I posted a while back about how I often test out ideas to see how they are going to work out. Sometimes it takes a little time to discover what might not work so well. Last spring I tested out kiddie pools as grow beds for my duck-a-ponics system.
Well, I’ve got some results from that test. Keep in mind that these have only been in service for part of a year.
Removed bed
So we emptied the gravel out of the kiddie pool and when we flipped it up, not only was the pallet full of termites but they had eaten through the kiddie pool in a couple of places.
Holes
Now I know that the termites in our part of the country are pretty extreme and have the benefit of year round growing seasons but come on, these beds were only in place a matter of months. So the system with the pallet up on the barrels might last longer but the pallet is going to sag in different ways and the pool will start bowing and overflowing at the unsupported pallet corners.
The kiddie pools may be cheap but is it really a savings if you have to replace them yearly?
Duh, feed the termite’s to the fish….lol
Putting pallets off the ground will help, but use old 4 x 4’s railroad ties as they are pressure treated, and ward of eating type insects.
Right now Wal mart is practically giving away pools of all si es. buy now as I did and save thousands
Well, off the ground might save the pallets a little bit but termites climb, they find climbing up concrete blocks especially easy too and then you need lots of support to keep the pallet from sagging.
I don’t like to use the railroad ties as I don’t want the nasty chemicals leaching into my soil around my animals or my soil food production.
And Being Union, I don’t shop at walmart.
The kiddie pools are so shallow, I don’t find them all that useful for growing much and I was having problems with them over flowing. I like them for duckweed or for placing the worm bin in with water to keep the ants out or as a temporary pool for ducks when we coop them up on occasion but I’m not gonna recommend the kiddie pools to anyone for normal aquaponic purposes, they just are not very sturdy.
Having water next to wood is a sure termite magnet. Your result is certainly proof of that.
I finally retired my kiddie pools–from being growbeds, that is. They did work surprisingly well for the season. Mine just happened to spring a leak by the drainage hole, and I am now repurposing them once again. I want to see how they do as wicking beds.
Yea, it is usually not too big a deal if a wicking bed leaks a little bit.
I still like them for duckweed pools.