Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I'm going on my 8th month of aquaponics and I can't seem to grow tomatoes and don't get it. Here's what it looks like right now:

https://plus.google.com/photos/112764488563643161224/albums/5854936841072836049

pH is 6.5, nitrates at 120, no nitrite, no chlorine, etc. I dose iron when I see any iron deficiencies in the leaves, but that's not too often.

My tomatoes always grow to be about 2 feet tall and look great, and all of a sudden it'll die down dramatically and in some cases just completely die. It's the same look to the tomato each time. I'm in houston and our weather is just now becoming ideal for everything. This winter didn't really hurt the tomato plant at all. Any help would be appreciated, I'm not too good about identifying plant diseases.

I can't tell by the pictures but are the growing tips of the plants purple? In my experience phosphorus deficiencies, which causes this, can be a major problem in aquaponics. It is possible that you have a zinc deficiency too.

I suggest you buy a disease book such as this one from crop king. http://www.cropking.com/HydroponicSupplies/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5_7&products_id=1145 It has helped me and many other people in identifying tomato plant problems.

I hope you figure it out.

I'm thinking water and plant samples to the Houston Ag extension may be the quickest way to figure out what's going on.... http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/houston/

So MY big question is "toefu" - martial art or foot fungus?

You really shouldn't be having any trace element deficiencies... due to pH lockout... at your pH...

And phosphorus usually isn't a problem in most aquaponic systems at all... most have more than enough phosphorus...

What fish feed are you using... how many fish... and how much are you feeding??

So I did a lot of reading on tomato diseases today and my symptoms fall in to so many diseases/fungus.

I have an IBC tote bottom, with 3 IBC grow beds up top. each growbed is only 8" in height, and run on 30 minute timers. I have 30 juvenile (not fingerling) tilapia in there and kept them alive over the winter. All other plants in the growbeds have taken off the last few weeks now that the weather has turned for the better.

So were you tomatoes transplanted during the winter?

i started the tomato plant last fall once my aquaponics system finally settled in and cycled properly. It died down a bit during the winter, but the warm houston winter did not kill it. It's currently starting to produce a couple of Roma tomatoes, but its general health is rapidly declining.

So you starved, stressed and stunted the plant.. through the cold season... and now it's dying...

Take what you can get from it... and plant some new ones.... it'll never recover...

could be worse.

my tomatoes were looking great. then came the cabbage moth Caterpillars. i bought spray for them but i got sick and ended up in hospital. got out to find almost nothing left!

i would just start again. tomatoes are cheap although ive had better luck with growing them in pots so far.

note: any caterpillar that i found got fed to the yabbies!

If the tomatoes are showing the same browning and discoloration it will probably be tomato wilt desease, a common problem to greenhouse tomato, scientist are still investigating on the cause and a method of prevention/cure.
I had several plant effected in by this before.

there is a notorious tobacco mosaic virus but that will show more on the leaves itself, I can see on the pics you have the suckers still on the plants, try remove them if you suspect it's just a deficiency as those take up and waste nutriment only.

RupertofOZ do you have data to back up your claim about phosphorus? I would like to see it along with a list of what plants you were growing, which fish feed used and how much of it.

I had been battling with a phosphorus deficiency in my tomato plants for some time. In the end it was remedied by the addition of more fish to the system. Surely I am not the only one growing tomatoes that has experienced this?

doh. yeah, up until 2 weeks ago, the tomatoes were going strong, very healthy and growing new branches and leaves. just as the weather turned for the better. perhaps i'll just try and plant a new one, but of all the plants i'm trying to plant, i've struggled the most with tomatoes. all the pepper plants and veggies grow awesome.

Another background info I forgot to mention.. the growbed normally only gets 5 hours of direct sunlight from 11am to 4pm. but as summer creeps near, it now gets an additional 3 hours of light in the early morning, followed by 3 hours of shade, and 5 hours of direct again.

Also houston around this time of year also gets lots of dew in the mornings.

Knowing a bit about aquaponics... and a bit more about plants... I would imagine Phosphorus would be about the last element you would see a deficiency of in aquaponics.

I reckon you would have a major Potassium deficiency problem, then maybe Magnesium and Iron, well before any shortage of Phosphorus.

In fact, after watching a few threads, on two forums, re deficiencies in tomatoes etc over the last few weeks, and photo's plus anecdotal evidence from a number of my customers with deficiency problems in tomatoes this summer... I've been contemplating posing a question to Rupe re his thoughts on possible Phosphorus overload (in ratio to other elements) in aquaponics... locking out trace elements.

How do you know you had a Phosphorus deficiency?

Churro, I'll try and find some of the papers... but consistantly within aquculture studies of fish feed wastes... the overwealming mineral present.. is phosphorus... the remainder being nitrogenous wastes

Almost all other mineral content of fish feeds... are taken up by the fish... (as the carefully researched and formulation over time intends)...

Your posts would seem to add complete weight to the proposition... you remedied your problem... by adding more fish... more feed... more wastes... hence more phosphorus... problem solved...