Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Sorry for the delay in answers to the questions folks. Work has been killin me. Here are the answers.

1. My current levels are
Ammonia .25ppm
Nitrite 0.00 ppm
Nitrate 40ppm

2. Room temp.
68F

3 Water temp
64F

4 Total Wattage of lights
64 W per fixture X 2

5. I have mylar (VERY SHINY REFLECTIVE FOIL) lined walls on either side of the 18 inch wide bed to reflect the light.

6. Lights are on a timer for 19 hours per day, off during the night for 5 hours.

Do you see anything odd here?

No toes in the pic ???

This might help Stuart. I think what's happening is physiologic leaf roll. Probably your plants are getting to hot and or to much wind since they are next to the door.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/vegetable/files/2010/10/E-626-What-Makes-Tomato-Leaves-Twist-or-Curl.pdf

Hope this helps.

Given the weather we have been having lately that makes a lot of sense.

What about this though?

I was actually after two answers.

Thanks to Scotty because I got the answer I was really after.

@ Lyndon



viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2096&p=437857#p437857

That's a cool looking Walking Stick you found Stuart, he looks harmless enough, which is good considering where your toes are .

I don't know if you were hinting but I definitely need my own editor to come along and add O's to the word "to" when I don't take the time to look things over, sheesh

In the photo of the base of the tom plant there seems to be some sort of change in colour/growth.

Looks to be a mold of some type Stuart. I would remove any dead or diseased leaves and give it the potassium bicarbonate (Eco Rose) treatment. Not all molds are bad and I don't know if this one is so you could let it go but I'm inclined not to take the chance.

The growth that I have for my tomato plants was impressive, (in height) however I had only "1" tomato that grew and it only made it to about the size of a golf ball and turned red. (I know what you're thinking.....and NO, I did not grow cherry tomatoes) They were supposed to be normal size.

My Kale is the only thing growing normal. Every thing else is dwarf in size. Pepper plants that look healty, but only 2 inches tall after 3 months.

Ammonia is at 0 ppm, Nitrites 0 ppm, Nitrates 40 ppm. This is an indoor system. Temps are approx 67f. Fish are healthy and water is crystal clear.

I have definitely not seen the growth that others have claimed aquaponics would produce. Any suggestions?

Potassium deficiency with fruiting plants is pretty common in AP:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XwrpIrz8tQ

Also Ronbo what's the pH of your system?

I've been told that potassium deficiency can be hard to pick because sometimes it doesn't have any symptoms other than slow growth.

Yep, and it competes with Calcium and Magnesium, so tricky indeed to diagnose - hence probably why Nate took 4 video's to explain the subject in detail.

I wasn't saying for sure Ronbo is Potassium deficient, but there's more than a slight chance he is, particularly if you take into account Nate's video comments and apply that especially to fruiting crops ie tomatoes:

"..in almost all [AP] systems, Potassium is kind of a troubled nutrient. It's either deficient or close to deficient, unless it's being supplemented."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XwrpIrz8tQ

I dunno about you, but I'd follow Nate's advice over many others', seeing he's the one with the phd and is growing commercially