What are good food crops that can be grown in a greenhouse irrigated by greywater

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Hi all again
An earlier post about greywater usage got me thinking about maybe I could do the same in Lil' Stumptown (aka homestead) and use the greywater from my washing machine, bathtub and bathroom sink to irrigate a small (14'x25') greenhouse with the plants being grown in sand beds with very little to no soil in it (like hydroponics) and then using the drain water that percolated through the beds to flush the toilets.
It'd be nice to have fresh veggies and it would really reduce the load on the septic tank by keeping the clothing lint and all the hair I shed (Im kinda fuzzy) out of it. It'd also reduce the amount of power I have to generate to pump water from the well just to flush it down the toilet, we tend to flush a lot around here.

The plumbing and mechanics are pretty straightforward, Im planning to build it out of 2x2 pressure treated yellow pine and use the exterior grade shrinkable window insulation film that 3M makes on the outside and the interior grade on the inside (the film costs far less than glass or even polycarbonate panes)

At any rate, I have no clue on what crops would do well in a greenhouse like that and I would really appreciate hearing your expert opinions

Thanks in advance

Dave



-- Dave (AK) (daveh@ecosse.net), June 22, 2000

Answers

Hi Dave, I don't really mean to jump into your business but you do ask questions in areas I am interested. The gray water alone would not do for hydroponics. Not enough nutrients. Just for consideration, if you have a source. Run the gray water into a tank laced with manures and or compost, then into the hydroponic's then into storage tank for flushing. Will make a mess for flushing, so I would divert one half for flushing, one half for greenhouse.

Now what plants, any stalk veggie bearing plant. That is to say, if the fruit is not part of the root system, as in Irish potatos or radishes, then you can do it. The larger plants, tomatos, lettuce, beans, peas, cukes, any viney type, not squash due to largeness of plant, strawberries are good. You might want to try bush bean type followed by pole. Corn is not practical, at least from the experts I have read.

Remember to freshen your Texas Tea often as the nutrients leach out rather quickly. Save the salvaged solids from this to add to your compost. Never put tomato or potato stalks/vines in compost.

Hope this helps, and btw, I am not through with the structure idea either.

-- JerryR(La.) (jwr98@hotmail.com), June 23, 2000.

Oh hey thats weird, you're post is in blue, must have been left over from when I signed my name in blue, this post should be back in black.

Hey thanks! You're not getting in my business at all! In fact I really appreciate you taking the time to answer. I've got zero experience or knowledge with growing things so I have to ask the questions, even if I do feel like a dummy when I do it, Im a pretty good carpenter, cabinetmaker and interior finisher, but building shells that arent the usual "stick built" I dont have any experiance with so the more people talk to me the more I learn!

Your answer below is going to help me a LOT, I was wondering if the water would have all the necessary nutrients but didnt think so, now I know, and can solve it (which I didnt before)

Believe me anybody who answers any of my posts I really appreciate, even if I dont like the answers or somebody tells me "nope, that was a dumb one". I figure I've only got one millionth of the accumulated experience and know-how of the people on this forum and Im not (quite) enough of an egomaniac to think I allready know it all. So by all means, keep answering.

Thanks again!
Dave

-- Dave (AK) (daveh@ecosse.net), June 23, 2000.

Dave, Couldn't resist jumping in on this post. We have used both manure tea and greywater on our place for nearly 16 years now and think that both are great. Only problem is that our house was designed from the get-go for composting toilets and greywater and the health department people wouldn't let us run the greywater anywhere near an edible crop. Seems there are alot of human pathenogens in shower water. Anyway, we use the greywater to irrigate our lawn and foliage and the manure tea from the rabbitry and henhouse to feed the garden and orchard. Hope this helps, John and Pat

-- John and Pat James (jjames@n-jcenter.com), June 28, 2000.
Thanks! I imagine that as long as I keep away from below-ground crops and distribute the greywater through pipes buried a couple of inches below the soil I should be okay, Im thinking I could put the fertilizer inside a knotted panyhose leg and put that inside the surge tank I could get the nutrients to the plants without having to worry about solids clogging up the holes in the pipes.

Dave

-- Dave (AK) (daveh@ecosse.net), June 28, 2000.

Dave, for some excellent background on greywater, check out www.greywater.com.

-- Jd (belanger@tds.net), June 28, 2000.
Hi, we run our shower and washing machine water to our banana plants,they love it and I love the bananas that grow on them. Daryll

-- Daryll (twincrk@hotmail.com), June 28, 2000.
By the way, Dave, if you use pressure treated lumber for your greenhouse, don't use it in contact with soil or growing medium. I've seen good evidence that arsenic & heavy metals are leached into soil and taken up by plants. I think you'll see industry & other "experts" admitting to this and warning against it soon.

-- Sam in W.Va. (snorris@dnr.state.wv.us), June 29, 2000.
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