Beemats allows you to create floating wetlands of hydroponic plants
Beemats allows you to create floating wetlands of hydroponic plants
24 comments
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This might be what I need at camp to pull the excess nutrients out of the swamp, and provide for a garden the critters won't tear up.
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Would be probably difficult to access food plants on these, no?
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Not really, assuming the water isn't that deep you could wade out and harvest that way. Plenty of food plants are grown and harvested in water like this.
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You can attach a rope that's tethered to shore and pull on it when you'd like to harvest.
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Some areas are trying to be self-funding by growing flowers, so it cleans up the water and also earns money.
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These are all designed to be harvested to stop the nutrients re-entering the water.
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Yes, but to "harvest" such plants they just need to pull them out of the water and compost them somewhere. Not quite the same as harvesting some actual food product.
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Living in an agricultural community where several of the ranches and farms have artificial ponds, I almost wonder how well this would work there. Extra plants and harvest but also the shade created by the plants in theory may help combat some of the evaporation.
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Complex topic, but in most circumstances the plants on the water will increase evaporation.
What helps is taller plants on the side of a pond that form a windbreak, as evaporation is stongly influenced by that.
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Hmm, alright then. I did not actually know that, thank you!
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Forever chemicals?
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That reminds me of Chinmapa from Mexico! A chinampa is a floating garden built on a freshwater lake, made by making a raft of woven reeds, with stakes to keep it in place. Soil was placed down until it was above the waters surface.
This system eliminates the need for watering, and was successful in growing maize, fruit, tomatoes, amaranth, beans, chile, and flowers.
If anyone wants to learn more, there is a good video here: https://youtu.be/HJiTRh4EeTs
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Neo-chinampas
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