Kratky

Powerless Hydroponics also known as Kratky method, a hydroponic technique by Dr. Kratky. I have been tinkering this method for a while now for some different plants that are mostly used in the kitchen, the spices. So far I have few developments at the early stage of the plants but comes short the mature stage. I am working on self sufficiency of the nutrition solution so as to make the setup cheap and more reliable for an organic produce venture.

Kratky method uses the natural behavior of the plants capillary action to provide both the nutrient solution and air. The concept is so simple and proven effective with the right resources. You can google for some pictures and videos only just use the word hydroponics and Kratky.

Multiple Ginger Seedling

My Current Experiment, testing information gathered from the internet. How to make multiple seedlings from a few rhizomes of ginger. Rhizomes with lots of buds can give several seedlings instead of planting the the whole rhizome as seedling.

Bardok

One of my biggest achievement since day one of my R&D with Aquaponics was my success with keeping this fish alive. It was a burden from the start with all the trials and errors, and end up killing so much fishes before I made it to this point with almost a kilogram of fish. I named this fish of mine Bardok, and he is my favorite fish among others and planning to keep until the day of his lifespan and also to be able to figure out how big would this fish grow with my current setup and maintenance.

Bardok is a SaltUno strain or Molubicus. Is a cross breed of fresh water and salt water tilapia strain.

700W and Growing

The Campaign to a self sustainable power source for my backyard farm and aquaponics is just keep growing and growing, although the pace is slow I am happy that the developments is continuous.

Solar power is expensive alternative source of power at the moment, but a necessary step to keep your fish and plants alive in an area where power is unstable.

This investment has saved my project countless of times. And my primary goal with this part of R&D is a 3000W of solar power source!

I would like to give thanks to all those who supported my research, by donations and by buying my produce. The buyers of the fish and veges and the cash donations.

My campaign was difficult from the beginning, it was like a me against the world scenario. Only a few people believed that it is possible, and many gave doubts due to the slow and expensive progress. One day we will prove them wrong!

DIY Netpots

Today's episode is about the DIY netpots out of disposable plastic water or soda bottles. I made the effort to share this idea even though I know that probably most Aquaponics and Hydroponics DIYers have applied this idea. But searching the internet doesn't yield the expected results.

The purpose of this DIY guide is to give beginners the idea on how to save on parts and materials for this hobby. Not only it will help them with the cost but also with time on shipping or effort of going to distant store to source out this part. And moreover you can also minimize household garbage output with this idea.

First we have to gather the materials and the tools:

1. Empty soda plastic bottles.
2. A heavy duty scissor.
3. a side cutting pliers.
4. and a blade cutter.

First step is to cut the plastic bottles into two, the length between top or bottom will depend on your setup.

Second step is slice the caps  like a net or star pattern using a blade cutter.

Third is to push the sliced plastic outwards and cut some to give way to roots and air using your side cutting pliers.

And now you have your DIY net pot from disposable soda or water plastic bottles.

some variations.

TilaKoi

Meet the TilaKois. TilaKois are spotted red tilapia, a result of crossbreeding saline and fresh water tilapia strains. Tilakoi is just a made-up name by me, because they are actually tilapia that looked like Kois and probably might grow as big.

With Flash....

The side views....

The Front view....

Aquaponics in Manual Mode

Aquaponics doesn't have to be restricted in a close loop, where setup for starters tend to be expensive. You can do aquaponics without expensive water pumps, all you need is a bucket and a deeper or watering can for that matter.

Plant your seedlings in a recycled containers or pots, then everytime you change water or clean your fish tank, use the nutrient filled water from your aquariums to water your plants. You can setup this plant filled container to filter the water or  just simply on the ground.

This method is laborious, but it will save you some extra cash if you are in a tight start and earn a few muscles at the end of the day.

Weather automatic or manual, the goal is to use your fish to feed your plants and your plants to use the water or clean it.