Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

My system has been attracting local wildlife - probably due to the large volume of water and open pond system.
These are fasinating to watch. There is a large Sand Goanna (at least 1.5 meters long) living underneath one of the growthbeds. Unfortuanetly he (or maybe she?) is really photoshy. Its just a matter of time before i'll get the photo.

Here are some of the locals..

This year, i am having better success in the battle between me and Mediterranean fruitfly. I have placed medfly baits all over and also have been covering some of the ripening fruit with nets.

Unfortunately i had an outbreak of "peach leave curl" which is caused by a fungi and i had to resort to spraying with a copper spray.

here is a few photos of the trees.

Looking good Gabe.

Awesome Gabe love the pics hope the drive way is coming along

A few more pictures

The corn starting to look great. i plant four seeds every week. This is sufficient for our needs.

and the silver beet is auditioning for "Jack and the beet stalk!"

Lastly - a picture of sunset at the end of a 38C day in Perth

How do you keep the kookies outa that pond?

WOW!! What an Amazing setup!! As well as an amazing place you have there Gabe!! True inspiration!

Hi Gabe, impressive setup.

re the fruit fly, you might like to try applying some yellow electrical tape around the stems of your fruit trees coated in codling moth glue (can get tubs from Bunnings). The fruit fly are attracted to the yellow and when they land they get stuck. Won't get them all but it's surprising how many bugs it does catch! You can also coat other yellow items in the glue; for instance try hanging some of the bright yellow star-picket safety caps on the tree.

I use Cera Traps to catch Qld Fruit Fly and stop them stinging my organically grown cherries and apricots here, and they do a very good job. The attractant was developed in Spain for the Med Fruit Fly, although we don't have it here (yet). The Cera Traps catch many thousands of QFF each year (I have about 50 traps around the place), vastly more than any of the other traps we have used in the past.

Yep.. the Cera traps are great...

So good to see your system gabe, it's just what I'm after. I studied organic farming and the only advice I got regarding fruit fly was don't grow any fruit after Xmas or use physical barriers, they are the only real viable options.

I'm having dramas growing avocado here, I've tried and failed too many times. Might give it one more attempt and use my AP water to irrigate it (via watering can) and see how I go. Thanks for the tip!

I love the half barrel idea for the dwarf fruit trees.

Hi

Thanks for the nice compliments!

A quick update - i suddenly developed a case of iron deficiency! My ph tends to go up in summer (around 7 at the moment) but i suspect the real reason is the fishfood i am currently using. The Pondmax seems to be nutrient (incl Iron) poor.

In any case - have added a few scoops of chelated iron and will go buy the normal mix tomorrow.

The corn has suffered the most with some leaves actually dying.


My new beehive is about 20 meters from my growbeds. In the current heat in Perth, there is always about 20+ bees during the day at one of my water outlets! Hope they spend some time pollinating the tomatoes!

Your pH goes up in summer???

With increased feeding.. and nitrification.. it should be constantly going down...

Hi Rupert
Perhaps i should rephrase that - my Ph is higher in summer than winter.

Ph in summer is 5.5-6 and needs constant buffering with lime.
In summer its around 7-7.5 and needs less/no buffering.

This is the systems third summer and the trend is always the same.