Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I checked my AP this afternoon and my strawberry leaves are under siege,, I don't see anything on them
except on the back of the leaves there are brown spots. I took some photos so any help would be appreciated, also I noticed a tomato leave that is turning brown around the edges, is this a start of a problem also?

thanks
Carol

Hi Carol,

In regards to the small holes in your strawberries do a quick check at night with a flashlight for snails/slugs : )

In regards to the browning of the edges of the Tomatoe plant leaf, if its only one leaf thats affected, Id just pick off the leaf, but Im only new to this as well.

Cheers,

Matt

I'll agree with Matt.

You've got bugs. Caterpillars can be quite sneaky, being the same colour as the leaves. I had basil being eaten away, and thought I had one or two on there. I sprayed some dipel on the leaves, and almost 30 started head banging away.

But could easily be slugs, snails and a host of other little guys. You should be able to find them if you look hard enough. Things like copper tape can help at keeping slugs and snails out of your GB's.

The bottom two pics are definitely pest related.

The top pic (Tomato) is a deficiency I suspect. The photo's only allow a limited diagnosis, but looking at the yellowing between the veins on the strawberries, combined with the necrotic leaf margins and tip on the Tomato, I would say it's Potassium.

If your water pH is below 7.0 you could add Potassium bicarbonate (sold as Eco-Fungicide at the big 'B' stores) to the water at 1 x level teaspoon per 1000L. If the pH is above 7.0 I would apply it as a foliar spray at the manufacturers recommended rate.

If the deficiency isn't too advanced you could possibly try Seasol instead. If you haven't been adding it so far then I would start with a once-off dose of 100ml per 1000L, then 2-3 capfuls per 1000L, per fortnight.

I've had holes, looking very similar to yours, in my strawberries that have been caused by grasshoppers a few times- green ones that hide under the leaves and are hard to see.

I checked last night with flash light still didn't see a thing, other than some ants, could they be eating the leaves? Of course it rained and all the leaves were wet, don't know if that had anything to do with it or not. I added maxicrop yesterday so will see if that improves the look of the tomato plants.
Also I added channel cats about a month ago and they seem NOT to like the commercial pellets I bought, they seen to like my goldfish which are gone, so I went and bought 6 doz little gold fish from petsmart and they are all gone after 2 days, I can't afford to buy fish for them every few days, any advice on what else that is cheap to feed them....

Some fish need to be weaned onto the commercial fish food, mine did, they didn't want to touch the pellets in the beginning. Find something they like to eat: brine shrimp, bloodworms, etc, usually something frozen in the freezer section of the pet store, and mix the pellets with the other food, gradually reduce the amount of other food until they are just on the pellets. I don't know as much about cat fish, but from what I've read it's the same, somebody else might know better.

Also, I've heard goldfish aren't great as feeder fish, they contain a chemical that destroys vitamin B, and can lead to deficiencies and bad things. I think it'll take a lot to get to that point though. Sometimes the tropical fish are better, like feeder guppies, cheaper too (not the ornamental ones though).

Oh My Gosh,,,I found them, little green caterpillars, I think they are called webworms cause they have webs attached to them. Picked off what I could find and threw them in the tank for the fish...is there anything else I can do to get rid of them....will a spray of white vinager hurt the plant, diluted of course...
any help would be great.

Vinegar can be used. 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water, and a tsp of dishwashing detergent, to help it stick, then spray away. Let us know how it goes.

If you want something stronger, Dipel is awesome stuff, it's a bacteria based bio insecticide, AP safe, and works really well, and stops them eating quickly.

EDIT.

I should add, vinegar can mess with the PH of your water, so keep it as a foliage spray.

I feed my fish worms through the cold months when they go off feeding on pellets they love them , set up a old bath tub or similar to breed them in .