Beautiful (Unconventional) Sandponics System Converted into a Flower Seedling Factory

This is the best Sandponics system we have ever seen. Its been featured before in our KZbin Channel.
Jean, the builder and owner of the system has decided to convert it to a flower seedling production line. This Sandponics system is located at a popular Wedding Venue, in the Cradle of Human King, Johannesburg, South Africa.
The venue has beautiful gardens with many plants and flowers. The flower seedlings grown in the Sandponics system are then transplanted to the gardens,.
Jean has also made a modification to the sand layout. Unlike the traditional Sandponics system where the sand is formed into furrows and ridges, this system has plastic trunking (100mm x 38mm) with holes drilled on the sides and bottom. These are buried in the sand and covered with shade netting to prevent sand getting in. They act as channels for the water to travel through. The water then permeates out the sides and bottom of the channel, saturating the sand with water during the flood session.
The water that is pumped from the fish tank is prefiltered so that solids do not enter the channels.
The system is producing up to 24 000 flower seedlings every month. Not all seedling are grown in the sand. Some seedling are grown in trays with soil. Results so far show that the seedlings grown in the sand, grow a lot faster.
We would like to thank Jean for the opportunity to Film.
Sandponics has given us superior results, so we are looking at growing that option further.
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[@thrillerman2350]

Iam speechless...this is very smart work

[@baharahmadkhan]

Very beautiful sandponic system

[@brrradley1]

Excellent set up and video. How do they transfer the seedling into those trays? Or do they just grow them from seed to flowers in the same spot?

[@MyAquaponics1]

They germinate some of the seeds in the seedling trays which they then transplant to teh sand beds, but some seeds are also germinated directly on the sand beds

[@sandponics]

Apparently, a company in Japan conducted research into the sandponics concept way back in the 1970s and an article was produced describing the results of their research. The paper makes for interesting reading, although the company does not appear to have continued with the project and does not appear to have registered a full patent on the concept. I have linked to the article from my website, although KZbin does not allow the posting of links in comments, so anyone wanting to access that information will need to look for the site URL on my KZbin channel.

[@iAVs-Sandponics]

That is quite different from iAVs, this is the reason why the term 'Sandponics' stopped being used.

[@sandponics]

@@iAVs-Sandponics The Japanese system interests me because it uses less sand and the moisture delivery system may possibly be more efficient (although only experimenting will prove or disprove that), and I am attempting to reduce the cost of installation as much as is possible so that I can then install more beds. I am an aged pensioner and so need to minimise construction costs (plus, I like to tinker).

[@iAVs-Sandponics]

So the trunking is a replacement for the furrows? If so, that's quite impressive, I like it

[@MyAquaponics1]

Yes, that is what Jean did.. Seems to be working pretty well I must say.. Of course there is that added cost.

[@iAVs-Sandponics]

@@MyAquaponics1 Very true, my setup is the same size as yours so finding trunking (or a similar replacement ) for all the furrows will add a few hundred dollars to the build - my furrows kept collapsing in my latest build and I was too short on time to keep maintaining them - did you have any issues like that in the early stages?

[@MyAquaponics1]

​@@iAVs-Sandponics In the first couple of days, yes we had teh sand collapsing. We were too quick to form the sand without first letting it settle. Once we were able to remove all the air pockets within the sand, the sand compacted well and we no longer have that issue.

[@madboxtv6853]

i like it too but then the hole are on the bottom right ? (i think it's obvious but better ask to be sure) I would like to know the deep of the sandbed if it's the same as the setup from sandgardening or sandponics for mc Murtry or gary donaldson. I need to check again how work the flood and drain system. Thx

[@iAVs-Sandponics]

@@madboxtv6853 It's definitely not 30cm, which is the recommended depth for iAVs, but it's not a strict rule; it can be adjusted to suit the plants, we can easily see these are just for seeds/seedlings and thus the sand is quite shallow. Yes the holes are on the bottom, as recommended by Mark and Gary, but also on the sides.

[@Tammy10018]

But won't that wood all rot because of the moisture?

[@henripereira7253]

no, it specially treated wood, will last many many years

[@karimhayes3134]

please describe the sand used ? . grade and names . i have heard some sand is to fine

[@MyAquaponics1]

We used a washed river sand from Gomes Sand in Johannesburg. Coarser that what it should be, but working OK. Ideally sand grain between 0.4-1.5mm is what should be used.

[@iAVs-Sandponics]

@@MyAquaponics1 I'd say the ideal would be .3mm to 1.2mm :) :)

[@sandponics]

@@iAVs-Sandponics I am in Perth Western Australia and am struggling to find bulk washed-river-sand locally, so am looking for possible alternatives. I wanted to try cracker dust with the fines washed out of it, but some cracker dust has lots of very small particles which Dr. Mark McMurty and Gary Donaldson say won't work. Some other cracker dust however has already had the small dust particles washed out of it, but so far I have only found that to be available in 20kg bags.

[@iAVs-Sandponics]

@@sandponicsPilbarra Sands is a major supplier to the concrete industry, and yes, cracker dust is absurd, do not use that at all, ever.

[@sandponics]

@@iAVs-Sandponics But the transport costs of bringing just a few cubic metres of river sand from the Pilbara to Perth would be substantial unless I could perhaps arrange for it to be brought here as backload on an otherwise empty vehicle. Although hold my beer, it may just be possible for a sand supplier to arrange to bring a large load back on an otherwise empty truck or even a road train, and sell me a few cubic metres of that while selling the rest to other people. I will speak to someone in the industry about that proposal next week.