New Grow Beds

[GaryD]

Hi,

We assembled two new 600 litre grow beds on the other side of the shed wall to where we keep the Nexus systems.

By day's end, we had begun to rinse the clay pebble media and place it into the appropriate bed.

I've hooked both new beds up to the new sump tank.

The photos will be up later today.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

Photos of the grow bed set up. These beds are 700 litre capacity and are made of fibreglass by Ajay Composites..... based in NSW.

One will be set up as a sub-surface continuous flow bed and the other one will start out as a duckweed tank initially. Once I've had a chance to fabricate the top, it will be used as a deep water cycle grow tank. It will function a bit like a raft tank but it will have a fixed growing platform rather than a Styrofoam raft.

The small person in the ear muffs is my three year old grandson Luke. Luke, who has been busy inserting clay pebbles into the grow bed drain is my assistant.....and is currently available FREE.....to a good home.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

The new grow bed and tank have been running since last night.

I'm still trying to determine the "dead stop" flow rate (so that the sump tank doesn't overflow if the pump stops) on the grow tank.

This morning, I planted out the clay pebble grow bed with a few herbs and plants that I recovered from one of our raised beds. The haul included a tiny chilli, Italian and English parsley, thyme, a couple of tomatoes (type unknown), a lone silver beet and a spindly sage plant.

Gary

[Pugo]

Looking good Gary, I wish my wife let me just keep building, but I am stuck to the system I have now, But it is a really good one thanks. Say hello to Luke for me, I bet he is keeping things interesting for you ...LOL

[GaryD]

Thanks Pugo.

Here's a couple of photos of the grow tank.

We washed the clay pebbles in the grow tank before moving them to the grow bed. The first photo was how things were last night - after the washing operation was completed. We used water out of the Nexus systems to rinse the media....before dumping it in the duck wallow.

The discolouration was gone this morning - all of the clay pebble dust and sediment had settled out - ready for siphoning off.

Stocks of duckweed are on the way.

Gary

[Pugo]

I like the design of your over flow, but why is there a cap on top? Is there a hole in it for venting or are you not venting for some reason ? just wondering

[GaryD]

Hi Pugo,

The end cap is there to prevent my grandsons from filling the overflow with clay pebbles. It has a 6mm hole in it to prevent it from acting as a syphon when the pump is stopped.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

The new grow tank is interesting for the amount of sediment that it doesn't have in it.

I'd expected that small particles that might have escaped the Nexus would settle in the grow tank.....particularly since the retention time for water entering the grow tank would be at least an hour. I guess the big Nexus is starting to accumulate enough biofilm that it is trapping many of the small particles.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

We had a strong breeze about for most of yesterday - and the amount of wind-borne debris that found its way into the grow tank convinced me that a mini-greenhouse for both of the grow beds/tanks is a must do.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

A couple of days ago, we purchased some duckweed and spread it on the water in the grow tank.

Given that we're still in spring, the grow tank spends much of the day, in partial shade......and it's still quite cool for much of the day......so it will be interesting to see how it goes in the next week or two.

The adjacent grow bed is also cracking along nicely......a good variety of plants and no shortage of nutrient-rich water......all's good.

Gary