Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey Friends,

I have had an indoor system going now for about 2.5 months. I have plants that are 8 inches to almost 2 feet tall. The really tall ones are beans. The smaller ones are Cucumbers. I also had leaf lettuce going, and some tomatoes started which are about 6 inches tall. I also have a mild fungus that began but my fungicide is doing a good job. What I have questions about is that my indoor aquaponics system should be doing better than an outdoor planter, that's the way I understood aquaponics. Plants flourish and an indoor system can be run year round. I have done several water tests and the Nitrate levels are perfect, so the biological filter is running well. I know, ammonia, nitrites, and PH are all good too. What I'm confused about is that all my tomato plants are starting to wilt and die, so did all my lettuce. Oh, I have bell peppers going too but they're only about 2.5 inches tall. I really had the impression that once a plant is started in an aquaponics system that these plants would be harvestable a week to 2 weeks prior to their outdoor harvest life. Why are my plants not growing now? It seems as though they have plateaued.


Thanks,

Can you give more information? Pictures would be great, but if you don't have that: What kind of lighting, and how long are they on? Can you tell us more about your system (size, flow, etc)?

If it's an indoor system, then lighting will be the limiting factor, unless you're prepared for a huge power bill. How old is your system? Most don't start "popping" until the second year.

Correct, it is still early. What fungicide are you using? Potassium bicarbonate is good, but other stuff I would be quite wary of. They can and will damage your biofilter.