HD Aquaponics - Ep.17 - Floating Raft system, DWC, growing sweet bells and habanero peppers

[jar6543]

You need bees. I have 6 hives for pollination.. I bought them about 4 years ago for my watermelons. They are a lot of fun once you get used to them.

[edpozek]

@jar6543 AWESOME! We're looking into build a top-bar bee hive. Do you have any recommendations?

[jar6543]

@edpozek I would use the standard bee hive with full frames of wax It will help the bees a lot when they are a young colony and will also help keep the hive more uniform. I would start with two hives. You can order the hive body, frames, and wax foundation from several places on the web. I've bought from dadant, kelley, and better bee. I've never had any problems with them. I would also suggest you get bee keeping for dummies. That book is very helpful to a new bee keeper.

[saeidmomtahan]

Have you thought about feeding your fish chopped up Spinach? Would be a crazy idea?

[surfstev]

Can you put the floating raft system right in with the fish or are the nutrients too strong for the plants? If the fish eat all the roots can you just prevent them with some screen perhaps?

[edpozek]

@surfstev Yeah, I don't see why you couldn't. I've seen some growers put smaller fish in with their floating rafts. I don't if they would eat the roots or not.

[CEDARVALE54]

@surfstev hi i use float rafs in my aquaponics system. the iron is available at all plant and some hardware shops here in australia. i have 24000lt or 12000gal of water, i put 1 teaspoon per 1000lt once a month, i do the same with calcium and potassium. the fish trim the roots but do not harm the plants, the fish will also eat the algea which also helps with the conversion of the fish waste

[GOP4USA]

How did the iron work out?

[edpozek]

@GOP4USA It actually worked out really well. The yellowing on the plants has almost disappeared. I'm out of chelated iron so I'll need to pick up a little more next time I'm out.

[bigt2318]

You could probably put a big nail in the gravel and let it rust to fix the iron problem. Not sure but it sounds right...

[edpozek]

@bigt2318 I've actually been thinking about doing that very thing.

[scott98390]

@edpozek While a nail will raise the iron level reading in the water, it will not be accessible to the plants. Only chelated iron will actually benefit the plants..

[duttypanty100]

yellowing is usually from iron defficiency...try iron chelate

[cricketol]

the yellowing may be do to calcium deficiency im not 100% but that may help out

[jerrygsheldon]

really coming along isnt it. way cool Ed!

[web4deb]

liking the shale! ;-)

[daniel3484]

Looking forward to seeing how that chelated iron does.

[MrMadmax478]

System looking good...