Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I have a experimental small system 100% IKEA samla build.

Flood and drains quite fast, every few minutes.
Measured water quality twice and all the 6 values where spot on.


however several months later we've already eaten the crops that went in soil but the crops in de clay beds are bad.


what am I missing? why are all the leaves 'burning'? will try to lower the water level so the top of the clay stays dry.

Also tried a load of lettuce, same issue, seems to start ok but turns darkish and leaves die.

Roots seem 'ok' as far as I can tell.

Here are some thoughts -

If the top of the media was moist that was probably part of it.

Could also have to do with sunshine warming the rocks below the leaves too much.

Nutrient deficiency or toxicity could also be part of this but I can't see anything that indicates if this is the case or exactly what's going on (some of the leaves do look a bit pale though). Lower leaves dying might indicate a mobile nutrient is being shifted to the newer upper leaves. You might want to try feeding the bed by sprinkling in some slow release organic fertilizer, particularly if your nitrate readings are low.