Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I use potassium BIcarbonate, not potassium carbonate. It works a treat on the pH. Available by the pound from some wine hobby websites.

Sorry typo error- Potassium Bi-carbonate

Rupe- I used the search feature on the forum to see if potassium bicarbonate had been mentioned and it didn't pick up on that. I wonder how come?

Maybe a typo?

I searched and found it

Probably, I had my grandson squirming in my lap this morning. He can be distracting!!!!!!

Definately hard to concentrate on my early morning postings,.....,18 month old son pulling on one leg of my trousers, 4 month old daughter yelling for my wife tohurry up with her milk:)
AHH the little pleasures of life:)

Have you worked out what causes it yet?

Might still be working on it Hamish.... guess we'll find out next year

Got to say I've always been a great admirer of breasts ,, but having at least one myself would be very handy right at the moment:)
Mornings are nothing ,, it's the hour before their bed time that is CHAOS,, little daughter hardly ever sleeps in the day and gets WAY over tired ,, son gets a sudden naughty streak when he knows bed time is coming,..... makes for a very busy hour or two , but just one smile from either makes the whole thing worth it.
Best thing is ,, another 12 months and I'll have a willing helper for the AP. Another 3 years and my labout force will double.I don't even have to pay them:))))))))))))

AHHH honey come here ,, let's have a few more ??? ....., Wife quickly jumps in car with one way ticket back to Thailand ,,,LOL.

Chappo, have you even had occasion to tell some one to stop helping? The problem with kids is you don't want to do that to them since you are trying to build their self esteem. Though the labor might not be that much help, the learning experience they will get from understanding AP will be well worth your patients in explaining it all. Just be ready for them to tell their classmates and teachers that they eat fish poop.

I'm lucky or just plain stupid , as this is my second time around. I've got a 20 and 16 year old from first marriage. One ( perhaps the only one) fond memory I hold is working on my backyard vegie garden with my ( now 20 ) son Luke when he was 3.he loved it , I loved it. Never forget hearing a crunching sound when I was watching the footy ( league) one night ,, went out to the kitchern and there he was ,, chewing on the sides of a freshly picked cauliflower ..... He drops around weekly and loves the new hatchlings:) I sure hope things work out better this time , it's hard loosing your house and near all your money ,, but loosing that day to day contact with your kids is truly heart-breaking.

Not to be too nit picky but grits are ground hominy. Hominy is corn that has been soaked in lye, then rinsed, dried and ground. Not quite the consistency of wheat flour... more like sand sized.

Cook, add cheddar and voila, good eats!!

T.

Has anyone tried the old remedy of tomatoe leaf tea for aphids. I plan on making some myself but wonder if anyone can see any issues with it.

I've heard some "home insect recipes" that say using tomato leaves. I have trouble thinking that tomato leaf tea would work very well against tomato plant sucking aphids though. Perhaps they might help on aphids attacking other types of plants.

Truth is against aphids, a spray of plain water is usually pretty effective at knocking them off though if you have ants around, they will just bring them back.

I've not found a good way to control the ants though since anything strong enough to work on them would probably kill fish, bacteria, and the plants as well as use eventually.

I actually have lots of ants farming aphids and such. DE powder works a little bit but with the constant supply of water, it is not all that effective.

To some extent, I've been ignoring problems other than trying to correct nutrient deficiencies. I'm hoping that with time and maturity, the plants will get healthier and beneficial bugs will move in to help maintain a balance. Especially since many of the plants being attacked are still producing just fine.