Aquaponic and Hydroponic Hobby Growing

Fapington · March 12, 2014

I had some help picking tomatoes today. Not the kind I wanted.

Let's play "identify the serpent".

dasboot · March 12, 2014

Ryan unless that hand is not yours,you got me what is it ?

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Fapington · March 12, 2014

It's a god d*nm snake bro. lol

I don't like snakes. I think it's a Long Nose Whip snake, from what I could find online. Only mildly venomous, and apparently no threat to humans, as the venom requires a period of "massaging in" of up to 15 minutes to be effective. Either way, I would rather not piss him off and get bit.

rice555 · March 12, 2014

To be honest, (I am about to say something sacrilegious here), I'm not sure we'll ever see aquaponics being used to grow fruiting vegetables (such as tomatoes) on a commercial scale.

I'm doing a lot of testing between hydro and aquaponics at the moment, with same varieties planted at the same time. We'll see how it goes. I can tell you that my hydroponic tomatoes reached a flowering and fruit setting stage much faster, but although they are behind, the aquaponics is also setting fruit. I'll measure yields from both, and we'll see. I am monetarily far more heavily invested in the aquaponics that the hydroponics, but so far the hydroponics is looking like its going to be incredibly difficult to "out grow", at least in terms of heavy feeders like tomatoes.

I really hate mixing up nutrients though. It takes 5 minutes, I'm just tired of doing it. I'm also tired of filling up the reservoir every day, because my tomatoes are going through 40 liters of water a day (they drink that much). So in that regard, I really like just tossing in some fish food, and calling it a day. ha!

Always pros and cons.

There, I matched your ramble eye for an eye. ha!

Hello All, when you say mixing up nutes, what and how much are you mixing up?

I got a 500L tank for nutes and never got around to using it, just mixing up a barrel at a time.

I have a system when I mix up my chems, sometimes weighing out extra portions for the next

batch or two.

One of the reasons that I pass on aquaponics is where I will be moving soon, I have fish pond

already and have a lake/river/mudhole depending on the time of the year 6M from my front door, it has also been less than 1M away several times.

When it floods there, I get a free water change and new stock in the pond. In the pic with my FIL looking at the bank work we had done, his pants would have got wet 2008, also if you look in the water at close to the edge of the bank, you can see a BIL in his palm tree boat

fishing.

You can grow in your driveway with hydro in the rain, 2008.

Old chili bags, new tom bags for tomorrow transplanting, and the new toms.

rice555

Fapington · March 12, 2014

I have two systems on 100L tanks each. Problem is, the tomatoes are literally drinking 50L/day. So I have to refill water every day, and restock nutrients about every 3 days.

Lots of new plants you have going there.

dasboot · March 15, 2014

I currently have in my Tanks a mix of Tipapia,plain carp and Koi,the carp have only recently been added and they seem an ideal fish for Aquaponics,pigs with fins.

Does anyone know were to buy Fingerling Koi,I have done the search without a definitive answer,plus the googly thing has pinpointed the breeders in around Bangkok,but does anyone here have experience with buying fingerlings by the box.

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DerkMR · March 15, 2014

Buying - no experience but on JJ-Market there is a section with Kois from fingerling to high prized ones.

The Koi area is directly in front of JJ-Mall.

So may be a trip to BKK would be an option.

Bye,

Derk

dasboot · March 15, 2014

Yes a small trip to Bangkok and the surrounding Fish farms could be in order,I will search on up here as someone must know something. The closest fish farm to me occasional has a concrete ring with maybe a dozen or so 2 inch koi price was quoted at 50 baht each,it's were he gets them from I need to find out, I would like to start with maybe 100.

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rice555 · March 15, 2014

Hello All, there are several monthly fancy fish magazines(Thai) that you might look

through, the usually have PN#'s with the articles and you can see what they are

offering for sale before you travel.

rice555

dasboot · March 15, 2014

Goos ideal Rice555,you have mentioned Thai magazines before don't know why I didn't think of it.

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rice555 · April 13, 2014

Hello All, well the water war got rained out this afternoon here in Korat.

For the past month or so we've had more storms than usual with the heat

80-102F.

Most of my transplanted chilies have gone tits up, but my tom's have been

doing very good.

Some pic's(catalog) of my first time for me and some pic's of thing's in

progress.

1. Indigo Apple 2. Pink Berkley Tie-Dye 3. Blush 4. Sunset Falls

Other growing are Beef Master(seed from past Korat ag show), Black Cherry,

Brandywine OTV, Coustluto Genovese, Yaqui and some Cisineros Tomitillo.

Setting up the wire to support the Ind. toms when I get up today.

Now 2AM and sprinkling.

rice555

tangmojo · April 21, 2014

Dasbot, I enjoyed your postings on Backyard Aquaponics. Your efforts are inspirational as you have successfully developed your own system, & then you keep analyzing, re-configuring, & fine-tuning.

I am starting to build a flood & drain system in Nakhon Nayok, an hour northeast of Bangkok. It will have 12 raised growbeds surrounding the in-ground concrete tank. I expect I will have many questions for you as this project proceeds.

At one point you were searching for uniseals for your system & somebody pm'd you a reply. Were you able to locate uniseals in Thailand? If not, what was your solution? It looks like you have used PVC bulkhead type fittings in some places.

Fap & Rice, nice looking toms.

Cheers,

Dave

Mrjlh · April 21, 2014

I had some help picking tomatoes today. Not the kind I wanted.

Let's play "identify the serpent".

Found it! Its an Asian Vine Snake. Was thinking it was a Pit Viper but was wrong. Pits have vertical eyes and larger head.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahaetulla_prasina

wdrk7 · April 23, 2014

Hello fapington ,

what material did you use for the roofing ? Good replacement to the current plastic sheet we are using . No good with strong wind up in the mountain .

Fapington · April 23, 2014

Those are polycarbonate panels. They are great, have a life expectancy of something like 10 years, and won't turn colors like some of the cheaper materials. The only problem is the cost. Those panels are something like 1M long, and 50CM wide, but run around 300baht each. If one was doing a large area, they might become non-cost effective rather quickly.

rice555 · April 23, 2014

Hello All, Fapington did you run across paneling like this in your search? I couldn't

get any info on it, here the colored panels are used for shading and I've seen other

colors. I saw them assemble these and they were lifted into place with 2 cranes.

The panels are full length top to bottom and the side seams sealed.

rice555

Fapington · April 23, 2014

Hey Rice555,

I did not see anything like that, but would be very interested. I have a large project in the works, in which I will have to find a transparent roof solution. Why does everything have to be so difficult to find in this country?

I know you always find valuable resources in Thai Ag Magazines, but I haven't looked at a magazine since I was 13, jerking off to the Sears catalog lingerie section. ha!

Ryan

cdmtdm · April 24, 2014

hi guys i did the same search and the only option was poly carb sheets , cost me about 100k to cover 300m2 .. came in 5.0 m sheets with 80cm cover from memory they were around 1000baht a pop ...not cheap but they are permanent and strong , u can walk on them no problem ..same profile as trimdek metal sheets ..i have the manufacturers number , the sales manager speaks good english... pm me if u want it ..

dasboot · April 24, 2014

Ryan I read your post in another thread concerning your Tomatoes,I have suffered the same fate,I have cut and burnt the lot. Now check your beds if like me you could well find you are infested with larvae just on the water line,in my Tom beds it is full of the little fxxxkers just waiting for the next batch of plants. I am really glad I read your post as now I can put be sure of what happened,problem now is how to get these little shits out of the beds.

On the googly thing several sites say that Mosquito dunks will do the job,also I believe Dipel neither available here in Thailand and this considering they used Several of these products during the flood clean up.Really don't know the next step as even if I stripped and cleaned everything they will just come back.

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dasboot · April 24, 2014

tangmojo many thanks for the kind words,as for Uniseals the only way I was get them was by importing them,so I just used everything that is available to me locally,I'm doing well lots and lots of leg work but my list of I would like is getting shorter.

The bulkhead fittings and all of the Thai fittings and pipe work although so not ideal all do the job well.

I have a little more work to complete then I will post some more pics...Many thanks guys.

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slapout · April 24, 2014

Ryan I read your post in another thread concerning your Tomatoes,I have suffered the same fate,I have cut and burnt the lot. Now check your beds if like me you could well find you are infested with larvae just on the water line,in my Tom beds it is full of the little fxxxkers just waiting for the next batch of plants. I am really glad I read your post as now I can put be sure of what happened,problem now is how to get these little shits out of the beds.

On the googly thing several sites say that Mosquito dunks will do the job,also I believe Dipel neither available here in Thailand and this considering they used Several of these products during the flood clean up.Really don't know the next step as even if I stripped and cleaned everything they will just come back.

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I used to broadcast Sevin (sp) powder and water it into the tomatoe beds a couple weeks prior to transplanting the plants, This gave good control for a couple months or so and then just had to fight the buggers who came to eat the mature vines. Worked also on strawberry patch when it was just coming out of the winter dormite stage, using the same method.

Fapington · April 24, 2014

Hey Dasboot,

Are they tiny yellow insects? Barely noticeable to the eye, until they cover a leaf? This is what I'm experiencing, and from my research, I believe they are thrips.

They only bother certain strains of my tomatoes, others they leave alone entirely. The insects themselves don't seem to do much damage, it's just the transmission of spotted wilt virus that does them in.

Ryan

Ryan I read your post in another thread concerning your Tomatoes,I have suffered the same fate,I have cut and burnt the lot. Now check your beds if like me you could well find you are infested with larvae just on the water line,in my Tom beds it is full of the little fxxxkers just waiting for the next batch of plants. I am really glad I read your post as now I can put be sure of what happened,problem now is how to get these little shits out of the beds.
On the googly thing several sites say that Mosquito dunks will do the job,also I believe Dipel neither available here in Thailand and this considering they used Several of these products during the flood clean up.Really don't know the next step as even if I stripped and cleaned everything they will just come back.

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dasboot · April 25, 2014

Yes but for some reason I can only see them on the Chinese mustard,I had one Tomatoe seedling left over when I planted the beds so I just plonked it in an empty hole in the raft,this to has thrips damage,the brown marks over the leaves,curling and the leafs stems beginning to die back. I have posted some pics on your thread in BYAP.

It's the amount I have in the beds,don't know which way to approach it,they have wiped out the Tomatoes,I feel this hot spell didn't help much either,the Aubergines have Thrips damage to the leaves but they are strong plants fruiting well,the celery is being attacked so is the one mustard that just appeared,that thing is getting hammered. Chillies and Basil untouched.

I did see on the net that Mosquito dunks will clear them but from I can see there not available.

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rice555 · May 4, 2014

Hello All, I don't know how good the TV search works, but I posted a contact #

for one of the guys from Take Me Home/D.A.L.T/Dutch Green in CM, I got mine

from Thomas in Pak Chong who was one that helped put up ACk's greenhouses.

They were 50 satangs each.

rice555

Hello All, the guy on the R/H side of the pic is the guy I got my clips from,

you may try to get hold of him through the Seed Co. or he should be at

Hortiasia2014 starting May 9(9-11), in BKK, see shows under the pinned

section for show info or www.hortiasia2014.net

His name is Thomas.

rice555

Fapington · May 4, 2014

Thanks Rice,

I want to find a reliable source for these clips. It's incredibly difficult purchasing ag supplies. No one will give you a price for the product, even if they advertise it for sale online. They want to ask 50 questions completely unrelated to what you are trying to purchase. I think if a guy was able to create a 1 stop shop for seeds, shade net, vine clips, fertilizer, and sell online in Thailand, he could probably make a decent profit.

rice555 · May 5, 2014

Hello All, between Hortiasia2014 and the new ag show I just posted on the

pinned Ag Show link, you should have everything you can get in LOS, or

maybe order.

I dug these out of the garage, this is from thescott when he was still posting.

He got them from an English guy that had a shop in GB and would take orders

and bring things back to LOS on his next trip.

KNAAP (THAILAND) CO.,LTD sales coir products and does sale cocopeat

slabs.

I'm on hold for major projects till I move to the farm and put up a place to store

and grew things.

rice555

Fapington · May 5, 2014

Those appear to be rockwool cubes. Best thing I have ever found for germination. Naturally, you can't get them in LOS. The only comparable thing I can find is sponges, which are fine, but they wont hold a saturation like rockwool. The few I have I ordered from the US, can't keep that up though, not cost effective.

rice555 · May 5, 2014

Hello All, The Dutch will be at Hortiasia2014.

rice555

rice555 · May 5, 2014

Hey Rice555,

I did not see anything like that, but would be very interested. I have a large project in the works, in which I will have to find a transparent roof solution. Why does everything have to be so difficult to find in this country?

I know you always find valuable resources in Thai Ag Magazines, but I haven't looked at a magazine since I was 13, jerking off to the Sears catalog lingerie section. ha!

Ryan

Hello All, I couldn't remember this thread, but if you haven't found a source, this is mostly on Lexan. You may get some info here.

rice555