Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hows everything coming along kita? Hows the new fishies?

Ill have to come visit when I move over to Byron

Hi Charlie, yes Byron not too far away and welcome to visit anytime.
As for the new fishies the news is all bad unfortunately...... The aerator which is really back up as i am running venturi on my return lines failed, then overnight before i had a chance to replace the aerator one of the pumps failed, it was a hot night and i didn't check them until around 10am only to find them gasping for air on the surface. I got a new pump in within 5 min but they all died bar 3 fish. Lost about 50 inc the new big ones (1 tank only) but all the yabbies survived however they were swimming around.
Very disappointed in myself for not having a backup aerator, not just for the $ lost but also from an ethical point of view.
Besides that set back everything seems to be going well, i am growing the best tomatoes i ever have and still experimenting with other plants. I am getting frustrated with my lettuce varieties as they all seem to be bitter and then seeding??? i have planted, grown and fed back to the jades 6 crops now that were pretty much un edible.

I only grow the Cos, find they handle most things except the really high heat. Then they go to seed.

You definitely need a good backup, storm season has not even started yet.

If it is great tomato weather, lettuce is gonna struggle. Look for heat tolerant varieties. I've managed to grow lettuce through the summer in floating raft beds and towers but they remain rather loose leaf and don't head up at all and you have to harvest them small before they go bitter on you. Tip, if the lettuce is right on that edge where you notice the latex smell as you are picking it, you can sometimes leach away some of the bitterness away by soaking the lettuce in ice cold water right after you pick it. Do the harvesting before the sun hits the plants in the morning during hot weather for the best nutrition and quality. I've had the best luck with red summer crisps here in hot humid Florida USA in the summers, the butter heads were more prone to going splat if they got rained on but otherwise grew all summer too. I use 40% aluminet shade cloth year round in my otherwise out in the open growing area. To grow lettuce through the summer though, I germinate the seed indoors and then put the seedling trays out in flood and drain beds under a roof to keep the rains from smashing them and then they need to be transplanted after only 2-3 weeks MAX and I don't think I've been able to grow most lettuces past about 6 weeks total from seed during summer since they are prone to going bitter, the stems splitting or just going splat overall with our hot/wet summers. DO NOT Expect lettuce to head up well in heat.

Ohh thanks guys, yes pretty much resorted to cos only now but still bitter or seeding, but been hot. Will consider running extra shade over a crop to see if that helps. My deep water system hasn't progressed much as no fish in that side but might make it a priority and get my A into gear.

In the extrem heat we have been having I just leave every thing in to use the nutriants. Once it gets cool I then replant. Not much can be done about it.

Ohh really??? Tomatoes, fennel, asian greens and beans (especially asian snake bean) going well but most others in the Aqua not so well, i thought the heat was good but i guess not. I'm not used to growing this time of year as first season with the green house, without a green house nothing can survive the bugs this time of year lol.
My celery went wild and had to pull it, it turned into a big bush and was going out a control and attracting mites? That was unexpected.
Dirt garden is holding more tomatoes, kael, chard, corn strawberries, more beans and they all going well. Celery, fennel, zuccini, snow peas not going so well. Interesting.
Watermelon going great in the wicking bed, going to knock up a couple more and get the zucchini and cucumbers going in them out side.

Snow peas are another cool weather crop so no shock here that they would be suffering in the heat. Celery and Fennel are also happier in cooler weather.

I've personally never had very good luck with any cucumber family crops in AP (Squash, zucchini, melon, pumpkin, cucumber) except the Lufa. I think mostly because I have always had some trouble with the potassium/calcium balance, a kinda high pH and needed to dose more Iron.

Melon, cucumber, squash, Zucchini, and beans are all warm weather crops.
Here in FL since we don't get much cooling at night through the summer tomatoes usually don't produce for us in summer, just spring/fall.
If you are looking for extremely heat loving crops, you might look to tropicals even.
Sweet Potato
Lufa (careful where you plant it, it could take over and tear down a greenhouse)
Okra
yardlong beans
cow peas or crowder peas (actually beans)
Banana
Papaya (PawPaw)

And I've heard that Tree collards is a prennial that can survive a Las Vegas summer so that might be able to handle heat and cold and survive through I expect it is somewhat dormant through summer.

My Zucchini was doing good until the temperatures went over 40c. Just sucking up nutriants at the moment till
I get more seedlings.

I wonder if Yard beans are same as snake beans?? My Zucchini's are thriving in the dirt (no good in AP) just not holding the fruit, keeps dropping off. I have managed to keep the mildew controllable at the moment but have planted an asian version very tolerant to mildew in the AP which is going gun hoe at the moment and looking promising.
Missed the sweet potato this year, got plans to convert the 15m raised planter box garden where i grow them to a wicking style, then re-plant with sweet potatoes, zucchini's, cucumbers, melons and pumpkins. These grow out side with the bugs ok, and the wiking shall hopefully combat my inability to regularly water them lol.
I do have plans for a PawPaw in a wicking barrel, i am growing partial to them as i get older.

I think you are right
http://www.evergreenseeds.com/asbeanyarbea.html

Yep thats them, are they are awesome, they love the trellis running as high as you dare let them, beans are plentiful and tasy. I am growing them with std climbing beans and flat beans. The mix makes for an easy stir fry bean dinner.

Certain things won't hold the fruit unless they are well fertilized (pollinated) so if growing certain things in a greenhouse you may have to do the honors yourself using one of the male flowers to pollinate the flowers with fruit under them if you want any to mature.

Lol, yes i have been doing the deed with my plants.

I've also noticed that with summer squash and zucchini the first fruit are often hit with blossom end rot and fall off. (most of mine have always grown in soil) this can be due to insufficient calcium getting to the fruit, that doesn't necessarily mean there is insufficient calcium in the soil because it can also happen with super fast plant growth just not letting the plant get enough calcium everywhere it needs to go or if the watering is irregular then root stress searching for moisture can also inhibit calcium uptake in the plant causing the problem. I've never had enough lack of calcium in my AP to experience such problems in the AP but I have had potassium and Iron issues which seem to have kept any squash, zucchini or cucumbers from thriving in my AP at the old house and I haven't tried any yet in the system at the new farm. (Squash and Zucchini take up so much space I'm not sure I'm willing to plant them in the AP since they grow well enough in dirt and wicking beds for me.)

Sometimes a foliar spray that includes calcium can help if applied before Blossom End Rot Shows, once a fruit is showing blossom end rot though you can't save that fruit.