Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

homestead - Re: [Homestead] Indoor air quality and aquaponics

homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Homestead mailing list

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Viking <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Indoor air quality and aquaponics
  • Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2006 00:05:06 -0400

Lynn, check out these links for homemade food..

http://www.dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/Food.html

Bev

Lynn Wigglesworth wrote:

From: "Viking" <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>

I have probably mentioned this before, sorry if I have, but I also have
an aquarium, and when I do a water change in my aquarium, I feed the old
water to the plants...basic aquaponics principle in that the fish waste
and nitrates fertilizes the plants.
Speaking of aquaponics....two questions:
Lynn Wigglesworth, are you still doing this?
Where is Paula Speraneo of S&S Aqua?


Yes, I'm still doing it. I have a 2000 gallon tank in my greenhouse. I
still have goldfish and koi in the tank, since I can't really figure out
what kind of fish I want. The fish are about 3 years old now and large.
The water in the tank is pumped into 3 4'x8'x12" gravel beds with plants
(there's one more gravel bed that I have to finish). The plant roots and
gravel clean the water and the fish waste feeds the plants; the water
drained back into the tank. I also have a smaller tank and 2 beds in my
small greenhouse.

I'm always amazed at how well plants grow in aquaponic beds. They grow
faster and cleaner and have less disease. I grow everything I can
vertically, tied to strings going up to the rafters; plants will get slimy
and rot if they sit on the surface of the gravel. And I do nothing but
feed the fish and train the plants up the strings.

I've experimented with lots of types of plants; right now I have
cucumbers, tomatoes, melons, peppers, florence fennel, strawberries, lemon
grass, and other herbs. Tomatoes and cucumbers do especially well. Pak
Choy does well, too, but the greenhouse gets too hot by about May, so I
have to time the Pak Choy for cooler seasons.

I have a PEX coil running from an old water heater through the
tank, so I can heat the fishtank. I can keep the plants producing until
about December by just heating the fishtank to about 60 degrees. If I can
get them through the winter, they will start producing again in March.

Lynn Wigglesworth
Peasant Farmer
Tioga County, PA


_______________________________________________
Homestead list and subscription:
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/homestead
Change your homestead list member options:
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/homestead/erthnsky%40bellsouth.net
View the archives at:
https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/homestead




--
erthnsky AT bellsouth.net BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm NW Georgia USDA Zone 7
34.498N 85.076W





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page