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Just flush them every couple of months. Never had a real problem with buildup in the pvc but we replace the blue tubes periodically.

@@FensterfarmGreenhouse Thank you

Glad to help

We have loved them for the past 10 years. roma and blue lake are our favorites. Thanks for following along Chuck

I have learned more about these monsters lately. They breed in algae so get rid of that and treat the areas with a product called wet n forget. Fog with a product called NoFly weekly for 3 weeks to kill living aphids and weekly to get the ones as they hatch out. Best of luck my friend. Chuck

Do you have a lot of algae in the system and on the greenhouse an floor

I believe that those are root aphids. They breed in and on algae.get rid of the algae then hit the spots where the algae was with a product called wet n forget and fog the greenhouse with a product called NoFly. Fog every 4 days for 2 weeks to kill anything that hatches out. Good luck

Not much algae.But. Lots aphids

@@MikeEdwards-pc4qf Are you using Oasis root cubes? My wife thinks that they 1st came in on those. If you break them apart while the infected plant is growing in it, you can see them inside the cubes. Just curious. If you can move your lettuce before it is 7 weeks old that will also help cut down the population, it seems. In the summer our lettuce grows much faster and I am able to sell it before those @#$@$@# hatch out breaking the gestational cycle. I'm just speculating but this is how we are dealing with them currently. The NoFly and pressure washing helps us a lot. Let me know how it goes for you and send me anything that you try that is effective as well.

Ok thanks I think most of the time they may be coming in by the curtain next to the wall that’s where we see them at first on the return side of the NFT trays

What kind of aphid are you dealing with? The little green aphids of root aphids?

Says who? These aren’t honeybees anyway. They are Mason bees. Honeybees can absolutely pollinate tomato plants.

Lol

yeah. I have several of the actual brand name Bato buckets if I ever do that again. The ones we got rid of were some that I made. I'm excited about the Vidawool slabs. Not sure how it will go yet though. We will learn together my friend. Chuck

So nice of you. Thanks for following us along in this journey

The strawberries are grown in strawberry bato buckets. I get them from CropKing. I have vinyl gutters below the buckets for drainage. I have watched wishwell farms. They have an amazing operation and beautiful tomatoes. He uses both bato buckets and coconut coir slabs to grow tomatoes in. I’ll be using something called vidawool. Stay tuned. Thanks for watching and commenting! Chuck

thanks@@FensterfarmGreenhouse

Thanks WhiskyDog. I know you know what it takes to make a farm productive. Always more to do than we’ll ever get done! Thanks for your kind words my friend! Chuck

A vidawool slab system. If it goes well I am building a 20x100 greenhouse (greenhouse #6) next to #3 that I’ll fill with that system. It looks promising and this is our way of trying something before we invest a lot of money into it. Stay tuned! Thanks for following! Chuck

Thank you!

Jenny, How are you doing young lady? Hope you’re planning on putting some videos out soon. I’ve missed you! Chuck

That all depends on the size of the operation. Overhead can be pricey. Greenhouse and infrastructure are expensive.

It did work and I used several in that tomato house, however I have since converted that greenhouse into another NFT system to grow lettuce and leafy greens. Make sure that if you use the bees that you build a water wall or something to keep the temperature down in there. I lost many of the first batch to the heat in there until I built the water wall. Hope that helps? Chuck

@@FensterfarmGreenhouse a great help, thanks for the reply ❤

That plastic liner lasted about 3 years and was replaced when the greenhouse collapsed in a snow and ice storm. When I rebuilt the greenhouse I changed everything in it to an NFT system instead of floating rafts and Kratky systems. We are a commercial hydroponic farm now so NFT scales better for us. Hope that helps? Chuck

Hmmm… I don’t know. Might be worth a try. I think you’d have to find a way to cover them since they like that in the dirt. If you get too much of the bulb in the water it will rot so be careful with that as well. Let me know how it turns out for you. I’m curious! Chuck

@@FensterfarmGreenhouse Sounds about right. Coco peat to cover the bulb, perhaps, but allowing the roots to extend below it to reach the solution?

Those are huge. Lots of work just putting them up much less maintaining them! Thanks for sharing! Chuck

Doug and Katy are good friends! We do a lot of the same things on our farms. I’ll check out your channel after sending this comment! 😊

I subbed. Would love to see your operation! Chuck and Darlene

dont have a channel, i can remember when i was your age about 30 year ago, still have alot of fun@@FensterfarmGreenhouse

@@billking5407 you must be 90. lol I’m 62.

78 sold most of them 6 years ago wish i hadn't@@FensterfarmGreenhouse

Thank you. It was a really good time! Chuck

Can’t wait

55 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter. Ambient in the summer.

We get different prices for different varieties. We base our prices on current operating costs divided by square footage of growing space and the time each variety spends in that space prior to harvest. That’s the long answer but a typical head of living lettuce is somewhere around $3 and endives are $4. I haven’t raised prices yet but will be reevaluating those operating costs after the first of the year. Hope that helps? Chuck

Thanks Brian. The work has paid off for us! Hope you are well? Chuck

Yep. They are little dinosaurs. Always hungry. I subbed your channel! Chuck

Alumi coops I get them from a Amish company in Kentucky called Kentucky Organic farm and Feed Inc

I’ll try to put something together in a video for you on the process so stay tuned. The secret to getting the seedlings to take off is to get them out from under the lights into whatever sunlight you have available after the 1st week or 2. As long as you are keeping the seedlings above 60 degrees that will change their development cycle into another gear. I bought 10” wide troughs called fodder troughs from cropking that are in my greenhouses and I move them to those after a week or so. Hope that helps?

I built the greenhouse on a slope back to front. The return is 33” off the floor and runs into the reservoir at that height. We only utilize the reservoir at that depth. Hope that helps? Chuck

Thank you so much. Atlas really needed to do something nice for me. Their building instructions were terrible so that series of videos has helped a bunch of their customers

@@FensterfarmGreenhouseoh man I agree. They are the worst! I talked with their CEO about it and he argued that they used to be more descriptive but contractors didn't like it so they edited them. Not even sure what he meant by that but it is what it is. That being said, I do love the greenhouse!

@@restoringedennursery3551 That sounds just like Mark. He’s the master of excuses! Lol

@@FensterfarmGreenhouse ouch! Curious would you buy from them again? If not who is your new supplier for greenhouses?

@@restoringedennursery3551 I love their houses but they are way overpriced. I get everything from a company called Scenic Acres out of Elkton Ky now. Same quality with 20% better pricing across the board. Tell Arron Chuck from Fenster Farm sent you. You might be interested is Deerfield Supplies for everything else farm/ homestead related as well. They are right down the road from them. Chuck

The pads last about 4 years. The first set I bought were used and I kept them for 5 years and they were falling apart. If you notice flaky particles in the reservoir it’s time to replace them. That causes clogging in the distribution system and that’s no good! lol Hope that helps? Chuck

@@FensterfarmGreenhouse thank you for the info.

@@aaronowen4425 look up Farmer Boy inc. that’s where I get them. Hint… look for the closest one to you so you can pick them up. Shipping is outrageous.

I’ve missed you sister. Hope yall are well? Have a blessed Thanksgiving! Chuck

It’s an exhaust high CFM fan to remove heat from the greenhouse. It’s slanted to shed water outside so it keeps the inside of the fan dry in rainy conditions. Hope that helps? Chuck

I used about 1/4 to 1/5 of the medium

Absolutely. I did it this way so I could reach all the plants easily but I lost valuable growing space by doing it. A lot has changed for me since then but this is a great system nonetheless. Thanks for following Chuck

😂❤

Great video! I would love to have an operation like this (even with all the issues).. Glad you’re living the dream!

Thank you, Randy! Same to you buddy! Chuck

They hold us hostage!! 😂😂😂 (just kidding)

Thanks, doesn’t look like we’re going to be able to slow down anytime soon. Great to see you. Chuck and Darlene

Thanks

Thank you! Chuck

Thank you so much Chuck