Passive Solar Greenhouse Build with active systems

boss

That is a lot of water to lift, wow. Rob have you tried nematodes against the fungus gnats? Worked for us.

rininger85

boss wrote:

That is a lot of water to lift, wow. Rob have you tried nematodes against the fungus gnats? Worked for us.

No, I haven't noticed them as bad lately, but now I have some sort of little wormy things in the DWC that crawl out on top of my styrofoam and die, and when I pull roots out of the DWC they are in the roots too... it might be fungus gnats still. I am thinking I will add some sort of predator fish in the DWC that will hopefully eat them. I'm not sure if tilapia will or not... might try and pick up some smaller trout and see if they would be OK in there through the summer when they are smaller, which would then give me a head start on next winter's trout if they survived...

markb

The greenhouse is doing well.
The bug light is really helping keep bugs out. This was a good add.
I added a small aerator to the fish tank it does not use much power and you really cannot have too much air in the tank.
The plants are doing well we have tomatoes on the vines and peppers growing.

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markb

We lost power on Sunday for just over 8 hours. The backup air kicked in and kept the fish happy with lots of air.
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=24884&start=480#p537009

The only thing I did was remove the auto fish feeder. I did not know how long the power would be out and I did not want the fish fed until the pump was running again.

markb

The floor in the greenhouse has many tomatoes coming up.

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Mel Redcap

Yay for backup systems! And heh, free tomatoes XD

boss

Heirlooms rock for a couple reasons. Ours have reseeded as well, love it.

rininger85

Wow, the greenhouse floor grows washers too! If they grow well you could open your own hardware store!

markb

But only one washer. I wanted a big crop of them.

It is crazy how many tomatoes are coming up. The planted plants are doing well.

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Mel Redcap

I'm going to have a gazillion volunteer tomatoes next spring, too - not in my hoop house, since the floor is concrete, but definitely in the growbeds and the dirt garden!

markb

That is a great idea and I think I will try that the next time I need to replant.

markb

I took a short video of the fish eating food and corn. My channel catfish is getting big.

boss

Yes it is getting big. I haven't seen ours since I put them in with Koi. Now the water outside is green and when feeding I keep hoping the quick dashes at the food are the catfish, but I don't know for certain because which ever fish it is coming up is too quick for me to see. I need to add more plants to the Koi pond system. I was thinking of placing a raft in there of celery or something.
Brian

markb

My catfish never comes up to the top. At times I wondered if he would starve only staying on the bottom. He is growing so he must be getting some food. Once a day I try to feed the others fast enough so a little food gets to him. When an ear of corn is left over from dinner I will cut it off the cob in big chunks. I can see that is getting to him.

Later I will not be able to add smaller fish with him in there because he will eat them. I guess I will have to eat him first my youngest son seems attached to this particular fish.

scotty435

My catfish are the same and only come to the top in the Summer when the water is warmer.

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