Credits for building this go to the previous owners. It is a pretty impressive aquaponics, turned into a hydroponic greenhouse…This first year was our “figure-it-out” tryout run.
We were so excited and super impressed when we discover the beautiful system built in the greenhouse. I had heard of aquaponics and hydroponics systems. Most of what I had seen, were little units at home depot. You know, the fish in the tank with the basil on top by the registers…(mini aquaponic) or the white tree with the herbs and berries flowing from the little cups (hydroponics)
The principle is simple.
For Aquaponics: (very much simplified) a Fish tank is connected to a garden bed. The fish eat and poop in their tank. Water from the fish tank circulates thru the garden bed to nourish the growing plants. The water returns cleaned by the plants to the fish. Plants get harvested when grown as well as fish.
For Hydroponic, there is no fish tank. The gardener adds a solution (minerals and fertilizer, preferably organic) to a water tank. The water circulates thru the garden beds. Plants eat and grow.
Originally, an aquaponic system was installed. J built it from scratch. He dug a big hole and put 2 big 500 gals tanks and a pump in it. He added 2 fish tanks, 2 water collectors indoor and 3 outdoor, 2 main garden beds filled with clay beads, 2 raft sections, and a couple of strawberry racks and planters. All this is enclosed into a building, providing the system with shelter from most of Texas weather’s mood swings. He did a beautiful job.
Thankfully, he agreed to come by and give us a tour and a short class on how to run it. We also have the videos from his youtube channel for reference.
Unfortunately, the aquaponics system was hard to regulate and fish kept dying, so before we even bought the place, he had switched it to the much easier hydroponics.
Still, when you don’t know much other than what you read in a few blogs and books, it is somewhat intimidating. But hey! If we don’t try, we don’t learn, so I picked a few seeds and tried!
First, We sprinkled carrots and radish seeds next to the already-growing asparagus and red Romain lettuce. That was easy. Within a few days, they sprouted and started to grow.
We ordered a water and PH test kit and eventually fancy tools.
Then, we decided to try to grow in the rafts. Rafts are actual pieces of foam floating on the water. Little cups rest in holes in the foam. A plant is placed in the cup and then, starts to grow its roots thru the openings of the cup.
Turns out, it is best if you start your seeds and let the plant grow a little first, before you transfer it to the rafts or beds
Mr budget said “no” to the fancy enclosed shelving with lighting to get the seed started, so I improvised using some kindergarten memories: a clear egg box, cotton balls, water spray, and a window.
It worked!
Nico and I picked our seeds. First on the list: peas, green beans, English cucumbers, and tomatoes.
For a few weeks, we monitored our seeds, moving them following the sunny windows. It worked. Before long we transferred our seedlings to the rafts.
The weather warmed up and things exploded. It was amazing. In 48hrs, plants would grow so fast. The asparagus was just poking out in the morning and by night, was already 3 inches tall.
Quickly, we learned that if the weather is mild and pleasant, the plants thrive, and if we forget to go visit for a couple of days, we better go with snips and be ready to tackle the jungle.
I read that it was best to start a few seedlings of the same plants since not all seedlings survive. Well, they survived. I transplanted some tomatoes outside. We had too much growing. I took out a couple of cucumber plants as well.
There is no such thing as too much Tomatoes. We had salads, sandwiches, made sauce, and my favorite: Savory tomato jam.
So far our biggest harvest was between Mid-March and mid-July. We had one incident with some caterpillars eating most of the baby spinach.
My sister and I thought we would harvest the many cucumbers and learn to pickle them. We bought a few books and canning supplies, and then read the tiny note on the corner of the page that said: “English cucumbers: not recommended for pickling”…Of course, that is all we had and tones of them. We made tea sandwiches, salads, and cold soups, put them in smoothies, and passed them on to friends and neighbors. It was comical. At some point, a third of the fridge was cucumbers.
July got hot…really hot, and August got even hotter and so dry.
The clay soil started to split open and at some point, the cracks got to be 6 to 8 inches wide to 6 feet deep.
Even with the fans going and the windows open, plants started to cook. The only ones that survived were the scallions, basil, one tomato plant, and one cucumber plant.
The wind picked up and with the ground so dry and cracking, the door frame moved. The door would open all the time… Grasshoppers made it in and did some damage.
Nico and I had added new plants in the soil planters: broccoli, broccolini, cabbage, strawberries, and a bunch of herbs, only to discover that some rodents had found their way in and had a feast. Not only did they eat the plants and the cucumbers, they managed to open the seed box, and ate all the seeds. Not sure when or how they got in, but we are guessing either thru the cracks during summer or during the big winds that kept opening the door. Now we need to get them out and start over
Then, came the rain. We needed it but within a few weeks, all tanks, ponds, and cracks were saturated. We discovered that the lower tanks were surrounded by water and that the sub-pomp was not working.
Now, we have to wait for the freeze to pass and warmer days to go play in the water.
Storm Elliot was tough. The tomato or cucumber plants did not make it thru. Scallions and strawberries are still going tho. We still need to find and chase the rodents out.
This time around, we are going to try some small seedling boxes with LED grow lights. Mr Budget is still saying “No” to the fancy shelf. We are planning on growing a few varieties of cucumbers… The pickling kind this time.
So far, we have not been successful with our salads. Dammed caterpillars. We are going to try again.
This afternoon, we discovered that some of the seeds the rodents spread around started to sprout. We have to wait and see. Surprise surprise! It looks like we are going to try a few varieties of peas and beans.
We’ll keep you posted.