Welcoming Topeka's newest water garden specialists
Tom built a trough system drain with a PVC pipe fence post, capped at both ends, with small holes for water to enter and exit. He then drilled holes on one side that are big enough to set a 2" - 3" plastic basket down into. The water is pushed with a pump in the fish tank to flow through the trough, thereby watering the plants. They have experimented with and had good luck growing cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, and lettuce. Some plants do better in the water than others.
He has also found a larger pot with a hole on the side at the bottom where larger vegetable plants, such as tomatoes, do better when their roots reach 8" - 10" deep. He uses hydra tone (clay pellets), which replaces the soil in the larger pots. He uses indiscriminate tomato plants which will continue to bear fruit (his favorite is Super Sweet 100 cherry tomato.)
Tom uses tilapia fish in the tanks now, but he is considering experimenting with Kio because they also produce a lot of waste. The tilapia grow from fingerlings to dinner plate size in 7 - 8 months. They cannot sell them retail because they don't have all the necessary papers to meet all the regulations for selling food.
Tom says they have about 25,000 - 30,000 gallons of water on the property. They have 3,000 gallon fish tanks which are gray/black so you can see the color of the fish, either cold water, tropical or salt water; 6,000 gallons of indoor ponds; 10,000 gallons in the retail area and 4,300 gallons for the aquaponics.
At the moment, Blue Acres (formerly Serenity Water Gardens) is only open on Saturday and Sunday since Tom still has a full time job. He is anxious to learn what we would like to see him provide.
We welcome Tom and Bobbi as new TAWGS members.
