Convert a bird feeder into a wild bird waterer. Aquaponics. Aquaponics is a combination of aquaculture (raising fish) and hydroponics (growing plants without soil).
The wastes from the fish are broken down by bacteria living in the growing medium, and converted into a form that can be used by the plants. Integrated Vertical Tube System Here's a drawing and a photo of the integrated vertical tube aquaponics system we built. The photo shows the tubes in the planting/harvesting position; normally they are rotated 180 degrees so that the openings face the window. I made the drawing using Google SketchUp, a great free 3-D drawing program. To make the grow tubes, I cut slots across with a hack saw and then heated the plastic with a heat gun to soften it.
The PVC caps on the bottom of the tubes have slots cut around the edges with a table saw, so that any water that might drip out around the plants can just run down the outside of the tube and through the slots. April 3, 2007 We got fish today! 8-14-2007 We've got babies! Propagating Plants by Air Layering. Make Your Own Pop Bottle Drip Irrigation System. The last time I forgot to water my outdoor potted plants and discovered them completely wilted and hanging on the cusp of near death, I decided it was time to take action.
Some of the plants on my deck receive a full, searing sun all day long during the hottest mid summer days. While these plants thrive under such conditions if properly taken care of, they will die quickly if they don’t receive enough water. Although it has been unusually rainy this year in these parts, full sun deck plants will still get extremely hot and dry very quickly. One of the best ways to provide a steady water supply to your plants without your constant attention is the gradual watering system or drip irrigation. Through this method a device is employed that slowly delivers water into the soil directly around the roots. The materials you will need are as follows: 2 litre plastic soda bottle or water bottle that still has the lidDrill and small drill bitSharp knifeCutting surface. Hanging Sprout Jars. Sprouts are good, nutritious food.
The ones shown here are mung bean sprouts. They are raised by just keeping them moist while they develop. No dirt is used. The finished sprouts are eaten roots, stem, and early leaves. I eat them raw, as salad material, but I believe they can also be eaten stir fried, as in Chinese food dishes. I got the mung beans from a health food store. One person I knew years ago supported himself with two hours of labor a day by raising alfalfa sprouts in jars. I make wire cradles with handles to suspend the jars in the air with hooks from a pipe. It takes about a week to go from seed to ready-to-eat sprouts, moistening the sprouts two or three times a day.
Vertical Garden. Self Watering Plant Container out of a 2 liter bottle. Materials: - 2 liter bottle.
Clear is good, other colors will work. - rag from a cotton t-shirt. About 8" x 8" or so. - Spray paint. Greenhouse Collapse! If you’re thinking about building a greenhouse here’s an opportunity to learn from my misfortune. This is bad. Only 3 inches of ice and snow did this to my hoop-house. When I first built it, my 50 dollar green house had a design flaw to say the least. Fortunately After removing the snow from my collapse greenhouse it’s almost as good as new. But, I think I can prevent this from happening again. This isn’t a great thing to find on a winters morning, but on the other hand a minor fail like this is just the thing to help improve a design. Here’s the thing – as long as rain or snow runs off and doesn’t accumulate which it usually doesn’t – all is well.
So here’s what I did. 2″ ridge pipe on TOP pf ribs – fixed the problem. Since adding the ridge the greenhouse has withstood several substantial snows with no problem whatsoever. For example: Ontario Canada If you never fail it’s probably because you never do anything. Ain’t gardening fun!? Raised Vegetable Garden. What is a Raised Garden Bed?
You can garden standing up; sitting on a raised surround; or even in a wheelchair. What a capital idea! There are umpteen-thousand ways of raised bed gardening; it is a method that includes no-dig, no-till, lasagna, straw bale, layered and square foot gardening.