I just was wondering if you could potentially continue to grow oysters in the tumblers instead of switching to the floating bag system?
The tumblers are perfect to out grow oysters from you dock.
Pending on how many oysters you are thinking of growing will depend on the volume of tumblers you will need.
It is very important that the tumblers are placed in a intertidal location.
So the tumblers can rotate with the tide.
The best position for the tumblers would be between the pylons, so when the tide is high the tumblers are approximately 1-2 ft under the water and at low tide the tumblers are out of the water.
This will allow the tumbler to rotate each time the tide comes in and out.
If you have a Floating dock I would recommend using the Floating bag system. Both methods work fantastic.
With the Floating bag method all you need to do is flip one bag on top of the next bag to air dry the oysters for 24 -36 hours each – 2 -4 weeks pending on barnacle growth in your location.
It is very important not to over stock tumblers or floating bags with to many oysters as this will cause growth reductions and in the case of Floating bags the oysters will not dry correctly when fliped on top of the other bag to dry. If not dried correcly you will end up with over catch (barnacles) on the bags and oysters.
so its important not to over stock the tumblers or Floating bags.
We recommend to start with 10mm spat.
Place1-1/2 Quarts of spat in to each tumbler this is around 1800 shell fish
Once the oysters grows out to 6-7 Quarts reduce the volume back to 1-1/2 quarts.
Repeat this process during the growth period of the oysters and you will end up with the best oysters
you will ever see.
The best oyster size for eating in 3′ to 3-1/2″. pending on location this should take 12 – 18 months to grow.