If you read this your probably thinking WTF is a Vermiponic Garden. Basicly is a cross between a traditional soil garden and Hydroponics. I'm not a fan of Hydroponics as some food tastes "not right" . Buying chemical nutrient and having to disinfect the system does not appeal to me. Also some crops may not able to be grown Hydroponicly (root vegetables)
I had a look at an Aquaponics and though I quite liked the system there where some things I didn't like about it such as the energy consumption of the pumps and that amount of fish in a small amount of water can cause problems with all the fish dyeing.
edit 26/7/12 Just a note on growing root vegetables. A number of readers have pointed out that some people have successfully grown root crops in both a hydroponic and aquaponic systems. I have also spoken to "experts" who have told me no way, there are problems with crops going rotten. http://www.instructables.com/id/Hydroponic-Food-Factory/step17/Hydroponic-potatoes/ give a short description on how to grow potatoes in a hydroponic system.
I'm not able to grow a traditional garden, as we have extremely poor soil, water restrictions, low rain fall, and extreme weather events such as week long heat waves of 45C or 113F which will kill any veggie within hours.
I started this project about a year ago and at the time it was an experiment to try an address the above issues, I had never heard of vermiponics, and there is still not a great deal of info about it. It wasn't until a few weeks ago I found that it had a name and there are some similar systems out there. Stupidly I didn't take a lot of photos and it is now July and the middle of winter so the garden doesn't look that good at the moment. I will up date photos every month for the next year or so.
I had a look at an Aquaponics and though I quite liked the system there where some things I didn't like about it such as the energy consumption of the pumps and that amount of fish in a small amount of water can cause problems with all the fish dyeing.
edit 26/7/12 Just a note on growing root vegetables. A number of readers have pointed out that some people have successfully grown root crops in both a hydroponic and aquaponic systems. I have also spoken to "experts" who have told me no way, there are problems with crops going rotten. http://www.instructables.com/id/Hydroponic-Food-Factory/step17/Hydroponic-potatoes/ give a short description on how to grow potatoes in a hydroponic system.
I'm not able to grow a traditional garden, as we have extremely poor soil, water restrictions, low rain fall, and extreme weather events such as week long heat waves of 45C or 113F which will kill any veggie within hours.
I started this project about a year ago and at the time it was an experiment to try an address the above issues, I had never heard of vermiponics, and there is still not a great deal of info about it. It wasn't until a few weeks ago I found that it had a name and there are some similar systems out there. Stupidly I didn't take a lot of photos and it is now July and the middle of winter so the garden doesn't look that good at the moment. I will up date photos every month for the next year or so.
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At first glance you might think its just a garden in a box, but there is a little more to it than that. The IBC containers have had the liner removed from the cage and cut in half. The bottom half is put back in and the top half is put on top but upside down. Small holes are drilled for drainage and the bottom have become water storage.
The bottom tanks are joined together with poly pipe and a solar pump, pumps water to the top storage tank. The top storage tank has a siphon inside it and that trips off around every half hour in full sun, which waters the plants. The plants are grown in soil and taste fantastic (no sad watery acid hydroponic tomatoes here)
The soil in this area is very poor and aqua-phobic ( will not absorb water) so I use a mixture of soil, animal manure, lawn clippings, leaves, food scraps,wood ash and a box of worms to get it started. The worms have gone mad and turned the soil in to rich dark loam and the plants have thrived.
Below the soil is several layers of shade cloth to keep the soil out of the layer of gravel which is at the bottom of the top tank and to provide drainage and a home for microbes. The water then drains into the bottom tank and the process starts again.
I had a problem with mosquitoes in the bottom tanks when first set up, a couple of gold fish in each tank soon fixed that.
Another problem when first set up before the worms became established was the soils poor nutrient level as the plants were not growing very well, some organic liquid fertilizer helped in those first few months
As the worms started working the water became so full of nutrients that it became possible to grow leafy greens in a gravel bed.
Here is my first crop of lettuces grown in gravel.
The bottom tanks are joined together with poly pipe and a solar pump, pumps water to the top storage tank. The top storage tank has a siphon inside it and that trips off around every half hour in full sun, which waters the plants. The plants are grown in soil and taste fantastic (no sad watery acid hydroponic tomatoes here)
The soil in this area is very poor and aqua-phobic ( will not absorb water) so I use a mixture of soil, animal manure, lawn clippings, leaves, food scraps,wood ash and a box of worms to get it started. The worms have gone mad and turned the soil in to rich dark loam and the plants have thrived.
Below the soil is several layers of shade cloth to keep the soil out of the layer of gravel which is at the bottom of the top tank and to provide drainage and a home for microbes. The water then drains into the bottom tank and the process starts again.
I had a problem with mosquitoes in the bottom tanks when first set up, a couple of gold fish in each tank soon fixed that.
Another problem when first set up before the worms became established was the soils poor nutrient level as the plants were not growing very well, some organic liquid fertilizer helped in those first few months
As the worms started working the water became so full of nutrients that it became possible to grow leafy greens in a gravel bed.
Here is my first crop of lettuces grown in gravel.
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Do you have any updates about that and how that worked out for you? I'm sure your followers would like to know what kind of results you got. A comparison maybe between the 2 different systems?
Starting from scratch all over again, with all you've learned what would you do different?
Your instructable has kept me excited. I've got the 2 IBC's, 1 electric pump, 2- 12 volt pumps, Solar panel, worms etc. I still have to rework the end of the greenhouse so I can get the IBC's inside.
Thanks again,
Sorry that Ive haven't updated lately I got sick at the end of the year for a couple of months so didn't really get in the garden as often as i should have.
Ive just pull out most of the plants as we are now going into winter, but the lettuce, celery, spring onions, capsicum (bell peppers) are still growing well.
have you looked at ebay? Ive seen 20 watt panels for $30
how many liter does your pump pump per hour?
thanks in advance!
at $15 you could buy several if you needed to.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/5-12V-DC-Micro-Brushless-Magnetic-Pump-High-Solar-Hot-Submersible-Water-Pump-1-/320883441103?pt=AU_Decor_Furnishing&hash=item4ab624bdcf
how thick is the hose?
In your step 9 (September) it says, " The pump runs from a solar panel and a battery,". But if I don't have to use a battery that's great and simplifies things even more.
I don't have readily available 120 volt where my greenhouse is located and that's my reason for searching for the 12 volt pump and solar panel. We generally have a lot of sunshine in this part of the state.
I'll try eBay and see what I can come up with.
I appreciate your time spent answering my questions. Thank you.
without supplemental heat. Then I would have to drain the water out for the winter as it would become a solid block of ice.
Initially I was going to do the aquaponics thing indoors as I have a building with south facing windows 12 foot high.but when I seen your system for growing food in the dirt and using worms that sounded like the way to go.
I might be able to do both so I could continue to grow thru the winter.
I have ordered an Eco-Plus 396 submersible pump and it was shipped a week ago and should be delivered today. Does that sound like it would be an adequate pump for your system? Lift for this pump is just over 6 feet.
And one more question which I'm sure your other readers would like to know is what to look for in that solar unit? I have no idea from just looking at the picture.
And is a car or light truck adequate for running this system?
Putting it in a building sounds like a good Idea, and the water will help stabilize the temperature somewhat, as it has a lot of thermal mass.
"And is a car or light truck adequate for running this system? " do you mean battery?
I dont use any batteries the system stops at night, which seems to work just fine for around here but it would depend on the cloud cover you get in your area.
The pumps I use are 12 volt and can be connected directly to a solar panel. I looked at the pump you have and it looks like its 120 volts which is fine just put it on a timer, and plug it in.
I just got a free IBC container and got the top 9 1/2 inches cut off and all cleaned out. That was before I found your instructable. Do you think that the 9 1/2" top is deep enough for your grow bed?
I believe I can get another free IBC if you don't think this is deep enough.
I'm in Montana, USA and we can get down to 40 below zero in winter. How cold does it get where you have this set up?
I have a greenhouse, unheated 12 X 24 foot in size. It appears very similar to yours. What would happen to the worms in winter when things freeze up. Do they go dormant or die? If they die then I assume you would start over with a new batch of worms? I fished with worms for many years but never thought about what they did in
winter.
As for the temperature I cant help you with that, it rarely gets below freezing here, I would think you would have to watch the ice doesn't damage your pump, or break the bottom IBC I really don't know enough about worms to help you with what would happen to them at that temperature.
Best part of this project... No crawling around on my hands and knees.
I have a mixure of worms some are just earth worms, others I bought in a box, called night crawlers, there are a few different colors including red ones. I have heard of the the red worms but not seen them for sale around here.
I just added an ebb and flow gravel bed I will post the photos in the next couple of days.
With the watering, the pump is always on, the more sun the more the pump works, you can regulate the amount of water on the grow beds by adjusting the bleed off back into the tank, and the amount of holes that you drill in the sprinkler tube. Ive also found as the soil quality improves, I don't get wet spots or dry spots anymore, the soil absorbs water like a sponge, and also drains very well. I haven't measured how much goes on the grow beds each time but, I would guess that the top tank is 60 liters when full, and about 40 liters would be returning to the tank, and about 20liters on the grow-beds every 20mins mid day in full sun. if cloudy or morning and afternoon it may be every hour or so.
Here's one instructable I've found: http://www.instructables.com/id/Hydroponic-Food-Factory/step17/Hydroponic-potatoes/
Im sure it will work we you are, just be aware that clay soils don"t drain well, which may cause problems. So use lots of organic materiel to get those worms working, and maybe some potting mix to help with drainage. I like that its self watering, and I don't have to bend over to pull weeds, or pick veggies. If you can get the IBC containers cheaply the rest is easy
good luck with.
Do you keep track of the volume of 'feed' to know roughly how much is required per bed?
Have you been able to estimate how much water this uses, compared to a hydro or aqua system?
Please consider submitting to Farm Show Magazine. This is something a lot of their readers would go nuts over. Very cool!
i have only just put the cover on, which has holes in it so the much of the rain comes though cover into the beds.
i just keep adding organic materiel to the bed and the worm keep eating it, I put about 2-4 inches on top every month or so, and mulch around the plants when growing.
It uses more in hot weather, but I have put any extra water in for 3 or 4 months. we have had some rain though.
I will look up farm show
thanks
I was doing some research for a page I maintain, and found Window Farms. I tihnk it would work incredibly well with this adaptation of hydroponics. I have NO way of trying this myself, at least for a year and maybe more, but thought you might be interested in it. Would love to hear your thoughts!
Search for Window Farm Bottle, or go to WindowFarm dot org.
regrds,
ro0ter