Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

My nitrates are still 0 and I'm thinking of pulling out my tomatoes cause they have heaps of growth but not much fruit. I've been adding potassium as KOH and as Potassium phosphate as I was getting small fruit. Still hasn't helped. No matter how much potassium I add it all disappears within one week. I didn't get one capsicum or eggplant, got basil coming out of my whatsit tho. Next summer I will plant 2 of each veg. That's my plan.

My celery grew short, green, difficult to cut and quite bitter. Not all of it was in full sun. Is this a lack of nitrate making the cell size small I wonder? Or is it lack of potassium (potash sweetens?)

Not all my last lot of celery in spring was in full sun, but it all grew to about the same large size, and was quite juicy and delicious. I have some more in now, which is mostly around 15-20cm high... and it needs restraining to a more vertical orientation, so that it doesn't cover huge areas of the GBs like last time!
My Nitrates have been on the high side most of the time, and I kept up the K with KOH, but I did see a bit of P deficiency in the purple leaves of some of the tomato plants in the past couple of months, although the newer leaves on the re-shooting plants are a nice dark green. P from the last addition of Blood and Bone fixed that I think.

I'll have to check my Nitrates, something I haven't done in a while, as my new brocolli, cauli, parsley and chard seedlings are not growing as fast as I would like, perhaps related to the small quantities of fish food currently being used.

FYI - For those who have difficulties with growing Celery, you can substitute Swiss Chard stems in some recipes (like tuna salad) where you would normally use Celery. The taste will be different of course.

Good point Scotty, they taste great too- I usually eat my rainbow chard stems when using the leaves in cooking.

Although they look similar, don't be tempted to use rhubarb stems!

Just a note, both celery and swiss chard will take on a salty taste if your system is salted.

Which can be yummy...

Indeed it is Ron The new lot of celery I have growing now is powering along nicely.

If you run out of Tuna you can substitute lamb.

The taste will be different of course

Smacks head - why didn't I think of that.

beetroot too - I had some that was on the verge of being too salty - have reduced salt in the system now!

Gordon, I just checked out your web page.

very impressive, love the photos, great work.

Thanks Slowboat One of these days I'll get around to organising and tidying it up a bit, and fixing a couple of broken links from when I shifted everything to my own domain.

I hope the Murray Cod put on their winter woolies last night- 15mm of 5C rain this morning helped drop the system water temperature quite a bit. 16.4C at 17:00 yesterday, and 12.6C at 11:00 today, with a few more cold showers on and off all morning and more on the radar headed this way. Right now it is only 7.4C, so the water temp is no doubt still decreasing. Snow is forecast today and tonight on the mountains just 20km away and 400m up in altitude.

Methinks it's time for me to organise some heating... if only I had some spare cash!

Gordon

What about a coils of polypipe on the roof? I have seen it add 8deg to a swimming pool. Wont be that expensive.

Gabe