Aquaponics System, Passive Solar Greenhouse build - Page 73

creeky · 09-23-16, 11:25 AM

Living in the country I have a lot of wasps.

For keeping wasps from building nests you can buy "fake" wasp nests that hang in the room you wish to keep wasp free. They work pretty well.

The other thing I do is identify which kind of wasp is nest building. Most paper wasps are harmless and build very small nests with only a few individual wasps using it. They're cute. Not cuddly. But I leave them be.

The European yellow jacket is a great predator. Keeps the bugs outta my garden. Unfortunately they can build huge nests and the numbers really get outta hand. I have used boiling water to kill the queen. They do get aggressive late August when the queen cuts them off of food. Only the queen survives the winter. The workers all starve and she starts again in the spring.

Wasps are very effective at controlling thrips, flies, etc. So I try to take a win/win approach with them. I leave them alone to keep my garden clean.

jeff5may · 09-24-16, 11:51 AM

I use brake parts cleaner. The stuff will knock out wasps and yellow jackets, but bumblebees and honeybees survive. Also, any overspray just evaporates. It doesn't linger around to poison or taint the plants.

pinballlooking · 09-29-16, 01:03 PM

Tilapia eating lunch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLp-...ature=youtu.be

pinballlooking · 10-10-16, 11:45 AM

Hurricane was close enough to give us some wind on Saturday. (We are a long way from the main storm.)
We lost power for about three hours. My backup 12v air came on. This was a good real world test. When the power came back on the 12v air kicked back off.
I did take the bell out to keep water in the grow bed.

The fish were fine and this backup system gives a piece of mind.

Here are some of my young lettuce starting out.

pinballlooking · 10-17-16, 08:40 AM

My tomatoes are getting blossoms now that it has cooled off some. I have green tomatoes coming. I still need to trim them up but those tomato plants are nine months old.

My nitrates are strong so I am trying get a good crop lettuce growing.

This is my first time growing head lettuce.

We are getting tomatoes every day now.

pinballlooking · 10-21-16, 03:17 PM

Hydrocyclone to oxygenate water http://ecorenovator.org/forum/49721-post649.html
I adjusted my vortex oxygenator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipyh...ature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPc6...ature=youtu.be

I took 1’ piece ¾ pex put down the inlet and I took a second ½ piece of pex in the inlet. I will take a picture later.
But the air flow had slowed down. With this new change the air flow looks great again.

pinballlooking · 10-24-16, 10:14 AM

My lettuce is coming along. I need to redo my air to the deep water culture. Maybe that is why some lettuce is doing better that others planted at the same time.
This is the same picture as above this post just 7 days later.
http://ecorenovator.org/forum/52105-post725.html

I have been starting lettuce each week. I would like three heads started each week.
Last week I started three heads but only two came up.

So this week I started five and all five are coming up. I guess I will try four next week.

I have been just soaking the rock wool and putting the seed in it. Then I just put it in the DWC bed. So no transplanting at all.

pinballlooking · 10-26-16, 09:19 AM

Here are the plants. I pick a few tomatoes every day. There lots of tomatoes coming.
Lettuce coming along.
I have 19 heads of lettuce started most very small but each batch started a week apart.

Same plants 17 days later. I am not sure if it is growing as fast as I thought it would.
I still need to fix my air in the beds and I just ordered 1,000 red worms. I will put most of the worms in the DWC beds.

pinballlooking · 10-28-16, 07:23 AM

I made an air manifold for my DWC I just need to add a couple more air stones to the bed.
My worms are coming next week so I want to get some more air in the bed for them and the plants.

I used an 11/32" drill bit, 1/8" tap and 7 x 1/8" air valves. I taped a 1/4 hole into end to connect my airline with a standard 1/4 air hose connector.

I adjusted my vortex oxygenator hopefully one last time.
But it is really dumping out the air now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnqW...ature=youtu.be

pinballlooking · 10-31-16, 09:13 AM

I am going to try this out. using polyurethane foam as seed starter
Using polyurethane foam as seed starter

Hobby Lobby foam.

Here are three of the four types of the tomatoes we are growing.

There are other people using this on a larger scale.

Over the weekend I planted a couple seeds in rock wool and in foam. This is a test to see if the foam I bought will work. I like this idea and it is much cheaper than rock wool.

The lettuce really took off since I added more air to the bed.

If they look a little thinner they are I have not waited and have picked some lettuce for a couple sandwiches.

09-23-16, 11:25 AM	#721
creeky Journeyman EcoRenovator Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: a field somewhere Posts: 304 Thanks: 64 Thanked 44 Times in 31 Posts	Living in the country I have a lot of wasps. For keeping wasps from building nests you can buy "fake" wasp nests that hang in the room you wish to keep wasp free. They work pretty well. The other thing I do is identify which kind of wasp is nest building. Most paper wasps are harmless and build very small nests with only a few individual wasps using it. They're cute. Not cuddly. But I leave them be. The European yellow jacket is a great predator. Keeps the bugs outta my garden. Unfortunately they can build huge nests and the numbers really get outta hand. I have used boiling water to kill the queen. They do get aggressive late August when the queen cuts them off of food. Only the queen survives the winter. The workers all starve and she starts again in the spring. Wasps are very effective at controlling thrips, flies, etc. So I try to take a win/win approach with them. I leave them alone to keep my garden clean. __________________ Current projects Chevy Volt battery pack conversion To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Blog that is down right now but will return To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Business where I sell solar stuff [url]https://www.bobolinksolar.com

10-10-16, 11:45 AM	#724
pinballlooking Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: SC Posts: 2,923 Thanks: 172 Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts	Hurricane was close enough to give us some wind on Saturday. (We are a long way from the main storm.) We lost power for about three hours. My backup 12v air came on. This was a good real world test. When the power came back on the 12v air kicked back off. I did take the bell out to keep water in the grow bed. The fish were fine and this backup system gives a piece of mind. Here are some of my young lettuce starting out. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Current project Aquaponics system , Passive Solar Greenhouse build To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Solar Install 12.5 Kwh- To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Mini Split installs - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. EV Chevy Volt - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Last edited by pinballlooking; 10-11-16 at 11:02 PM..

10-17-16, 08:40 AM	#725
pinballlooking Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: SC Posts: 2,923 Thanks: 172 Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts	My tomatoes are getting blossoms now that it has cooled off some. I have green tomatoes coming. I still need to trim them up but those tomato plants are nine months old. My nitrates are strong so I am trying get a good crop lettuce growing. This is my first time growing head lettuce. We are getting tomatoes every day now. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Current project Aquaponics system , Passive Solar Greenhouse build To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Solar Install 12.5 Kwh- To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Mini Split installs - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. EV Chevy Volt - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Last edited by pinballlooking; 10-17-16 at 09:40 AM..

10-24-16, 10:14 AM	#727
pinballlooking Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: SC Posts: 2,923 Thanks: 172 Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts	My lettuce is coming along. I need to redo my air to the deep water culture. Maybe that is why some lettuce is doing better that others planted at the same time. This is the same picture as above this post just 7 days later. http://ecorenovator.org/forum/52105-post725.html I have been starting lettuce each week. I would like three heads started each week. Last week I started three heads but only two came up. So this week I started five and all five are coming up. I guess I will try four next week. I have been just soaking the rock wool and putting the seed in it. Then I just put it in the DWC bed. So no transplanting at all. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Current project Aquaponics system , Passive Solar Greenhouse build To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Solar Install 12.5 Kwh- To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Mini Split installs - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. EV Chevy Volt - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Last edited by pinballlooking; 10-25-16 at 04:49 PM..

10-26-16, 09:19 AM	#728
pinballlooking Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: SC Posts: 2,923 Thanks: 172 Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts	Here are the plants. I pick a few tomatoes every day. There lots of tomatoes coming. Lettuce coming along. I have 19 heads of lettuce started most very small but each batch started a week apart. Same plants 17 days later. I am not sure if it is growing as fast as I thought it would. I still need to fix my air in the beds and I just ordered 1,000 red worms. I will put most of the worms in the DWC beds. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Current project Aquaponics system , Passive Solar Greenhouse build To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Solar Install 12.5 Kwh- To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Mini Split installs - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. EV Chevy Volt - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Last edited by pinballlooking; 10-27-16 at 09:07 AM..

09-24-16, 11:51 AM	#722
jeff5may Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: elizabethtown, ky, USA Posts: 2,428 Thanks: 431 Thanked 619 Times in 517 Posts	I use brake parts cleaner. The stuff will knock out wasps and yellow jackets, but bumblebees and honeybees survive. Also, any overspray just evaporates. It doesn't linger around to poison or taint the plants.

10-31-16, 09:13 AM	#730
pinballlooking Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: SC Posts: 2,923 Thanks: 172 Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts	I am going to try this out. using polyurethane foam as seed starter Using polyurethane foam as seed starter Hobby Lobby foam. Here are three of the four types of the tomatoes we are growing. There are other people using this on a larger scale. Over the weekend I planted a couple seeds in rock wool and in foam. This is a test to see if the foam I bought will work. I like this idea and it is much cheaper than rock wool. The lettuce really took off since I added more air to the bed. If they look a little thinner they are I have not waited and have picked some lettuce for a couple sandwiches. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Current project Aquaponics system , Passive Solar Greenhouse build To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Solar Install 12.5 Kwh- To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Mini Split installs - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. EV Chevy Volt - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Last edited by pinballlooking; 10-31-16 at 10:50 AM..