Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I was watching this show What Plants Talk About on PBS Nature,
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes ... sode/8243/ , the other night. One segment discussed how some species can sense when they are growing near or next to their own versus a different species. This will cause the roots to not be as aggressive when competing for nutrients with their own but the opposite when growing near a different species. This got me thinking if this would apply to an AP system.

If you're growing a mono culture of some sort, will they not be as competitive and therefore not maximizing their roots to compete? Would it be beneficial to intermittently place some beneficial "competitors" amongst those monoculture type to instigate them? Or because their is such an abundance of nutrients that it doesn't really matter?

Video is not available in our region due to right restrictions... plants are smarter and much more interactive than we thought!

AP advocates polyculture is what I think and I feel it doesn't really matter. In our grow beds, there are different varieties of plant maturing at different times. Secret is in choosing the plants. One drawback we envisage is removal of harvested or damaged plants can be somewhat problematic in a well-developed root system.

Mono culture can work too
Broad beans in two ibc beds a year or so ago

Holy cow........

Great pic mantis....

For those that can't access the video, the plant example they gave was Sea Rocket.

"Animals use kin recognition. So does the plant called the sea rocket. It sends out fewer roots when its siblings are starting to grow nearby, but grows many more roots when other plants invade their area. This kin recognition is accomplished through chemicals emitted by their roots."




The poly-culture approach puts competing plants in a close vicinity, thereby the "kin recognition" affect is taking place already. Maybe that's why it's recommended then? Ancient wisdom in action maybe?



Mantis: Nice pics. Have you tried integrating Fungi into your AP system yet? You've been growing some oysters I believe? The last segment of that video talked about how older Douglas Fir trees use a Mycelium network to distribiute nutrients to the smaller young Douglas Fir trees. I'm throwing around the idea of a mycofilter as a biofilter in an AP system. The mycelium of certain fungi can actually create antibiotics (REF Figure 58 in Mycelium Running), though others are agnostic to some and will allow bacteria to pass thru it with out harm (REF Figure 73 in Mycelium Running). Don't want to harm all this beneficial bacteria we are trying to encourage.

The Douglas fir tree can grow for approximately 1,000 years if left undisturbed, and it nurtures its young, even young which may be growing beyond the reach of the mother’s roots. The mother tree sends nourishment to the saplings through a network of roots and organic material that surround the mother as well as the saplings. Fungi colonize the tree’s roots and unite many trees in an organic feeding system. The nutrients are passed from the roots to the fungi which passes them to other fungi and eventually the roots of the saplings. Carbon is one of the elements passed in this manner.

The existence of this system was proven by scientists who covered the branch of a mature Douglas fir in a plastic bag. Then they injected radioactive carbon into the bag. The next day they returned with a geiger counter. They found that the system of roots and fungi around the injected tree were radioactive. They traced the radioactivity to the trees nearby and found that the branches of these trees, especially the younger ones, were now radioactive.

It is too much science into this... I am trying to understand what you or others are saying about it by re-reading it will follow this