It looks like my absurd strawberry has pretty much failed to do much of anything except go all floopy, and look a lot more like earth than it did a few days ago..
I was (of course) hoping it would change the world in some enormous way, but alas it was not to be.
On the up side, a few of my very healthy normal strawberry plants are actually doing quite well, and have started to send out yet more runners, so "normal" might turn out to be a pretty good approach after all.
I think This might be my first post without a photo, so given the strawberry has turned to what looks like earth, I'll post this pic in place of anything meaningful.
120 Things In 20 Years thinks the world might have slipped back into normal mode when it comes to strawberry propagation.
Showing posts with label strawberry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label strawberry. Show all posts
Aquaponics - Strawberry propagation
I found a new way to propagate strawberries. Or at least it's new to me. The secret is to have the seeds sprout while it's still on the fruit.
Although I would have liked to leave it alone to see if they would all grow by themselves, the fruit is almost rotten so I thought it would be better to pick it and plant them all.
It came from a dirt garden so there was a lot of risk of it being eaten by things before they had a chance to grow.
I planted it into my aquaponics system.
From what I could see, all the seeds had sprouted.
I have no idea what conditions were required to make it happen or if they will actually end up growing, but the original plant was a modern lab created thing that didn't produce runners. Or almost didn't. From around 60 plants I think I've seen two runners in two years.
120ThingsIn20Years thinks the world is odd.
It came from a dirt garden so there was a lot of risk of it being eaten by things before they had a chance to grow.
I planted it into my aquaponics system.
From what I could see, all the seeds had sprouted.
I have no idea what conditions were required to make it happen or if they will actually end up growing, but the original plant was a modern lab created thing that didn't produce runners. Or almost didn't. From around 60 plants I think I've seen two runners in two years.
120ThingsIn20Years thinks the world is odd.
Aquaponics - Strawberries
Yum.
I love strawberries, and spend way too much money each year in keeping the fridge stocked.
I cant get enough of them.
Here are some free strawberries from the backyard.
Some are from the aquaponics system, and some from the dirt along the side of my house.
I planted a stack in one blue barrel grow bed, and a stack more in the ground along one side of my house.
The strawberries grown in the aquaponics system are always bigger and juicer. They also look better. Always big and perfectly formed. But I'm not convinced they taste any better. In fact I think the ones out of the ground may actually taste better.
When growing grapes for wine, I understand you don't want too much rain as this makes the fruit bigger, but lowers the amount of sugars per lump of grape.
Or so I'm told.
This might have something to do with why the strawberries seem to taste better out of the ground. The ground strawberries get watered once a day when it's hot, and every couple of days if it's not.
The aquaponics strawberries have as much water as they want when ever they want it.
Or...
It could have nothing to do with that. I cant be sure which went where, but there were two batches of strawberry plants. One batch was fully grown mature plants, and the other batch were all new runners. I seem to remember planting the runners in the aquaponics system because they were smaller, and I wanted to see if they would catch up to the others. But I also remember not doing that. I remember mixing them up so I would get a sample from each. I remember a few other contradictory things as well.
So... possible that they taste different.
But I think it's going to prove to be water content.
I think I'll do some experiments with the runners from both batches to see if there is any difference when all plants are the same age. Both beds are producing runners, so I think I should know within a few months.
Another thing to try, might be to change how long the aquaponics plants have wet feet. I should be able to control very precisely how much water the plants are exposed to.
I have an electric tap from a sprinkler system, so I might try to make some kind of moisture sensor, and perhaps try letting their roots get almost dry before giving them more water. I have no idea if such a thing is even possible, so I'll find out.
Or...
It could be that the strawberries don't taste as good when they are hot. Very few of the fruit ever make it into the house. Most get eaten straight from the plant, and there is a huge difference between the temperature of the narrow, protected side of the house, and those grown in a hot house. Now that I think of it, I think strawberries grow well in places like England. I'm not sure if England is called England or not, but that place that's sometimes called England seems to be the kind of place people grow things like strawberries.
Perhaps a hot house makes the fruit taste different.
I'll have to find some more information.
I'm being very fussy here.
All the strawberries from my back yard taste much better than anything I've ever bought from a shop. Shop strawberries are always under-ripe, and seem to be made of something other than strawberry.
That's store bought on the left, and back yard grown on the right.
Even with this poor photo, you can see the difference.
I can also smell the difference.
And if you drop a store bought strawberry into a clear drink, you get a strawberry in a drink. But the back yard ones colour the clear drink strawberry colour.
I count aquaponics and dirt grown strawberries as a total success.
120 Things in 20 years - I think I'l buy a second hand digital SLR camera so I can take better photos of strawberries and.
I cant get enough of them.
Here are some free strawberries from the backyard.
Some are from the aquaponics system, and some from the dirt along the side of my house.
I planted a stack in one blue barrel grow bed, and a stack more in the ground along one side of my house.
The strawberries grown in the aquaponics system are always bigger and juicer. They also look better. Always big and perfectly formed. But I'm not convinced they taste any better. In fact I think the ones out of the ground may actually taste better.
When growing grapes for wine, I understand you don't want too much rain as this makes the fruit bigger, but lowers the amount of sugars per lump of grape.
Or so I'm told.
This might have something to do with why the strawberries seem to taste better out of the ground. The ground strawberries get watered once a day when it's hot, and every couple of days if it's not.
The aquaponics strawberries have as much water as they want when ever they want it.
Or...
It could have nothing to do with that. I cant be sure which went where, but there were two batches of strawberry plants. One batch was fully grown mature plants, and the other batch were all new runners. I seem to remember planting the runners in the aquaponics system because they were smaller, and I wanted to see if they would catch up to the others. But I also remember not doing that. I remember mixing them up so I would get a sample from each. I remember a few other contradictory things as well.
So... possible that they taste different.
But I think it's going to prove to be water content.
I think I'll do some experiments with the runners from both batches to see if there is any difference when all plants are the same age. Both beds are producing runners, so I think I should know within a few months.
Another thing to try, might be to change how long the aquaponics plants have wet feet. I should be able to control very precisely how much water the plants are exposed to.
I have an electric tap from a sprinkler system, so I might try to make some kind of moisture sensor, and perhaps try letting their roots get almost dry before giving them more water. I have no idea if such a thing is even possible, so I'll find out.
Or...
It could be that the strawberries don't taste as good when they are hot. Very few of the fruit ever make it into the house. Most get eaten straight from the plant, and there is a huge difference between the temperature of the narrow, protected side of the house, and those grown in a hot house. Now that I think of it, I think strawberries grow well in places like England. I'm not sure if England is called England or not, but that place that's sometimes called England seems to be the kind of place people grow things like strawberries.
Perhaps a hot house makes the fruit taste different.
I'll have to find some more information.
All the strawberries from my back yard taste much better than anything I've ever bought from a shop. Shop strawberries are always under-ripe, and seem to be made of something other than strawberry.
That's store bought on the left, and back yard grown on the right.
Even with this poor photo, you can see the difference.
I can also smell the difference.
And if you drop a store bought strawberry into a clear drink, you get a strawberry in a drink. But the back yard ones colour the clear drink strawberry colour.
I count aquaponics and dirt grown strawberries as a total success.
120 Things in 20 years - I think I'l buy a second hand digital SLR camera so I can take better photos of strawberries and.
Aquaponics - Strawberries
We have a lot of strawberry plant in now.
Really, a lot.
The first ones to go in were in the constant flood grow bed in the aquaponics system.
They looked like this when I first put them in.
I was delirious at the time so I have no idea when it was.
They look a little delirious themselves.
They look like this now.
Clearly a lot less delirious.
They have a definite sense of direction now.
I should get one of those.
Having a define sense of direction could be fun. I wouldn't really know, as I've never really had one, but I know some people with definite senses of direction, and I've seen them smile, so it could be the go.
Who knows.
Anyway...
The rest of the zillion or so strawberries went in a media of dirt, lumps of concrete, and odd bits of plastic rubbish lovingly placed there by previous tenants of this place.
It's a funny thing, but until I had an aquaponics system, I figured all dirt was perfectly healthy for growing stuff in, but now I wonder.
I have no idea what's in this stuff. For all I know, the previous tenants had a small home business filling glass tubes with mercury to make thermometers, and just poured the leftovers and broken ones into the patch of rubble running down the unused side of their house.
Probably not, but it's tempting to use the glut of strawberries from this patch in gift baskets sent to people I don't really like... just in case.
I'm sure it's fine.
Did I mention we have a lot of strawberries now?
We even did a bit of this.
When I say we, what I really mean is Mrs. 120 Things in 20 years did this.
I planted some of the plants in the aquaponics system, then went back to bed. Mrs. 120 Things did the rest.
Yet again, I've maxed out my karmic credit card, although strangely It seems I still benefit.
Mrs 120 Things in 20 years just scored a free garden shed from a total stranger who's garden shed collection obviously had gone too far.
120 Things in 20 years sees aquaponics strawberries as only part of the picture. Really it was a generous gift letting Mrs 120 Things in 20 years do all the work with the strawberries, get all the karmic credit, then nab a free garden shed I'll get to use.
This karma thing doesn't seem to work. I just keep getting benefits no matter what.
Really, a lot.
They looked like this when I first put them in.
I was delirious at the time so I have no idea when it was.
They look a little delirious themselves.
Clearly a lot less delirious.
They have a definite sense of direction now.
I should get one of those.
Having a define sense of direction could be fun. I wouldn't really know, as I've never really had one, but I know some people with definite senses of direction, and I've seen them smile, so it could be the go.
Who knows.
Anyway...
It's a funny thing, but until I had an aquaponics system, I figured all dirt was perfectly healthy for growing stuff in, but now I wonder.
I have no idea what's in this stuff. For all I know, the previous tenants had a small home business filling glass tubes with mercury to make thermometers, and just poured the leftovers and broken ones into the patch of rubble running down the unused side of their house.
Probably not, but it's tempting to use the glut of strawberries from this patch in gift baskets sent to people I don't really like... just in case.
I'm sure it's fine.
Did I mention we have a lot of strawberries now?
When I say we, what I really mean is Mrs. 120 Things in 20 years did this.
I planted some of the plants in the aquaponics system, then went back to bed. Mrs. 120 Things did the rest.
Yet again, I've maxed out my karmic credit card, although strangely It seems I still benefit.
Mrs 120 Things in 20 years just scored a free garden shed from a total stranger who's garden shed collection obviously had gone too far.
120 Things in 20 years sees aquaponics strawberries as only part of the picture. Really it was a generous gift letting Mrs 120 Things in 20 years do all the work with the strawberries, get all the karmic credit, then nab a free garden shed I'll get to use.
This karma thing doesn't seem to work. I just keep getting benefits no matter what.
Aquaponics - Strawberry runners
I cant tell if the reason the surviving strawberry plant fruited so well, and so deliciously, because it just happened to be thriving, or if it's more suited to aquaponics in some way.
Most of my strawberry plants died, but I suspect the one that did survive was one of those I pulled from my original grow bed. If so it may have survived because it had an enormous root system, where as most of the others were store bought when they were transplanted, and had roots that didn't quite make it out of the cups they were in.
All of them had roots that touched the water in the end, but having a huge root system might have stored some water during those 4 times the water was off. Some of them spent 4 days in my bathroom sitting in a dry bath tub.
Lucky for me the one plant that did well is sending out runners. They seem quite healthy, and if it did thrive because it's extra suitable, I'll at least have some more to go on with.
120 Things in 20 years not just one plant hanging on by the skin of its teeth, but actual aquaponics strawberry runners!
120 Things in 20 years not just one plant hanging on by the skin of its teeth, but actual aquaponics strawberry runners!
Aquaponics - Ants
I have some new and exciting visitors to my system.
Ants.
There sure are a lot of ants when there are ants.
For the last few weeks, there has been something sticky forming on the leaves of the strawberry plants. I'm not sure if its got anything to do with the mould, but it does seem to be on those varieties of strawberry that were also trying their hand at mould farming.
Interestingly the leaves were so sticky that they were forcing aphids to stay longer than they had originally intended when landing on the sticky leaves.
I was going to write a post about how good my strawberry plants were at pretending to be sticky traps, but it turns out, ants ate the dead aphids (you can still see some aphids on the leaf to the left), and now seem to be eating the sticky.
I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Currently, it's just a thing.
I'll be getting a little upset if they run out of leaf sticky and discover that strawberries are chock full of sticky, but until then, like everyone who isn't a caterpillar, a snail or a slug, they will remain welcome.
My only accommodation has been to move the create I sit on over a little to give them room to cut across what used to be my space. They seem very obsessed with maintaining their ant highway along that path, so I moved my create few inches to the left.
Not just Aquaponics - Ants, but also 120 things in 20 years.
Ants.
There sure are a lot of ants when there are ants.
For the last few weeks, there has been something sticky forming on the leaves of the strawberry plants. I'm not sure if its got anything to do with the mould, but it does seem to be on those varieties of strawberry that were also trying their hand at mould farming.
Interestingly the leaves were so sticky that they were forcing aphids to stay longer than they had originally intended when landing on the sticky leaves.
I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Currently, it's just a thing.
I'll be getting a little upset if they run out of leaf sticky and discover that strawberries are chock full of sticky, but until then, like everyone who isn't a caterpillar, a snail or a slug, they will remain welcome.
My only accommodation has been to move the create I sit on over a little to give them room to cut across what used to be my space. They seem very obsessed with maintaining their ant highway along that path, so I moved my create few inches to the left.
Not just Aquaponics - Ants, but also 120 things in 20 years.
Aquaponics - Mould
I hate it when nature takes out the bad day it's having, by taking it out on me, and bringing me grief in the aquaponics system. What have I every done to nature?
Oh yeah...note to self - send "sorry"card to nature re: carbon footprint.
I don't mind so much when things go wrong that are my own fault. Sometimes I take shortcuts in the way I build stuff, so I feel that it's inevitable that it will need some "adjustment" at some stage in it's life.
But mould is a different story.
I mean it's still my fault, but I'd still rather it didn't happen because it's kind of icky.
When I built the new grow house, I didn't bother reinstalling the computer box cooling fan I had hanging from the top, to stir the air within the growhouse.
Opps.
So now I see mould on the PVC strawberry towers.
I have no idea how I'm really meant to spell those two words so this will have to do.
I've decided to spell mould, "mould", because when I made molds I used "mold" already, and I cant really see using "mould" for mold, and "mold" for mould would make that much difference anyway so I'll stick with "mold" for mold, and "mould" for mould.
I wouldn't want to confuse anyone.
It's also growing on the strawberry plants.
And that.
Nature.
Is unacceptable.
When my pH dropped too low, someone who knows stuff, told me they thought my leaves were showing a potassium deficiency. It turns out different minerals are available to the plants in varying degrees depending on how acidic the water is.
Sounds fair.
The solution is, you can adjust your pH by adding shell grit to your grow bed. Shells are made of calcium carbonate, and that raises your pH. The natural process of converting ammonia to nitrate via nitrite cases your system to become acidic over time, so the shell grit acts as a balance. It's convenient as well, because the more acidic your system gets, the more the shell grit gets dissolved. Once the system is no longer too acidic, the shell grit stops dissolving.
The system finds a balance.
In the meantime, as I was waiting for my system to gently come back to a pH of around 7, I added some potassium bicarbonate.
This adds potassium, which was a nice boost for my plants, but it also adjusts pH away from being too acid.
So I bought some Eco-RoseⓇ
It's actually sold as a solution to powdery mildew, and I guess that could be the culprit.
I dont actually know what powdery mildew looks like, and it would only take 5 seconds of my life to search for it, but that would take the mystery out of life.
Either way, the strawberries will enjoy it, so I'll give it a go.
Not just Aquaponics - Mould - 120 things in 20 years
Oh yeah...note to self - send "sorry"card to nature re: carbon footprint.
I don't mind so much when things go wrong that are my own fault. Sometimes I take shortcuts in the way I build stuff, so I feel that it's inevitable that it will need some "adjustment" at some stage in it's life.
But mould is a different story.
I mean it's still my fault, but I'd still rather it didn't happen because it's kind of icky.
When I built the new grow house, I didn't bother reinstalling the computer box cooling fan I had hanging from the top, to stir the air within the growhouse.Opps.
So now I see mould on the PVC strawberry towers.
I have no idea how I'm really meant to spell those two words so this will have to do.
I've decided to spell mould, "mould", because when I made molds I used "mold" already, and I cant really see using "mould" for mold, and "mold" for mould would make that much difference anyway so I'll stick with "mold" for mold, and "mould" for mould.
I wouldn't want to confuse anyone.
And that.
Nature.
Is unacceptable.
When my pH dropped too low, someone who knows stuff, told me they thought my leaves were showing a potassium deficiency. It turns out different minerals are available to the plants in varying degrees depending on how acidic the water is.
Sounds fair.
The solution is, you can adjust your pH by adding shell grit to your grow bed. Shells are made of calcium carbonate, and that raises your pH. The natural process of converting ammonia to nitrate via nitrite cases your system to become acidic over time, so the shell grit acts as a balance. It's convenient as well, because the more acidic your system gets, the more the shell grit gets dissolved. Once the system is no longer too acidic, the shell grit stops dissolving.
The system finds a balance.
This adds potassium, which was a nice boost for my plants, but it also adjusts pH away from being too acid.
So I bought some Eco-RoseⓇ
It's actually sold as a solution to powdery mildew, and I guess that could be the culprit.
I dont actually know what powdery mildew looks like, and it would only take 5 seconds of my life to search for it, but that would take the mystery out of life.
Either way, the strawberries will enjoy it, so I'll give it a go.
Not just Aquaponics - Mould - 120 things in 20 years
Aquaponics - Spring has sprung
I love spring.
I sneeze a lot, but I still love it.
I'm in the southern hemisphere, so its spring.
I wont use the word spring in the post again.
Because I've been busy studying electronics, I find it a real relief to walk out into the grow house every so often, and smell the roses so to speak. I don't actually have roses, but I have these.
Peas
Beans
Cucumber
Tomato
spring
Strawberry (18 on that little plant so far)
and more.
Watching plants grow, and fish swim, is the cure for study.
not just Aquaponics - Spring has sprung - 120 Things in 20 years
I sneeze a lot, but I still love it.
I'm in the southern hemisphere, so its spring.
I wont use the word spring in the post again.
Because I've been busy studying electronics, I find it a real relief to walk out into the grow house every so often, and smell the roses so to speak. I don't actually have roses, but I have these.
spring
and more.
Watching plants grow, and fish swim, is the cure for study.
not just Aquaponics - Spring has sprung - 120 Things in 20 years
Aquaponics - strawberry pollination thoughts
Some of my strawberries are a little odd in the way they are forming. Some didn't form at all.
I put the not forming at all problem down to poor pollination. It always seemed to be the ones hidden under leaves or pressed against the corner of the scoria and the side of the barrel.
I have a feeling the poorly formed ones might also be a pollination issue.
As I mentioned in a previous post, strawberries are not really the fruit, they are a fruit holder, the fruit are the little dots on the surface, and they each hold a seed.
In this pic we can see a crease where the strawberry isn't big and red, and we can see the dots that are actually the fruit, are tiny and not formed. I have a feeling these are fruit that didn't get pollinated. When none of them get pollinated, it might explain why I get no "fruit" at all.
All my latest strawberries look like this, and are fast becoming the highlight of the grow house.
I don't actually know if this is a pollination issue, it's just a thought.
Unfortunately when I was between grow houses, there were some strawberry plants that lived in a NFT tube for four days with no nutrient rich water flowing around their roots.
This has left the roots dried and not looking too healthy. The plants are wilting, and the existing fruit on those plants is drying up and looking a bit sad. They are trying desperately to make a comeback, and my aquaponics system has seen some amazing comebacks, so there is still hope, but I think I may have lost out on the bumper harvest I might have had.
I'm adding some water by hand to These plants because I'm concerned that the roots that are touching the water might actually be dead.
Only time will tell.
Home-grown strawberries are delicious.
I put the not forming at all problem down to poor pollination. It always seemed to be the ones hidden under leaves or pressed against the corner of the scoria and the side of the barrel.
As I mentioned in a previous post, strawberries are not really the fruit, they are a fruit holder, the fruit are the little dots on the surface, and they each hold a seed.
In this pic we can see a crease where the strawberry isn't big and red, and we can see the dots that are actually the fruit, are tiny and not formed. I have a feeling these are fruit that didn't get pollinated. When none of them get pollinated, it might explain why I get no "fruit" at all.
I don't actually know if this is a pollination issue, it's just a thought.
Unfortunately when I was between grow houses, there were some strawberry plants that lived in a NFT tube for four days with no nutrient rich water flowing around their roots.
This has left the roots dried and not looking too healthy. The plants are wilting, and the existing fruit on those plants is drying up and looking a bit sad. They are trying desperately to make a comeback, and my aquaponics system has seen some amazing comebacks, so there is still hope, but I think I may have lost out on the bumper harvest I might have had.
I'm adding some water by hand to These plants because I'm concerned that the roots that are touching the water might actually be dead.
Only time will tell.
Home-grown strawberries are delicious.
Aquaponics - Strawberry towers and NFT tubes.
Success! Mrs 120ThingsIn20Years and I finished renovating the growhouse.
It looks like this.
Sorry for the poor quality photo. It got dark whilst I was having a rest that turned into a sleep.
Rests can do that.
The new NFT tubes addition looks like this, and is mainly comprised of half a dozen holes with beans at the back so I can climb them up the wall, half a dozen holes with coz lettuce in the centre, and half a dozen of baby spinach. There are a few other things sprinkled in between, and where ever they would fit.
The strawberry plants have all been transplanted.
Those that were in my original little test system should have transplanted without stress because they were already in my modular transplanting pots, but it took me so long to finish the redesign that they spent a little time walking around on dry land.
Not happy plants.
The ones I ripped from the main grow bed and transplanted with bare roots, seem to be just fine.
The original system is a wreck. I did a lot of damage moving it around and getting in behind it to tie down the growhouse structure to a fence.
The end result is a bit sad looking, but it will bounce back.
Along the right side, I planted peas that will climb the wall next to strawberry towers, (to right of frame) and the cascading plant at the front left is the oregano I rediscovered in the centre of the overgrown bit under the tomato. Actually there are two tomato plants in that lump, and I damaged the third too close to the roots to save it, so it's now worm food.
Someone from a university is coming to peek at the system tomorrow. I hope he didn't want it to look pretty. Oops. He's looking at lots of local systems, so no doubt he will be used to seeing systems in a state of constant rebuild.
The plants in the back left corner are some flat leaf parsley, and the base of a store bought bunch of celery that I thought I'd plant. It had no roots and no leaves, but It's doing quite well.
Aquaponics can do that.
Not just Aquaponics - Strawberry towers and NFT tubes - http://120thingsin20years.blogspot.com/
.
Sorry for the poor quality photo. It got dark whilst I was having a rest that turned into a sleep.
Rests can do that.
Those that were in my original little test system should have transplanted without stress because they were already in my modular transplanting pots, but it took me so long to finish the redesign that they spent a little time walking around on dry land.
Not happy plants.
The ones I ripped from the main grow bed and transplanted with bare roots, seem to be just fine.
The end result is a bit sad looking, but it will bounce back.
Along the right side, I planted peas that will climb the wall next to strawberry towers, (to right of frame) and the cascading plant at the front left is the oregano I rediscovered in the centre of the overgrown bit under the tomato. Actually there are two tomato plants in that lump, and I damaged the third too close to the roots to save it, so it's now worm food.
Someone from a university is coming to peek at the system tomorrow. I hope he didn't want it to look pretty. Oops. He's looking at lots of local systems, so no doubt he will be used to seeing systems in a state of constant rebuild.
The plants in the back left corner are some flat leaf parsley, and the base of a store bought bunch of celery that I thought I'd plant. It had no roots and no leaves, but It's doing quite well.
Aquaponics can do that.
Not just Aquaponics - Strawberry towers and NFT tubes - http://120thingsin20years.blogspot.com/
.
Aquaponics - Strawberry towers MK 237 part 2
I'm getting there.
It's taking forever, but I'm getting there.
Stage two sees me with a stack of finished end caps with their various pipe work siliconed into place.
The ones with the two pipes are to be the horizontal NFT pipes.
I built an overflow pipe into my first NFT test pipe, and it's saved the day a few times.
I arranged the normal flow so it exits under water so I cant hear it, and the overflow so it splashes as a warning that the tube is blocked,
Never use a ruler when you can use a laser, and a ruler. My mum gave me this laser straight line tool, and It's a pretty handy thing to have. If your mum hasn't given you one of these, you can place your pipe next to a door frame or something else you think might be straight, and draw a line down the length of your pipe by holding your pen flat against the frame.
If your hole cutter is anything like my new one, (my old $7 hole cutting set dissolved in a spectacular "it's a good thing I always wear safety glasses" kind of way), it will be impossible to remove the circle of PVC that will be left behind in the cutter. But I have a tip...
A hole cutter has a small drill in the centre, and then a large round bit with a saw edge. Drill through until you have the beginnings of a circle cut into your PVC, then withdraw the cutter a bit and waggle your drill around so that the guide hole is enlarged. You no longer need the guide hole because you now have the larger circle, so it wont matter. It's the guide hole that the circle offcut of plastic seems to get stuck on. After discovering this they all fell out without any help.
Lastly I drilled some holes in my gutter to take the tubes exiting the bottom of my strawberry towers.
My finished, but as yet un-siliconed tower components look like this.
Getting there.
I cut 5 holes in each 900mm long tube. The top hole is 100mm from the top to allow a litle space between the plant and the grow house roof, and the bottom hole is 150mm up from the bottom to keep the roots out of the drain holes.
I'm not sure how the drain bit is going to go, because I have no idea how long the roots are going to be.
.
It's taking forever, but I'm getting there.
The ones with the two pipes are to be the horizontal NFT pipes.
I built an overflow pipe into my first NFT test pipe, and it's saved the day a few times.
I arranged the normal flow so it exits under water so I cant hear it, and the overflow so it splashes as a warning that the tube is blocked,
A hole cutter has a small drill in the centre, and then a large round bit with a saw edge. Drill through until you have the beginnings of a circle cut into your PVC, then withdraw the cutter a bit and waggle your drill around so that the guide hole is enlarged. You no longer need the guide hole because you now have the larger circle, so it wont matter. It's the guide hole that the circle offcut of plastic seems to get stuck on. After discovering this they all fell out without any help.
Getting there.
I cut 5 holes in each 900mm long tube. The top hole is 100mm from the top to allow a litle space between the plant and the grow house roof, and the bottom hole is 150mm up from the bottom to keep the roots out of the drain holes.
I'm not sure how the drain bit is going to go, because I have no idea how long the roots are going to be.
.
Aquaponics - Settled media
As I mentioned in this post on moss growing on my media, my grow beds seemed to have settled since the move, and are perhaps getting too wet at the surface as a result.
I think it's officially causing problems.
At one stage my media was up near the rim of my blue barrel, but now it sits here.
That's around 100-120mm down from the top, so I can easily fit another bag of scoria on top. This would increase my filtration a bit as well as keeping the surface a bit dryer.
My media is still getting wet on the surface in spite of my trimming the stand pipe by around 15mm. I trimmed it a few weeks ago, but either it wasn't enough, or perhaps the moisture is coming down in the form of grow house rain, rather than up from the bottom, via the pump.
The media that is wet, is the stuff that tends to sit a bit lower than the surrounding media, but it could still be from "rain", and is simply not drying as quickly as the higher sections. I'm only talking about 10mm between the high and low sections.
One down side is that just as my first strawberry was starting to ripen...
It also started to rot where it was touching the damp scoria.
I really wanted to eat that strawberry.
I think it's officially causing problems.
That's around 100-120mm down from the top, so I can easily fit another bag of scoria on top. This would increase my filtration a bit as well as keeping the surface a bit dryer.
The media that is wet, is the stuff that tends to sit a bit lower than the surrounding media, but it could still be from "rain", and is simply not drying as quickly as the higher sections. I'm only talking about 10mm between the high and low sections.
I really wanted to eat that strawberry.
Aquaponics - Pollination
Plant sex is pretty interesting, but I don't know a lot about it. Hopefully this is my first step toward gaining a better understanding.
I found a stack of strawberries that don't seem to have progressed past the "Here I am!" stage. I kept an eye on them, and eventually their stems rotted and the fruit lay on the ground.
I have a feeling it might be to do with pollination. Now that everything is in a grow house, I wonder if there is enough insect activity to pollinate properly. I remember having pumpkins in a dirt garden years ago,who's flowers didn't open enough to allow bees in, and they went the same way. There would be a beginning of a fruit, but it would never develop.
The dead strawberries had flowers that opened and formed normally, and there are a stack of insects walking and flying around, but no bees or other large insects.
Most of the other strawberries are doing just fine, so they either don't need pollinating, or are getting pollinated by the smaller insects, or being pollinated in some other way that I'm unaware of.
This will be my first year growing things like tomatoes and cucumbers, so I really want to get this stuff sorted, and get a decent understanding of the issues.
So far most of the plants I've grown don't involve flowering and setting fruit. They have mostly been green leafy salad veggies that don't need bees until they go to seed. By the time they go to seed, I'm more likely to pull them up and feed them to the fish, rather than worry about their reproductive habits.
I'll learn some stuff about pollination.
.
I have a feeling it might be to do with pollination. Now that everything is in a grow house, I wonder if there is enough insect activity to pollinate properly. I remember having pumpkins in a dirt garden years ago,who's flowers didn't open enough to allow bees in, and they went the same way. There would be a beginning of a fruit, but it would never develop.
The dead strawberries had flowers that opened and formed normally, and there are a stack of insects walking and flying around, but no bees or other large insects.
Most of the other strawberries are doing just fine, so they either don't need pollinating, or are getting pollinated by the smaller insects, or being pollinated in some other way that I'm unaware of.
This will be my first year growing things like tomatoes and cucumbers, so I really want to get this stuff sorted, and get a decent understanding of the issues.
So far most of the plants I've grown don't involve flowering and setting fruit. They have mostly been green leafy salad veggies that don't need bees until they go to seed. By the time they go to seed, I'm more likely to pull them up and feed them to the fish, rather than worry about their reproductive habits.
I'll learn some stuff about pollination.
.
Aquaponics - Strawberry cross breeding
Cross breeding things is one of those things I know nothing about.
There are a great many others, but cross breeding is the one I make vague reference to in this post.
I have some strawberry plants that set pink flowers.
This surprised me a little because I didn't know they existed. But that's no big deal, as that's my standard level of understand I have of almost every species in the universe.
This picture doesn't really do them justice, but the better photo I took of this plant makes my eyes hurt.
The point I'm making here is that they are pink.
I also have a variety that has white flowers.
Really white flowers.
So white you cant photograph them on the auto setting of my camera, because my camera keeps looking deeper to see what it is I want it to capture.
White.
But exactly half way between those two plants in the grow bed, I find I now have pink flowers.
Light pink flowers.
This plant is one of the runners from one of my original plants with white flowers.
Now it's just as likely that this is just a lack of iron or something, as it is that some kind of cross breeding is going on, but that's not the point.
For one thing, I think to cross breed something you need it to flower, and then cross pollinate with a different variety. This means the flower wouldn't be pink yet. But it is a descendant of my first strawberry plant. This could mean it cross pollinated last season.
Or something.
So, and this bit is the point, I have no idea about this cross pollination business. And that means I need to find out.
So I'll find out.
If it's interesting, I'll let you know.
There are a great many others, but cross breeding is the one I make vague reference to in this post.
This surprised me a little because I didn't know they existed. But that's no big deal, as that's my standard level of understand I have of almost every species in the universe.
This picture doesn't really do them justice, but the better photo I took of this plant makes my eyes hurt.
The point I'm making here is that they are pink.
Really white flowers.
So white you cant photograph them on the auto setting of my camera, because my camera keeps looking deeper to see what it is I want it to capture.
White.
Light pink flowers.
This plant is one of the runners from one of my original plants with white flowers.
Now it's just as likely that this is just a lack of iron or something, as it is that some kind of cross breeding is going on, but that's not the point.
For one thing, I think to cross breed something you need it to flower, and then cross pollinate with a different variety. This means the flower wouldn't be pink yet. But it is a descendant of my first strawberry plant. This could mean it cross pollinated last season.
Or something.
So, and this bit is the point, I have no idea about this cross pollination business. And that means I need to find out.
So I'll find out.
If it's interesting, I'll let you know.
NFT test
[Edit from the future - there is some additional material on NFT ]
As usual, this is one of those things that I just made in the hope that research wasn't necessary until I had failed at least once. I really don't know things like how much nutrient rich water to flow through, exactly how deep the water should be, and, well, everything else. What I do know is that you cut some holes in PVC pipes, stick plants into the holes, and pump water through the pipes.
As usual, this is one of those things that I just made in the hope that research wasn't necessary until I had failed at least once. I really don't know things like how much nutrient rich water to flow through, exactly how deep the water should be, and, well, everything else. What I do know is that you cut some holes in PVC pipes, stick plants into the holes, and pump water through the pipes.
So I started with what I know.
I'm hoping to be able to move plants around at will to maximise the growing space I have.
If I can move plants, I can grow them densely when they are little, move them to the medium density area when required, and then to the largest spaced holes for a while before harvest.
And a trickle of nutrient rich water will pass through the base of each plastic pot.
Because I'm still using my sad old pump, I'm a bit limited as to how much flow I can offer the NFT pipe, so I'm stating with a only a broken stream from a 4mm (external) pipe. Basically at the rate of a dripping tap.
I was going to make it so that the end cap could be rotated and thus the exit pipe's height adjusted, but it was a better option to seal everything properly (I used plumbing tape for this because I might want to pull it all apart if it doesn't work), and just rotate the entire unit to adjust water depth.
Here's a hot tip I discovered.
Its possible to make a really good seal with clear plastic hose, by drilling a hole that is a bit too small to pass the pipe through.
Pass it through the hole.
With a bit of effort (the more effort required, the better the seal) you can get a very good seal.
Simply pull it all the way through until there is the desired amount of tail on the end inside.
This will be the drain hole, and emergency overflow in case of blockage.
Having said that, clear plastic tube isn't very good for aquaponics, it gets a build up of algae on the inside, and will eventually block. This is just a test, so I want everything to be removable, and I also want to be able to see water draining, but in the final version, I will use black poly pipe.
Water enters through the 4mm pipe to the end on the left out of frame, and runs through until it drains back into the fish tank, through the elbow, and the clear plastic tubes.
If all goes well.
This top down view shows the thin black pipe that delivers water just jammed into the hole on the side of the pot, but it will eventually have its own entry hole drilled right at the very end of the pipe.
The seedlings are already showing roots peaking through the bottom of the pots, so they should be just right for transplanting into the shallow water.
In the dirt world, you would have to transplant into ever bigger pots, but I'm hoping that in aquaponics, there will be no need, as the pot really just becomes a convenient handle to move the plants around with, and less to do with how much access to nutrient they have.
Who knows. I'll let you know more as I find it out.
[Edit from the future - there is some additional material on NFT ]
Aquaponics - Nutrient Film Technique or NFT
One of the best things about setting up an NFT or Nutrient Film Technique aquaponics system, is that I get to use PVC yet again. I dont know why, but I love the stuff.
As far as I can tell, Nutrient Film Technique, involves planting plants into little pots that sit in a channel with a thin layer of nutrient rich water flowing at their roots. The water is only one or two millimetres deep, so most of the roots have plenty of access to the air they also need.
I'm guessing the water migrates at least part way up the roots in that way that water does, but who knows.
Some time ago I got hold of these two PVC, oval cross section pipes.
They are currently sitting in the rafters of my shed, but I think its time to pull them down and incorporate them into my life in a more meaningful way. Not that I have anything against sitting in rafters if that's what you're into. But for me and my PVC, its all about getting down and being attached to a fence or something.
I have no idea where to get the cups from so I'm not sure If I'll have to make them or if they are an off the shelf kind of prospect.
Either way I'm going to have a go at this NFT caper, and see If it might be a way to get some additional real estate for my strawberries.
The plan, at this stage at least, is to attach them to the fence behind my little aquaponics system.
With a little slope built in it should be possible to pump water up from the fish tank (hose drawn in orangy-brown*), have it flow through the top tube, and empty from the left into the bottom tube(sloping slightly to the right), where it would then flow to the right and empty back into the grow bed or directly back into the fish tank.
Those green things are my stunning illustrations of strawberry plants.
See how they thrive?
Thrive plants thrive.
Plans have a habit of changing around here, but it should work. If it does work, I should be able to move the strawberries around, so that when they put out runners (strawberry plants put out runners (runners are little baby strawberry plants sent out on a stem to set up home next door to the original plant (generally speaking a very sensible way to reproduce compared to all the carrying on everything else does))) I can set up a situation where there are vacant spots on either side to accommodate the runners.
[Edit from the future - there is some additional material on NFT ]
* Yeah! That's a colour!
As far as I can tell, Nutrient Film Technique, involves planting plants into little pots that sit in a channel with a thin layer of nutrient rich water flowing at their roots. The water is only one or two millimetres deep, so most of the roots have plenty of access to the air they also need.
I'm guessing the water migrates at least part way up the roots in that way that water does, but who knows.
 |
| Oval cross section NFT PVC tubes |
They are currently sitting in the rafters of my shed, but I think its time to pull them down and incorporate them into my life in a more meaningful way. Not that I have anything against sitting in rafters if that's what you're into. But for me and my PVC, its all about getting down and being attached to a fence or something.
I have no idea where to get the cups from so I'm not sure If I'll have to make them or if they are an off the shelf kind of prospect.
Either way I'm going to have a go at this NFT caper, and see If it might be a way to get some additional real estate for my strawberries.
With a little slope built in it should be possible to pump water up from the fish tank (hose drawn in orangy-brown*), have it flow through the top tube, and empty from the left into the bottom tube(sloping slightly to the right), where it would then flow to the right and empty back into the grow bed or directly back into the fish tank.
Those green things are my stunning illustrations of strawberry plants.
See how they thrive?
Thrive plants thrive.
Plans have a habit of changing around here, but it should work. If it does work, I should be able to move the strawberries around, so that when they put out runners (strawberry plants put out runners (runners are little baby strawberry plants sent out on a stem to set up home next door to the original plant (generally speaking a very sensible way to reproduce compared to all the carrying on everything else does))) I can set up a situation where there are vacant spots on either side to accommodate the runners.
[Edit from the future - there is some additional material on NFT ]
* Yeah! That's a colour!
Aquaponics - My first strawberry
One of the things most important to me in doing aquaponics, was to grow some strawberries. A lot of strawberries. I love them.
Some time ago I bought a selection of different varieties of strawberry to plant out to see which would work best in an aquaponics environment. Sadly only one seemed to thrive, and I have no idea which one it was.
Success! It's now fruiting, and in a couple of days I'll taste the fruits of my labour.
I'm now frantically searching to see if there is some way to clone this plant.
I know that at some stage in their growth cycle they send out runners, but there might be a way to divide up this plant to get a lot more going rather than doing all that waiting.
On a not so successful note, I planted out some seeds a few days ago, and there have been mixed results.
Pictured here are giant white radish.
For some crazy reason, many of them seem to have died.
They look like they over heated, but the weather was far too cool for that. They definitely didn't dry out. The only other thing I can think of was that perhaps the water and fish emulsion tea was too strong, and it burnt the leaves from direct contact.
I'll see if I can water them without getting them wet.
Some time ago I bought a selection of different varieties of strawberry to plant out to see which would work best in an aquaponics environment. Sadly only one seemed to thrive, and I have no idea which one it was.
I'm now frantically searching to see if there is some way to clone this plant.
I know that at some stage in their growth cycle they send out runners, but there might be a way to divide up this plant to get a lot more going rather than doing all that waiting.
On a not so successful note, I planted out some seeds a few days ago, and there have been mixed results.
For some crazy reason, many of them seem to have died.
They look like they over heated, but the weather was far too cool for that. They definitely didn't dry out. The only other thing I can think of was that perhaps the water and fish emulsion tea was too strong, and it burnt the leaves from direct contact.
I'll see if I can water them without getting them wet.
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