Comment

Comment by Jim Fisk on June 21, 2015 at 3:23pm

Thanks Paul. Will do. Seems to be the consensus. (only 2 answers between here and another forum). I make a killer high rate compost and between that and worm castings I expect some pretty spectacular results.

Comment by Paul Smith on June 21, 2015 at 3:15pm

Any weed barrier cloth will do.  Although, by using my grow boxes, I periodically can renew the soil, so I can change the weed barrier, although I have been using the same barrier for 5 or 6 years now.

Comment by Jim Fisk on June 21, 2015 at 1:37pm

We are looking for suggestions on what to use for the barrier layer. I would like to avoid the usual paper or cardboard which will break down within months. We are leaning toward weed barrier. Any suggestions from the group? The bed is 3' x 13'.

Comment by Paul Smith on May 16, 2014 at 11:43am

In a wheelbarrow - one 5 kg, block of coir, expanded - 1/2 gal of charcoal - 1 gal worm bedding with castiings - 2 gal of a cheap potting mix or garden soil.

I know You wanted a soil-less mix, but I have found that the results are much better if You have some soil.

After filling my boxes with the mix, I sprinkle about 1 1/2 cups of slow release dolomite lime and sprinkle a thin covering of volcanic rock dust.

In the beds that i don't have hooked to my fish pond, I pour about 1 1/2 cups of 10/10/10 fertilizer into a women's knee-high stocking and stretch it over the middle of the box, then mound dirt over the top.

Comment by Paul Smith on May 16, 2014 at 11:43am

Comment by Jim McKown on May 16, 2014 at 8:40am

Does anyone have a good recipe for a soiless media for use in the beds.

Comment by Barry Supernaw on July 27, 2013 at 6:32pm

We converted our small indoor system to wicking....we'll see how it goes.

Comment by Carl Jacobs on June 6, 2013 at 7:58pm

What a concept ,testing starts ,like a Kid in a candy store ,2 work fine 3 look even better,later Carl

Comment by TCLynx on August 26, 2012 at 11:20am

Paul, are you just saying that you now have duckweed growing?  Well are you feeding those goldfish?  You might be able to get rid of the duckweed by NOT feeding the fish for a time.  The fish may get hungry enough to eat all the duckweed (provided they can get at it) and then you might get rid of the problem without having to kill everything and sterilize the pond to start over from scratch.  Depending on how much duckweed and how many fish, it could take a few weeks.  When I can tilapia I could get rid of a heavy cover of duckweed in a 16' by 3' tank by simply having a dozen tilapia in the tank and not feeding them any pellets for a week.

Comment by Paul Smith on August 26, 2012 at 9:04am

Hi all,

I want to make some comments on Bio-safety.

I have a 900 gal fish pond constructed in my back yard.  This is our first summer in this home, having purchased it August of 2011.  The previous owner had Koy in the pond, but left the pond with some small gold fish from a local PETCO.

Over the year we have add a few more gold fish to the pond, (The Grandkids love watching the fish.)

A few weeks ago I bought some cheap feeder fish from PETCO. These are small fry that are used for various purposes, mostly to start a goldfish bowl for kids and to feed other aquatic animals.

Well now I have cursed duckweed growing in my pond.  Curses, I was going to attach the pond water to wicking and other grow beds.

Now, I have to decide whether remove and destroy everything in the pond, plants, fish and water.  As far as I know, Duckweed has not spread to Western Washington and I am not about to be that change catalist!! Treating and disposing of fish, plants and 900 gallons of water is not going to be fun.  I will have to think on the best approach.

Anyway, when you are thinking of using materials from out side your environment, be supremely aware of all inputs.  I am just Grateful that this happened before I had spent the bucks for my complete system.  Don't fall into the trap that killing poor innocent anything is bad.  Sometimes we have to get a little brutal in order to protect the greater environment.

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