I have been preparing for some better production in our aquaponics system. Over the past nine months I have been having a lot of fun trying new things and trying to plant just about everything I could think of; now it is time to get more serious about producing as much food as we can. We have learned a lot about spacing, which crops grow and taste best, and what we tend to use the most and will apply this going forward. We have also learned a bit more about which vegetables tend to get treated with he most chemicals during production. We want to focus this year on producing as many of those fruits and vegetables on our own between the aquaponics and our outdoor gardens. So it is out with the old and in with the new! New crops and also less varieties so that we can focus on producing and maybe even storing some of the extra.
I have also been making some adjustments to the lighting system to improve overall efficiency. I have widened the lights and also added some reflective material to the back and sides of the system to try and reflect as much of the light back as possible. I have noticed and realized that I am losing a lot of the light due to not being able to contain it in each grow bed.
I have built the last supports on the system so that I have each grow bed completely contained on all sides. This also provides a place for my "supporting growing plants without strings" system. I have previously done a video on that but updated here in this post.
The next step is to add my last fish tank and start getting ready for some tilapia or perch. I think I have found a good supplier of tilapia that is much cheaper than what I have seen thus far so that may help make my decision about which fish to purchase.
To purchase the emergency blankets to use as reflective material please use this link - http://amzn.to/12TnJYO
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