DeepBass9 Posted September 28, 2016 Author Share Posted September 28, 2016 Mine works of a permaculture type of system though, with animals in the loop so the soil is well fertilised (took years to get it that way mind you). Here are my bokkies eating off the remains of the autumn crop. I feed them lucerne and grass bales on that same patch over winter, and then plant the seedlings into the fertilised mulch (they spit out the stalks they don't like). You see that pic above of the lettuces is similar. Thick straw mulch = no weeding or digging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverNodashi Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 2 minutes ago, The Terrible Triplett said: I don't agree with you disagreeing. DB is right. Just last weekend we chatted to a small business that sells parts and all for growing stuff with no soil. She said same as what DB said. We ran an experiment for 2 years. My soil based plants did't grow as well or as quick as the hydroponics and aquaponics did. My plants picked up a sickness and I had to replace the soil. And the aquaponics setup could control the temperature much better since the tanks have heaters in. So I lost some plants in winter by my brother-in-law didn't Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverNodashi Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 Just now, cvzyl said: But in data centre terms 20mb is nothing. Reasonable sized sites should pull that link down (web server) and data centres for storage of files will be even worse. Unfortunately connectivity in SA is real shit, that is why data and web servers are normally located in the US, Europe, Eastern Europe. Cheap and fast connections. 20Mb is still a lot, on a backhaul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverNodashi Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 Just now, DeepBass9 said: Mine works of a permaculture type of system though, with animals in the loop so the soil is well fertilised (took years to get it that way mind you). Here are my bokkies eating off the remains of the autumn crop. I feed them lucerne and grass bales on that same patch over winter, and then plant the seedlings into the fertilised mulch (they spit out the stalks they don't like). You see that pic above of the lettuces is similar. Thick straw mulch = no weeding or digging. I don't have that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeepBass9 Posted September 28, 2016 Author Share Posted September 28, 2016 If you can get a free source of anything organic, even your lawn clippings, newspaper, sawdust you can use that method : https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/diy-instructions/no-dig-gardening/ There's even a thing called humanure if you have a strong stomach.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverNodashi Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 Just now, The Terrible Triplett said: I know. Question was asked to put it in perspective. Ok, so I ran a project for a friend, who had to build a small (11sqm) DC as part of their security project. Project budget was 2bar. 1.2 of that was for security infrastructure. Our part of the DC, without the network feed, servers and walls+ceilings was R 167,456.82 in December. Another contractor build the fireproof room so I'm not sure what the 4-layer fireproof walls and ceiling cost. We did the raised floor, aircon, racks, fire suppression and electrical + network points inside the server room. The client already had servers, some of them cost about R20k, some of the NAS's probably R200K. I know the CCTV DVR was R140K. They have a 100GB fibre link, and I have no idea what it cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverNodashi Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 2 minutes ago, DeepBass9 said: If you can get a free source of anything organic, even your lawn clippings, newspaper, sawdust you can use that method : https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/diy-instructions/no-dig-gardening/ There's even a thing called humanure if you have a strong stomach.... I did that in my greenhouse, but I had about 400 sand bags with plants in, so I couldn't keep up with natural compost methods, and had to supplement with hydroponic food. And this is where the full-on hydropinics and aquaponics won hands down. the whole system was a "closed loop system" so the plants got more food constantly, instead of mine which ran on timers every few hours of the day. And I used a BOAT load of water. No well or borehole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanghailoz Posted October 27, 2016 Share Posted October 27, 2016 How about making ice? Or providing deep freeze facilities. I've toyed with making ice with my excess solar.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeepBass9 Posted October 27, 2016 Author Share Posted October 27, 2016 Hmmm or ice cream! ibiza 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndewJ Posted October 27, 2016 Share Posted October 27, 2016 4 hours ago, shanghailoz said: How about making ice? Or providing deep freeze facilities. I've toyed with making ice with my excess solar.. This is a good idea but then you need to pay Eskom at night to keep the ice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanghailoz Posted October 28, 2016 Share Posted October 28, 2016 21 hours ago, AndewJ said: This is a good idea but then you need to pay Eskom at night to keep the ice. Why? Insulation will work fine for evenings or overnight. Heres an example of an AC done that way using ICE for storage of that free excess daytime power - https://www.ice-energy.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndewJ Posted October 28, 2016 Share Posted October 28, 2016 4 hours ago, shanghailoz said: Why? Insulation will work fine for evenings or overnight. Heres an example of an AC done that way using ICE for storage of that free excess daytime power - https://www.ice-energy.com Very interesting indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverNodashi Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 so, @DeepBass9 what other ideas did you come up, to use all this excess solar energy? I wish I could sell some of it, even if just to my neighbors! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeepBass9 Posted October 31, 2016 Author Share Posted October 31, 2016 No idea. I would be pumping water flat out if I could, but my borehole is very low with the drought. Basically my batteries float from just after 1-2pm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverNodashi Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 5 minutes ago, DeepBass9 said: No idea. I would be pumping water flat out if I could, but my borehole is very low with the drought. Basically my batteries float from just after 1-2pm. I don't have a borehole, but would have done that as well. Interestingly, on the farm, the borehole pump runs on 16x 200W panels and it used to pump 20Kl within 3-4 hours. Now it runs 3 days to fill the same tank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Hobson Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 6 minutes ago, SilverNodashi said: ........, the borehole pump runs on 16x 200W panels and it used to pump 20Kl within 3-4 hours. Now it runs 3 days to fill the same tank! Careful of running a pump so that it beats the water. Depending on its construction it can snap a shaft as it operates alternately between load and then no load. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeepBass9 Posted October 31, 2016 Author Share Posted October 31, 2016 2 hours ago, SilverNodashi said: so, @DeepBass9 what other ideas did you come up, to use all this excess solar energy? I wish I could sell some of it, even if just to my neighbors! Ssssh you can, just don't tell anyone! ibiza 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverNodashi Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 1 hour ago, Chris Hobson said: Careful of running a pump so that it beats the water. Depending on its construction it can snap a shaft as it operates alternately between load and then no load. the pump controller has some fancy sensors in for this purpose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidewinder Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 The splines of my 3ph 1hp motor went after around 4 years. Is this normal? Was using the pump 2 - 3 times a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Hobson Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 1 hour ago, Sidewinder said: The splines of my 3ph 1hp motor went after around 4 years. Is this normal? Was using the pump 2 - 3 times a week. I would expect it to last longer than that. With submersibles that are installed at a shallow depth (<30m) It is a good idea to throttle them back by about 10% so that there is a bit of back pressure. Over 30m the water column does the job. I have modified a motor's worn spline into a hexagon and then machined the ferule to fit and added a grub screw. It not something I would normally do but both the pump and motor were well used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Energy-Jason Posted October 1, 2018 Share Posted October 1, 2018 On 2016/09/28 at 3:05 PM, DeepBass9 said: Done and done. I have Tilapia in a pond in my greenhouse. Hang on, I'll take a pic.... I use the tunnel to make seedlings which are then planted out, either under shade net or in the field depending on the plant. I have lots of lettuces currently. The fish dam is there for thermal mass to stop the plants frosting in winter and to keep the fish warm. We harvest the fish from time to time, usually at the end of summer when they are nice and big. That little one in the pic is the dumbest fish in the damn as he was the only one caught. Still small, about 250-300g. We kept some big ones from last season so I hope to have some 1kg+ fish by autumn. With the new laws in place. I looked twice at this picture. :))) Antony, ___ and Chris Hobson 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.