cycling will be 15 min on and 45 min off during the daylight hours. automated except the feeding and sensors

. any suggestions? Where can I get the duckweed?

Comment by Dave & Yvonne Story on December 16, 2011 at 11:37am

cool

I will try that..

now where do I get my starter plants?

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on December 16, 2011 at 11:11am

Dave, I like easy, Bob likes cheap; so we compromise. :)  At Lowes & Home Depot you can get a price match plus 10% discount. They both have that policy. So we check them both out, go to the most expensive and get the discount.

Scott, we did the kiddie pool when we moved it to the greenhouse, but it's challenging if you have water flowing through to keep the duckweed from flowing out, and if you have it separate you have to change the water often, like every couple days, which is a pain. Dennis @ GardenPool just did a setup that seems to work with the water flow but keep the weed sequestered. We're going to try a similar idea:

Water is pumped from the tank to a separate duckweed basin (only about 1.5-2" deep; duckweed doesn't need much depth) in ebb & flow, then drains through a vertical pipe in the bottom of the basin back into the tank. Any escaping weed is eaten quickly. The pipe is up about 1 inch from the bottom of the basin, so the water never fully runs out and the duckweed is always floating. the duckweed never touches any grow bed, filters, etc. Very simple. We'll see...

Comment by Dave & Yvonne Story on December 16, 2011 at 9:48am

Sheri, I look on craig's list, but mostly I just go to Lowes or Ace. get it over and done. the insulation I use comes in a roll and is easy to roll up into the ceiling I think 48" x 50' at lowes. 

 

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on December 16, 2011 at 9:28am

Scott, keep us posted on the solar cells. We found instructions on how to make them, so we might try that. I don't like being so dependent on the grid for our system.

Dave, where did you get your insulation?

We used a shade cover and a tarp over the greenhouse in the summer. Bob came across a bunch of foam sheets that we put around the sides, up to about 3'high. That, and the cooler kept things below 100 in the summer. This winter we took off the tarp & shade, and wrapped all the tanks with the foam as well. We have some foam floating on the top of the water, too, to prevent evaporative cooling. We're keeping the water around 70 with one 200w heater in the lower tank & two 200w heaters in the high tank, so I guess we're doing OK.

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on December 16, 2011 at 9:21am

We live off of Craigslist! :)  Yes, that $500 includes the greenhouse & swamp cooler. It's a very affordable way to garden!

We did duckweed for a while using hydroponics while we were setting up our system. It did well with growlights & as long as I changed the water every few days. We moved it to the greenhouse & into real sunlight and it didn't fare as well as under the growlights, and then I got negligent & algae took over. The tilapia love it, though, and in the right conditions it can nearly double daily. We'll be starting it up again soon; maybe over the Christmas season. It's a good supplement for the fish because it's high in protein. Things to consider: you have to grow it separate from the fish because they eat it up too fast. That means you have to have a special growing space for it, and it can clog up your system if it gets into filters & things.

BSF take a little work to get going, too, and maintenance. We plan on doing it one day, once we can take a pot or two out of our fire. We are raising red wigglers for our system, though. We've put some in about a week ago, but haven't noticed any miracles yet. I think we need to move more out there.

Comment by Dave & Yvonne Story on December 16, 2011 at 8:43am

I have heard good things about the duckweed. I am ready to try it. any suggestions?

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on December 15, 2011 at 9:57pm

David Sch., we used 6 mil greenhouse plastic. It's treated for UV. The desert sun can destroy regular plastic in a year. So far so good-we'll be starting year two soon. We figure we'll make two, maybe three years with it.

Dang, I feel like such a tightwad. We've spent about $500 on our whole system because we're scavengers. LOL!

Most of our garden is soil, but we're gradually transitioning the non-root crops to aquaponics. We do Square Foot gardening, and it's really easy and everything grows. We do have one outdoor tomato plant that made it through an entire year. We never expected that. So far nothings been harmed by the frost.

Scott, you're right about the pests. White flies, aphids & sugar ants are my nemesis.

Comment by Dave & Yvonne Story on December 15, 2011 at 8:57pm

I bought a kit 12x20 from amazon. $700. I built my own grow beds over a 300 gal rubbermaid tank for my fish and a 150 gal rubbermaid.. the 300 gal is $219 from Ace Hardware online.

David, I informed local roots that we want a tour after the holidays

 

Comment by David Schwinghamer on December 15, 2011 at 8:47pm

I have a shade structure built for my hot tub and am now thinking of covering it with plastic to make a greenhouse, what thickness plastic and where do you buy it?

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