Beat The Freeze: Mastering Aquaponics In A Frosty Climate!

[@stevegodley8744]

Thank you so much for posting this! I will be contacting Dan, as I have been designing and building greenhouses and growing systems for almost 40 years and am fascinated with what I've seen in this video. Curtis, I know you are not an aquaponics guy yourself, so I'm very grateful that you took the time and effort to bring this to us. MORE, MORE, MORE!!

[@husseinhamed4629]

Hellow Steve, it was amazing to watch this, do you do you advice to start in a commercial scale or domestic ?

[@TruLuvMerch]

Steve how did you get into that business.

[@ds755]

Wow! The longer the video went on the more and more impressed. The cooling was intriguing, would love to learn more.

[@simonrelic8402]

How did I miss this video 5 years ago. Spectacular. I’ve run misters for cooling my greenhouses but the curtain idea is absolutely the way to go. Misting isn’t as efficient and I lose the water.

[@themonkeydrunken]

Minor detail: 26:26 Swamp coolers absolutely CAN go well below the ambient air temperature. They operate on the same basic principle as this implementation (which looks awesome, by the way). This is fascinating and I'd love to see more, Curtis! Thanks for posting!

[@gotcha9934]

themonkeydrunken According to you you which one is the most effective ?

[@HomeSmartPasadena]

Misting into a high column of dry air will moisten and cool the air making it more dense. So the air falls. This provides a natural circulation without a fan. He is using a clear tarp to direct this cooled air to fall at the sides, and be carried across his crops with the incoming outdoor (makeup) air to the center of the room for lift (due to heating) and some extraction at the ridge turbines. So not using a fan to circulate (as with a swamp cooler) saves a bit of electricity. Perhaps a 250 watt fan in a swamp cooler. So $1 per day per unit. One could use a swamp cooler frame at the window inlet without the fan. Allow the negative pressure (from ridge turbine) to pull in the swamp cooled air. Mist emitters require a low volume, high pressure pump (costly) and are prone to clogging. The swamp cooler frames use a low pressure pump that is cheaper and all is at ground level to service... Who wants to build one of each to test?

[@canadasmartmind]

Very good explanation! If you could keep posting. That would be awesome.

[@earledmondson6506]

The greenhouses seem to be great for the cold climates but I'm in North Florida and am really interested in that misting cooling system since I am running a small aquaponics system myself. I do not have a greenhouse mainly because it just gets and stays too hot here. One thing I love about aquaponics is that the cool water being constantly pumped onto the roots of the plants keeps them cooler so I can grow lettuces and things longer before they bolt and I also have same benefits in winter since I have heaters in the fish tank I get warm water pumped onto my peppers and can keep them growing all winter. I run the aquaponics system as well as 50' grow beds and am selling to a couple restaurants so thanks again Curtis for all your inspiration you have really helped me get going and I am getting lots of value from the From the Field subscription site. Thank you.

[@davelawson2564]

No need for greenhouse. Just use shadecloth to keep plant cool and thrive in hot conditions

[@Sintaqxikal]

Fantastic greenhouse system. I've plans to build a year-round greenhouse (aquaponics, water as a thermal mass, rammed earth & bermed northern walls, wide-area evaporative cooling, chimney effect, geothermal piping, interior thermal blanket, off-grid utilities), in the NE Washington scablands in the next couple of years, so it's great to see so many of the elements I want to incorporate in action in a cold climate. The biggest issue I'm working through is how to handle fungal and vermin infestations in such a greenhouse.

[@matprather5833]

There is so much he is doing that I haven't seen before in a greenhouse. I would love to see more.

[@ChristopherBrandsdal]

This was extremely interesting! I could listen to Dan for hours! More of this! I love the length of the video also. A good long cup of coffee.

[@donk.5730]

Now finally going over your videos. Fantastic, well done Curtis- excellent format, well organized to learn. You're a natural ! Just eating up these videos ! I'll bet your courses are fantastic, packed with useful info. Your interview with Donny Greens was so interesting . Thank you, Cheers,...

[@MOOSEHEADstadia2024]

Great video. Curtis - I wanted to let you know that your latest “From the Field” content has been truly useful for a small market farmer like me. Glad I got in at the front end!

[@Robc509]

Super interesting, great idea and would love to see more!

[@tencyross3156]

Oh my gosh! I work at a aquaponic greenhouse a few days a week and this one is amazing! I feel like I have so much I could learn from this guy!!! Thank you!

[@kclewis8360]

This is awesome. I am going to start my own business The Light Greenhouse and in June will sell my local farmers market while doing some market research. This has given me an idea to talk to my store director on putting a greenhouse on my grocery store and or buying commercial land in the future. Where I would put a greenhouse on top of an existing building. Yes, I would love to see more.

[@farmman6379]

Long time viewer first time commenting. This was an excellent format. Fresh new content, great job allowing room for explanation of a brilliant system and its development. I'm implementing the hot season aspects asap. Curtis, well done and thanks.

[@chynesteban3309]

Very good video. This information is very important to me. I want to do traditional farming, but I want to do Aquaponic farming. If we go back over 2000, The Aztecs used something called Chinampas. The type that got my attention is the floating artificial island. They used to grow vegetables, and the used to move the islands to any place they needed. The soil of the island and the water enriched with the nutrients of the fish waste; make possible for them to grow enough food for millions of people.

[@wraphand]

Beautiful green house, thanks for the tour.

[@broadmanknives8663]

Really enjoyed this video. Extremely interesting to a perspective green house buyer. Loved the idea of putting it on a store/warehouse roof.

[@styxstones5112]

Yes. More. Please

[@JasonRenoux]

Great to see research is still going strong in this field of urban ag. I have studied and worked in aquaponics. Although I firmly believe that it is a great method to grow very tasty and nutrient-rich produce, the cost of production is an important factor to take in consideration well before planting the first seed. Market research has to be done accordingly, especially as mentioned, to avoid entering an already saturated market. If labor is still the primary cost of operation, think about the aquaculture side of an aquaponics operation... Growing fish is costly. Keep these videos coming Curtis.

[@nigelmoore7890]

Very well done Curtis, well captured. This is without a doubt the type of information we should be publishing to help the world.

[@jessobsteffen5291]

Absolutely fascinating, glad to see someone is pulling ideas together for many people that have found elegant solutions. Woul Love love love to See more!

[@moehawkmann4521]

Wow! Absolutely fascinating! My mind is blown.

[@annonymous9063]

OMG! My brain is so fired up. This is huge! This will solve so many problems. I think I just found the subject of my thesis. God bless!

[@WilliamAudette]

Curtis, I've always enjoyed the long form videos you produce. When the content is great, like this, I enjoy them even more. Exploring and sharing in your continued development within new Context(s) is valuable and enjoyable for me as well. While much of these concepts were not new to me, the insight used, application, reapplication, evidence based research, curiosity, and perhaps general play was fun and something I likely would not have ever found I'm my own. Thanks for staying curious and humble creating content, sharing and releasing context, and sharing your explorations. I look forward to a Part 2! Constructively... would have loved it if you both would have been microphoned. This is the type of information and exploration I myself enjoy. Thank you.

[@todcrandall413]

Thank you for the video, love to see more !!

[@markberg7292]

Amazing, one of the most riveting youtube vids I've seen in a long time. I need one of these greenhouses, more vids please.

[@mili4344]

Omg sprung were in Newfoundland here 30 years ago doing this. Flopped. Just grew cucumber. Now it would work if variety diversified

[@619caliman]

I was thinking about this over my trailer for a couple seasons. I actually saw a home built in a hanger. Like the formality of the cooling system.

[@anlowman9228]

I really loved this. I want to see more videos like this. Like you said, super knowledge and they are doing some really cool things with aquaponics and specifically greenhouses.

[@mattoja8857]

Super informative as always. More info on the mist/evaporative cooling system would be awesome

[@Blu3duk]

This is outstanding, I looked into aquaponics years ago, and it was just to expensive for the shoulder months for the overall costs, this looks doable. Would love to see/hear more on what is being tested !!

[@joshsimpson10]

Curtis I live a mile away from the state of Texas fish hatchery and get fish emulsion for my farm for free. Everytime I go I think about the necessity of aquaponics

[@MrTerrym1964]

Another great informative video! Looking forward to more greenhouse tours. Huge thumbs up Curtis!

[@jlgibbens89]

Amazing! More please!!!

[@jeffdible8171]

This seems to solve a lot of my gaps in aquaponics growing. Putting it on top of a pre existing commercial building seems like an excellent idea and may also decrease efficiency in the building itself. All that extra heat on a sunny winter day pumped into the lower building? Fabulous! My experience and mindset on deep raft aquaonics is changing. Maybe NFT or aeroponics is the way to go. More of this Curtis. Building living grocery stores where the market is might be a game changer.

[@SudhirBaujee]

Hay! Jeff. I just watched this video. Two years later, from the date of posting this video, where are we in this matter now? I live in Saskatchewan, Saskatoon and have been willing to have one for myself. Hobbysake.

[@martinbowers6852]

This is amazing. I really like how simple the solutions and cost effectiveness of the methods presented.

[@paulp.l.4869]

That last part about cooling was amazing.

[@aquahydroman7623]

Interesting weight variables to be takem into consideration. Thanks

[@brentlichfield4405]

Awsome Curtis now can ARK develop it to be used by urban home food production? Small little greenhouse10 by 12 or lean-to kit, or so, or on a patio or deck? Just wondering?

[@dancloutier1616]

Yes www.arkltd.net

[@nicolaiitchenko7610]

Look forward to part two of this...

[@Itsallmeagain]

Very interesting, thank you for sharing

[@VastCNC]

Awesome stuff. I just wish I could afford to spring for a sprung! I hope these systems become available for other structures, but the sprung framing geometry makes it possible for much of these systems. How to integrate trellising though, that's another story.

[@JoshuaRosaaen]

What fantastic insights here...please share this kind of nerdy detail with the world and make this kind of design common. Thank you.

[@leahlongworth9780]

This was great information! I am located in Sudbury, Ontario and this could definitely be implemented. Would love to see more of the trout production.

[@seek2find]

More more more please!!!!! Fantastic!

[@TheCory888]

That was a really awesome operation and by the sounds of it, highly efficient.

[@kevinchudy4731]

YES, more please.

[@ilpman1]

Have to hear more from dan the man! I love the set up he has going there.

[@johngagne33]

Really good information. Would like to hear the long version

[@tweetcrafts6077]

Good stuff, Curtis! Thanks for sharing!

[@toddratson7526]

Really interesting - I wondered about the intro until my mind was blown. Thanks for sharing.

[@rhondamontiel3827]

So incredibly awesome!

[@KevinBaier6969]

I’m running a rdwc top feed 100 bucket system in Sask

[@dscccr]

Yeah this seems like a very cool system! Thanks, and would love to see more!

[@jleunen]

I love this and would like to see more.

[@bonniehoke-scedrov4906]

Thank you so much for this informative video! I got so much out of it.

[@dewuknowofHyMn]

Wayyyyyyy coil... I greenhouse too....love to do it....mine are only 8 X 28 though....would love to have one that big......keep up the wonderful videos....

[@harc3524]

Wow! That is very cool. Would love to hear more from him.

[@TheRoon4660]

Great. Let's see more.

[@GarryQuast]

Wow amazing stuff! Thankyou for showing this would love to know more about this passive heating & cooling methods in greenhouses. Close to starting my own Aquaponics venture here in Australia. Wondering if I connect with anyone over there to get more hints & tips. Cheers

[@ivanpap634]

Great ideas!

[@bryanst.martin7134]

Quite impressive!

[@danweddle4044]

Tons of good info in this one. I'm looking forward to the From the field content.

[@mkuc6951]

Super interesting. I like the mylar sheet. Where can I get a better picture of the way the misting / cooling system works ?

[@robertguay3773]

Sprung is such an amazing company.

[@muscadinesandmore2483]

Great, love to see more

[@timberrecycling]

this was fantastic thanks for sharing

[@ratraceremedy9977]

Awesome information. Would like to see more.

[@carriesuegeorge403]

Great job

[@LiLi0881]

LOVE IT!!! PLEASE POST MORE VIDEOS

[@SacredHabitats]

Yes, would like more. Thanks!

[@Johnny_Bravo5]

This is f**ing awesome.

[@Johnny_Bravo5]

The longer I listened the more captivated I became.

[@cwlbroeders]

Abolutely awesome!

[@fr1day1700]

The ultimate question, how much is the break even point of all of those equipment? From what I have read so far, aquaponics is hard to be commercially feasible because nobody want to answer question of what is your ROI.

[@dancloutier1616]

Lots of variables as you can appreciate but typically pencils out to about a 4-5 year simple payback. Produce remains where most of the revenues are.

[@fr1day1700]

@@dancloutier1616 I know it may be hard to do, but can you break that ROI down? Initial cost for the setup you have + utility bill over 5 years, compare to your best crop (highest profit, specify if you can) yields in $/year. I have read a lot of post of failed aquaponics, I think most fail due to scale and density of crop in a given space (you can only pack so much plant on square meter). Sorry if I come off as a pessimist, but I'm an engineer, I am trained to question how things work. I do really really love the concept of aquaponics, I just havent found a feasible small scale commercial model of it. And oh, I go by Custis's model of commercial = enough $ to support a family.

[@offgridcurtisstone]

Maybe that's a subject for the next video I do with Dan. ;)

[@mar1video]

Wow ! Phenomenal concept !

[@alcast4774]

Very interesting.

[@ToNe-1733]

Let's see more!

[@TheronS]

This is awesome and I live in Alberta. Didn’t know we were doing this.

[@dobeeeeval]

I don't see the rest of this interview anywhere on your FromTheField website. Was it ever uploaded anywhere?

[@jlmahurin4962]

love to see more

[@arbeauacres-farm]

Great video! Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to seeing more of this on from the field

[@wpchastain]

Very good video, would like to see more as well.

[@jamessorensen7277]

Just WOW! Love so much about this post!

[@MarkShepard]

OMG! This was fabulous! More Please! And thank you!!!!1

[@benparkinson8314]

Very interesting tech...

[@jerrysaintvil9680]

Man this is good stuff. Thank you for the content and information.

[@maryhornbostel6959]

Super! Cooling with plastic sheet, misters, pump, hose and tank. How well would it work in Kansas? We get 90 to 110°F days with 70 to 90% humidity.

[@machinist7230]

Since it uses evaporative cooling like a swamp cooler, I think it wouldn't be that effective - that kind of cooling technology works best in dry climates, remember, he said summers in Calgary, they got only 30% humidity.

[@dancloutier1616]

90% humidity days about 3.4°F to 70% humidity 22°F

[@dancloutier1616]

@@machinist7230 High humidity does reduce effect without doubt but the system has been tested in the high humidity and summer heat of Montreal and the numbers I post below apply.

[@anthonyc362]

This was great. I would love more info and videos if you are so inclined.

[@neilcalliou896]

Awesome vid!

[@bmelloyello]

I'm suprised he isn't doing any work with geothermal for temperature regulation. I'm hoping to start a homestead soon (I have to stay local unfortunatly so I'm limited on land selection) and I'm hoping to build a massive greenhouse with geothermal heating and cooling and aquaponics for nutrients and a thermal mass, and build a massive solar array and energy storage to automate as much as possible.

[@ApexStreet]

awesome thanks for sharing!

[@jtothefx]

That’s impressive.

[@crownclearwater3152]

Great operation. I am from the great Northeast myself. Very interested in getting more information regarding Dan’s greenhouse.

[@SugarCreekOffGrid]

More PLEASE!!!!

[@virginiabrown3530]

VERY interested in doing this with my son & his wife and hopefully with my other kids that live close!

[@raykewin3608]

Good stuff, lets see more.

[@MrCladowicz]

Amazing stuff hopefully one day I can do a smaller scale.

[@hivolco151]

Mind blown!!!

[@AaronRobertson]

Great video. I moved to a cold climate 4 season area and was wondering if I could make a greenhouse work year round and always into aquaponics.