A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners
Location Location Location?
If you had a choice to set up AP system anywhere in the US.. Where would it be? Maybe you would want to start a business up like me. Maybe just for yourself.. Im struggling with wether to stay in DFW, and hope that Denton Tx. will have enough green consciences individuals to keep my biz a float. However some of my friends in other states are trying to coax me to go to them. One of those places is Reno NV. I have my doubts.. Inputs? Opinions? 2 cents? Pearls of Wisdom?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Hall on
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What is the local farmers market like in your current area? Is it existent? If there is a vibrant one in yours, or the other's location, that would be a good sine.
A good start could be to look through http://search.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/
Ive lately been dreaming of actually going to a colder part of the world. One where fresh organic produce is a thing of rarity. Rocket mass stoves, passive solar greenhouse designs. It wouldn't much to push me over that edge and leap of faith it. Providing I do have the funding to get it all started and not just go with hopes of making it big. But I have kids who's interests I need to keep in mind. Which is why I do all this in the first place.
Best of luck with whatever decision you make.
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Permalink Reply by Carey Ma on
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I agree with Jonathan,; research your market potential. Reno is a wonderful place but would def be a challenge to grow/raise things there, even with a greenhouse. You want some place with high population of educated, green conscious people.You would want land in or near the fringe of urban sprawl. but most importantly, you need experience and proper budget.
I am so lucky I choose a place with extreme population and very little true competition. I came to Beijing six years ago and now manage about three hundred acres of organic produce and about three acres of fish pond which produces about 150,000 tail of fish per year. I started with a small garden, less that an acre when I started. I'm still not making any money but we have been on a continuous ramp up, expansion so as soon as I have enough and level off, I hope to start piling the beans.
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Permalink Reply by Ryan Sala on
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Wow to hear someone say they've been in the biz for 6 yrs and still havent made a profit is daunting. I also have an option to go to the Philippines but I advised against it because of the terrorist organizations that like to lop Americans heads off. I even check the gov website about Americans being targeted there just now..
http://photos.state.gov/libraries/manila/299618/dellutajc/01-06-12%...
And while I was there 3 yrs ago I was almost robbed at knife point. Luckily I had a bigger knife lol. I wish I could feel safe there I do love the Filipino population overall, and I feel they could really benefit from AP. Plus the American dollar goes veeerrrryyyy far down there. Its like 1 usd = 8 of their baht.
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Permalink Reply by TCLynx on
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If you already have the place and like where you are. I would probably suggest staying just because the costs of relocating can be rough (not just in money but also in stress, but I hate moving.)
Relocating for a start up operation that who knows if it would pay.......... Risky.
If your locations allows some form of gardening most of the year, then you may not need to worry about greenhouse or lighting etc, that definitely is appealing to me.
I suppose I'm saying go/stay where you are most comfortable and know how to grow. Took me several years to learn about growing where I am now (I'm still learning) but now I would be loath to try to move to a new climate to start re-learning.
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Well I tend to want to lean on the greenhouse as a necessity, because It will eliminate bug problems... mostly. Im one of those free Craigslist lurkers, and would build a greenhouse out of used pallets before I would spend a dollar. DFW craigslist is HUGE.
TCLynx said:If you already have the place and like where you are. I would probably suggest staying just because the costs of relocating can be rough (not just in money but also in stress, but I hate moving.)
Relocating for a start up operation that who knows if it would pay.......... Risky.
If your locations allows some form of gardening most of the year, then you may not need to worry about greenhouse or lighting etc, that definitely is appealing to me.
I suppose I'm saying go/stay where you are most comfortable and know how to grow. Took me several years to learn about growing where I am now (I'm still learning) but now I would be loath to try to move to a new climate to start re-learning.
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Woah. A greenhouse won't eliminate bug problems!!!!! Now unless it is totally sealed, positive pressure climate controlled and you have air locks and wash stations and basically sterilize and irradiate everything as it comes into the greenhouse. I think my bug problems were always worse inside the greenhouse and the bug problems that tend to be worst are often the harder ones to deal with like spider mites. If you are going low cost on greenhouse and opening vents for temperature control, then the greenhouse won't provide much if any bug control and unfortunately the seem to keep out the beneficial bugs far more than the problem bugs so I've had far fewer real bad bug problems since I quit using the greenhouse for the most part. Now if only I could figure out how to control the squirrels (and my greenhouse doesn't seem to have been effective at keeping them out either!!!!!! But it is hot and humid in there and I still seem to have bug problems and fungus as well.)
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I asked a question without asking one :) Ive noticed when I go into some restaurants they have fans that blow out when you enter to keep bugs from flying in. Also I did notice when I was taking my plants out of the pots and transferring them to a different media, I was getting bitten by some very small bugs. Im thinking If i grow from seedlings inside a controlled environment, then I can minimize the bug invasion. I guess Ill ask this question. So @ TCLynx and anyone else who wants to answer.. (maybe a different thread, but who knows) So TCLynx.. how do you manage your bug problems?
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Have you ever used molasses (or other carbohydrate) as a prevention step?
Mixed with water and sprayed on (or added to water system in general if you don't have a huge quantity of water) seems to work well in my area.
Sugars to keep bugs away? That sort of seems like a strange idea I know. I thought so to.
Why does it work? A plants cell walls strengthened by the addition of it. Intense nitrogen as a nutrient will cause them to become "flimsy". An aquaponics system is a high nitrogen environment... So this is a natural cure to this. It will make your plants more rigid and strong and make it less inviting to bugs. Bugs like to feast on weaker cells and areas of the plant. Sure they will still eat your plants but they will find better things to eat more often than not outside of your garden.
A little bit of dish soap can aid as well in keeping it in place.
Its easy and worth a try. Do it a few times a month and see what happens. It wont hurt the fish.
...Oh yea, and the good bacter love it.
But who knows thats just my experience
TCLynx said:Woah. A greenhouse won't eliminate bug problems!!!!!
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Just be careful that the dish soap is very minimal since soap dripping into a system is bad for fish.
I think I just typed a pretty good answer to some of the pest question in another thread Pesticide use in aquaponics
I'm a lazy gardener, I like to let nature do most of the work. My pest problems have always been worse in the "low tech" greenhouses.
Remember that a fan blowing out will require that you have air being blown in somewhere and you have to make sure that the air being blown in is free of all the bad stuff while still being able to be blown in at a faster rate than it is being blown out. If the "filtered" air being brought in, is coming in slower than the air being blown out, then air will actually get sucked in where you don't want and likely bring with it things you don't want. (that bit about the air pressure and stuff is really important to HVAC and preventing mold issues in houses but kinda applies here too.)
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Well Ryan, most people are satisfied with a salary. I am building an empire. I don't have kids so reinvest every penny into experiments and expansion. I think a 300% growth rate over five- six years is pretty good. Remember, as a technological partner, I only make money when the farms I manage profit above and beyond what they were previously making and I only get 30% of that. I think I should be able to level off in two to three years. At that time I expect to be able to start my institute.
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