Vermiponics - demonstration bed

I'm excited to test out a new way of gardening this summer - vermiponics.

Vermiponics is an adaptation of aquaponics/hydroponics, allowing grow of plants in a media filled bed that fills and empties of a nutrient solution in continuous cycles.

Instead of adding hydroponic formulated nutrients or pumping water from a fish tank to provide the fertilizer for plant growth, vermiponics is designed to have a large colony of worms living in the grow bed with the plants, consuming waste material and producing the water soluble fertilizer.

This thread will document the construction and operation of a small demonstration bed. I hope to build larger beds in the future if this system is successful.

Starting the bed: the base layer is build from concrete blocks stacked 2 high and with a pair of 18 gal totes for the water reservoirs that will be underneath the grow bed.

The totes were filled with water and connected by a 1" internal diameter flexible corrugated hose. The hose was filled with water to allow both totes to remain at the same water level, transferring water back and forth via siphon as the water level changes.

Once the blocks were level, 2 old sheets of plexiglass (approx 1/8" thick each) were placed on top of the base layer and another set of blocks placed on top to frame the bed. The full size of the bed (including blocks) is ~ 4' x 6'. I added a couple of 4x4 wooden post lengths to help support the plexiglass under the gaps on the ends of the beds.

A hole was cut in the plexiglass (~7/8") for the drain at the far end of the bed. A piece of old EPDM rubber pond liner was placed on top of the bed frame and the corners tucked in. A hole was cut in the plexiglass (~3/4") for the inlet hose. An aquarium pump (OASE Indoor Aquatics OptiMax 135I) was placed into the tote of water at the near end of the bed, and an attached piece of 1/2" tubing was run up through the plexiglass inside the block cavity, emerging through a slit in the pond liner. A piece of 3/4" PVC pipe (~12" long) was inserted through the liner, down through the drain hole in the plexiglass at the far end of the bed.

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Vermiponics - demonstration bed