Showing posts with label hydroponics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hydroponics. Show all posts

Expanded Shale for Hydroponics and Aquaponics

A little self promotion for my company....

Bigelow Brook Farm is pleased to announce a new partnership with The Aquaponic Source as a distributor for our expanded shale product line. The Aquaponic Source (www.TheAquaponicSource.com) specializes in a wide array of products providing complete solutions for the North American home aquaponic gardener. Along with their on-line store, they also provide an active and free community site filled with a vast array of aquaponic discussion topics and information for both novice and experienced users at www.AquaponicsCommunity.com. “We are extremely excited to be working with Bigelow Brook Farm and offer expanded shale to the aquaponic and hydroponic gardening communities. Finally there is a US based grow media with optimal growing properties!” says Sylvia Bernstein, President of The Aquaponic Source. “We think this will become a core component in the rapidly expanding soil-less growing market in North America.”

For more information about Expanded Shale, please visit our web site at www.BigelowBrook.com or www.ExpandedShale.com.


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Preparing Barrels for Grow Beds Aquaponics or Hydroponics



https://youtu.be/SwyONxd-AuA

Every aquaponics or hydroponics setup needs to start with a good set of grow beds. But, what should you choose? Cement mixing trays, PVC pipe, gutters, pond liner with wood boxes, troughs, feeders, waterers; there are so many options! The best option in my opinion, for an aquaponics system especially, is these 55 gallon plastic barrels. They are cheap, durable, food safe, and generally come with food products in them so they are easy to prep. Below is a method that I have developed to get these cut perfectly in half and ready for your setup.





I have used both the white and the blue 55 gallon drums but I prefer the blue ones. These generally come with food materials in them and are easiest to clean. In my first system I used the white ones and they had some type of cleaner in them. A quick trip to the power washer took care of it but I was always unsure if I had removed it all well enough. I have had the best luck on Craigslist finding these and pay between $10-$20 depending on how far I want to drive to get them.




 There are a couple of different types of plastic that you should be aware of when working with anything you are growing food in. Some  grades and types of plastic are safe while some are not.
HDPE, Vinyl, LDPE, PP, and PSare some of the labels that you will see, most commonly HDPE, which is High Density Polyethylene. All of these listed here are considered food grade or food safe plastics. I have also seen the label above "PE-HD" with the same recycling symbol (2). I cant say why it is labeled differently but it is also supposed to be High Density Polyethylene and food safe.

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 Now down to the fun part, cutting stuff! For a perfect grow bed you need two perfect halves. There are two methods to accomplish this. the first is to just follow the seem with a circular saw and cut the barrel in half. The only problem with that method is that the seam goes right through the bung on each side of the top lid rendering them useless. This is fine if you do not plan to use them and I have actually done this for some of mine. However, the best way is to leave them intact. So how do you cut a cylinder perfectly in half? Well, the easiest way is to first make yourself a larger square. I screwed these two pieces of 2X4 together at a perfect 90 degree angle to use here. You could also use a large carpenters square.

Start by measuring out and marking the center point on the top of the barrel lid. Then use a square to draw a perpendicular line across the top of the barrel. This will give you your references to draw down the sides. Now, use your large square placed on the lid to match up to the line on the top and transfer it down the side of the barrel on each side. You can then transfer the line onto the bottom on each side and connect the two together. You now have a perfectly straight line to follow with your saw. You can cut these anyway that you would like but I have found a circular saw to be the easiest. You could also use a reciprocating saw, saber saw, jig saw, hand saw, router, dremel, angle grinder, etc.





What you end up with is two perfectly neat and equal halves with the threaded bungs intact and centered at the bottom of each barrel. These are very useful for connecting barrels together, external bell siphons, water supply piping and other things I am sure I have not thought of yet. I will talk more about installing these and building a frame for them in a later post and video, until then, thanks for stopping by!
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Fish Farming Tanks Nigeria General information on establishing and maintaining an aquaponics system Join us

How to Build Your Own Aquaponics System? Read Reviews

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5 Issues You must Take Into Consideration When Developing an Aquaponic System

Setting up an aquaponic system, even though very an simple activity, demands some standard expertise of aquaponics. In case you have decided to install such a technique within your property, then you possibly know what this is and how it could assist you to. Nevertheless, there could nevertheless be factors which can interest or enable you to. Below you will discover 5 crucial things which you should know in order to acquire spectacular results.

  • Location

The location where you place your aquaponic method is hugely important for the way in which the plants and the fish will develop. In order to get fantastic outcomes you should ensure that the temperature from the area is not too higher, nor too low, that there is adequate light for the plants to prepare their food and that no wind or intense climate conditions will attain them. Also, make certain that no harming chemical substances can get inside the water as this signifies death for each your fish as well as your plants.

  • Oxygenizing the water

The happier your fish are, the far better your method will operate! For this reason you need to oxygenize the water every day and be sure your fish have each of the "comfort" they require.

  • Choosing your fish accordingly

The aquaponic program performs effectively with almost all varieties of fish. However, you will find states in which youre not permitted to grow whatever kind of fish you want, so youll desire to see what types of fish you are allowed to possess prior to beginning your aquaponic program as you usually do not want any problems using the law.

  • Placing the pots

In order to make the harvest a lot simpler, you ought to location the pots or the entire method at your waits level. This way you may not must bend over, generating the every day care routine a significantly less difficult activity.

  • Adding additives

There are instances in which your fish might not supply all the nutrients required for the plants. If the quantity is decrease than what the plants need, then you definitely will have to supply them with all the respective substances. In most instances you are going to ought to add iron, calcium carbonate or potassium carbonate.

Aquaponics is definitely an easy activity which will offer you with all the required vegetables and fish in a short amount of time. Just comply with the suggestions talked about above and also you may have wonderful achievement inside your attempt to develop organic meals inside your home.


Hydroponic Fertilizers, Ideal Mix For Lush Development

Within a hydroponic technique, plants are grown with out soil hence the nutrients, growth medium and fertilizers utilised ought to also be according to the plant s requirements. A lot of people tend to work with ordinary soil garden fertilizer to develop hydroponic plants. But this could only damage your crop and reduce the yield drastically because the chemicals will not be inside the proper proportion. You can obtain commercial hydroponic fertilizers which are either organic or chemical primarily based. On the other hand, it is possible to also prepare your own personal mix at home and use this for the crops. This can help in making certain which you are giving the best to your plants without acquiring some thing from outdoors whose which are not trustworthy.

Plants need specific trace elements for their normal and lush development. Within a soil garden, these nutrients are obtainable within the soil and so absent in a fertilizer mix. Only a number of nutrients like sulfur, magnesium and calcium will likely be common in both the type of fertilizers. Right here is the mix for any typical and excellent hydroponic fertilizer which you could use for the crops. It is possible to prepare this fertilizer at residence itself by combining the following chemical compounds within the given percentages.

22% Potash is combined with 10% nitrogen, 8% phosphoric acid, 1% magnesium, 5% calcium, .05% boron, 2% sulphur, 0.2% iron, .05% copper, .05% molybdenum, .05% manganese, .05% zinc and make it up to 100% with inert compounds. Several of those components are frequent to these discovered within a soil garden fertilizer like potassium and phosphate but some other folks are trace elements that are only present in hydroponic fertilizers. It truly is ideal should you prepare the fertilizer in bulk in case you are doing this at home. You can also add or remove compounds to suit the growth in the plants that you simply have inside your hydroponic garden.

Given that the nutrient medium is quite critical in hydroponics, making use of the wrong or incompatible kind of fertilizer can damage your crop and also stop its lush development. Plants also become susceptible to fungus, rot along with other pests which cause substantial destruction. Crops grown grow to be deficient in these important nutrients which in turn influence humans or animals eating it. Nowadays, it is possible to also locate commercial organic hydroponic fertilizers which are even far better than the chemical ones. These make certain that the plants grown will not be only healthier but also complete of nutritional goodness. So ensure which you use only the correct form of fertilizer for the hydroponic program.

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Calcium Fertilizer for Your Garden Aquaponics or Hydroponics System




You can use eggs shells to make a cheap calcium supplement for your garden. One thing that we have a lot of in our home is eggs! I have been trying to come with alternate ways of using the shells that we discard to the compost for several reasons and have had very good luck with this fertilizer as an option. 


For the past year as our chickens matured and we started really getting full scale egg production I have been just throwing the egg shells in the compost. There is nothing wrong with doing this, however, with the amount of eggs we are now using now the compost is starting to show signs of too many shells. This technically isnt going to hurt anything but I have noticed that it takes quite some time for the shells to fully break down and they also are bringing the pH down quite a bit in the compost. So, with that being the case I needed to come up with a better way.


In our aquaponics system I am currently growing tomato plants which do require some calcium for proper growth especially during the flowering stages. I figured I would start by adding some calcium to the system using the egg shells that we already have. As you know, egg shells are made up of mainly calcium carbonate. The problems is getting rid of that carbonate which I do not need in my system and which is responsible for bring down the pH in the compost and garden soil. The easiest way to separate the carbonate from the calcium is to add an acid to the shells to break them down. The cheapest and safest type of acid that we use around our home is everyday white vinegar. Vinegar is normally only about 5% in a water solution but this does the trick just fine.


So the first step is to break down the shells by grinding them up into small pieces. But if you have ever tried to grind fresh egg shells you quickly realize it is no easy chore. So, to the oven for about 15 minutes first to bake them until brittle. This also cleans off any left over egg residue. Once baked throw them in a glass bowl and grind them using whatever method you choose.


Once you have the egg shells ground up dump the grit into a jar and then add your vinegar. Now sit back and watch the fizzy show! This is fun for the kids too because the acetic acid (vinegar) reacts with the Calcium Carbonate (egg shells) and makes lots of carbon dioxide (CO2) bubbles as it breaks them down. This can be a pretty wild bubbly reaction for about an hour and it is quite entertaining to watch:) The acetic acid and calcium carbonate are reacting to form calcium acetate, water, and carbon dioxide.


Once this reaction has had time to settle out for a couple of days you are left with a calcium rich solution that is not alkaline for your soil. You can then dilute just a bit f this with water and use it on your garden beds, in an aquaponics system, or hydroponics system. This is a much more available nutrient form then calcium carbonate and allows for the plants to instantly have access to the calcium instead of waiting years for the egg shells to break down in nature.


You can test the results of the calcium fertilizer with the API calcium test kit. Just add some of this solution to a bucket of water and test the before and after levels of CA2+ (calcium). You will be surprised at how much it raises the levels of calcium with just a small amount added. I also use this kit to monitor the levels of calcium in my aquaponics system. While this is a micro nutrient and not as important as the big three (NPK) it is still important for certain plants, especially tomatoes.



 
 
 

 
 
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Whitefly control

Heres a little video on how to make cheap flypaper traps.  White flies are a big nuisance in greenhouses!

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Geodesic Dome Greenhouse quick update

A quick update on the Geodesic Dome Greenhouse project. The site clearing is nearly done. The hardwoods will be used as firewood. Some of the pines will be cut into lumber while the rest will be ground-up and used as ground cover and erosion control. Next step, stump removal and then the foundation!
Site before clearing trees.
Site after clearing the majority of the trees.


130 +/- year-old tree. Each tack is 10 years. Where were you in 1880?
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Hydroponics Supplies Michigan Total aquaponic systems equipment growing supplies information and training in aquaponics See more

Step-by-Step How to Build Your Own Aquaponics System See Our Products

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The Easiest Way to Grow Organic Meals with Aquaponics

These days theres this growing trend of eating only organic meals. Yet, not all the items claiming to be organic are often this way. Moreover, you can invest more on items claiming to become organic and get decrease good quality than the regular vegetables grown with pesticides. The only way it is possible to make sure that the food you happen to be consuming is 100% organic is to start increasing it your self. Now its very straightforward with aquaponics.

This new sort of farming is incredibly simple to put in practice, extremely practical and lucrative. There are extremely few things you will need in an effort to set it up, issues that are also fairly reasonably priced, so youll not must commit a fortune on costly gear. As well as that, it truly is so simple to mount and start off the aquaponic farm that you simply will require only few minutes to know the principles and another couple of to put them in practice. Inside a matter of days you may location your aquaponic program and commence expanding your fish. Their part is that of creating the bio-nutrients for the plants. When there are sufficient nourishing substances in the water, youll be in a position to propagate the seeds and after that wait for them to grow. Meanwhile you are going to must take good care in the fish, to ensure that they continue to make food for the plants. The good that is that you just is not going to need to clean the water for the fish oneself, as this can be what the plants will do with their roots. As a result, it will be easier not simply to develop plants, nevertheless it will also be easier to develop fish this way than in case you had been setting only an aquaculture.

Yet another benefit on the aquaponic method is the fact that it is simple to assemble and disassemble, so that you are able to take it with you in the event you alter houses. Youll be able to put it everywhere in your house or within your garage provided that the plants possess the required amount of light to generate their food. But, ensure that you harvest all your crops, as you lose all the plants when disassembling the aquaponic program.

Getting organic food has in no way been so easy! Just set up your aquaponic farming system and you will feel the true taste of organic food. A true delight for you personally as well as your family members!


Beijing Huairou Sturgeon Aquaculture Explore A new 3 And One Higher Synergy 150,000 Acres

Two days ago, Beijing Huairou Grass Village Zhangke Qi Yang Song shuttle property just sold 2000 kg sturgeon Fish , Lao Zhang, crowed the number of the ticket, which can be intensive and effective greenhouse sturgeon Cultivation Brought him a "favor."

Speaking on the new farming model, which may be mentioned Tu Zhuanjia new tips. 2008 old Zhang renovate the old pond. Optimistic about industry prospects looked sturgeon, sturgeon on the single-minded to attempt raising fish, but all of us know, sturgeon is actually a very demanding on water temperature and top quality specifications of the species. To be productive to manage water temperature and water high quality, so the high quality of sturgeon can pass through the consultation and the district technical departments of Agriculture door technical guidance, Lao Zhang carried out on a bold transformation in the old pond. After two years of trial help, and to attain Mu Xiaoyi 16 yuan / mu.

Sturgeon intensive greenhouse farming is really a new efficient sturgeon culture model. Flow via the micro-stamping technology and shade net, sealed plastic film for example temperature regulation technology along with the use of probiotics in water high quality handle technology to control indoor year-round water temperature in aquaculture 13 ~ 25 , water to keep fresh, live, tender, cool, sturgeon fish farming all through the year appropriate for all conditions within the strong development, better resolved in the Huairou district of sturgeon and appropriate growth of the winter period of slow growth and short inquiries. At the same time creating greenhouse farming sturgeon can be a high-density semi-industrialized farming model, full use of artificial facilities to make the environment for the development of fish farming, stocking density can reach typical pool of five to six instances as much as 7500 kg per mu Therefore, constructing a greenhouse of 400 square meters, equivalent to a 5-acre pond aquaculture. Inside the winter, relying around the organic insulation of solar features, lowering the use of coal can be a low-carbon, energy-saving mode on the contemporary fishing sector.

To bring this water, land, power saving, secure and effective farmers inside the fishery model promotion, Huairou District Bureau of Agriculture implemented the "three and 1 high" fishing model demonstration projects to stimulate powerful fisheries improvement. Throughout the year the council will introduce new varieties, the shuttle grass greenhouse farming demonstration sites into a model well-known selection breeding base, therefore boosting the citys renowned varieties of culture. In addition, it sent a technical team, improve technical guidance, cultivation of aquatic plants, lessen ammonia, water purification, thus lowering the pollution in the environment and accomplish sustainable development. The region of Agriculture calculated that a detailed accounts of this culture model to sturgeon breeding cycle shortened from 12 months to 8 months, much more than 50% water savings, enhanced land and water use efficiency, a 400 square-meter greenhouse to create economic positive aspects 150 thousand yuan. Ready in accordance together with the actual scenario on the area to actively promote this culture model, to play its water, land, energy, water, ecology, safety, efficiency benefits, as the transformation from the citys old pond explore a new method.

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