Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

thoughts of another experiment
what about coasrse sand in a grow bed with the mesh you put around ag pipe to stop dust wrapped around th drain pipe to stop the sand clogging the pump? sand should allow carrots to grow straight...

I(we) were thinking about just that last night (mango daiquiri haze)
Hopfully an AP'ers done this already and will have the lowdown.
C1...I will be giving this a go as I believe the idea has merit..

Beeso,
And I had the same thought about growing Radish and carrots in course sand – and then thought about my child hood of growing carrots – If I over fertilized they would have double, triple and in some cases quadruple roots. I think the high nitrogen concentration will result in similar in your aquaponics setup. I suggest you stick with leafy (Cabbage, Lattice, Spinach and the like) and fruiting vegetables (Tomatoes, Pumpkin, marrows and other melons). They will consume more nitrogen form your setup.

HG is growing carrots in coarse sand, and he said very little nutrients results in strong root grow ie the carrot, and not too much up top. If you fertilise too much, they just grow big speccy tops, but not much carrot. Correct me if i'm wrong, that means AP with it's high nutrient levels would not really be great for this.

Hmm, if carrots were from a secondary stream of nutrients, after the growbed, with much less nutrients due to the growbed. Then they might work well.

AD-- your title of legend is for a good reason.
cheers bloke!!!
C1

I'll throw an idea at yas..............

I'm assuming that high nutirient that poepe are taliking about is high nitrogen..........

Two points 1) we can tailor the amount of TOTAL nutes to the plants by feed modification.

2) Remember from the melbourne talks how UVI incresed their P and K to N ratios by leaving stuff in their clarifier longer before removal?

I've said it before, but i think this over looked point is why joels system grows nice fruiting plants. ALL of our sediment stays in the system to be broken down, hence higher P and K values compared to AP with solids removal.

Liquid waste from fish gills constitues mostly ammonia --> nitrates (AKA nitrogen or N)

Solid wastes contain more of the P and K that was in the food, so by them staying in the system our plants have acess to them.

Steve

Steve

I have to agree that both your points are valid and I am looking forward to putting a broader range in AP than I originally thought.

I have tried carrots in traditional gardens, hydroponics with perlite/ vermiculite mix and sand in foam boxes. For best results carrots don't need much nutrient and all I do is add 5 - 10% organic matter to sand and plant seed than water. I always use recyled foam boxes with 4mm holes in bottom. Go for a smaller variety because they seem sweeter and suit the depth of the box better.

I will set up some more in my AP tommorrow and compare the results, keep you posted. I will think out the methods instead of sleeping in bed tonight. I think carrots are good for your eyes, I have never seen a rabbit wearing glasses!

HG

Cool HG, remerber, lots of pics

To my knowledge high N values promote vegetave growth, which sounds like we want to avoid for carrots. so maybe a crop of carrots after a leafy green crop combined with a drop in nitrate PPM would be beneficial. Lots of P and K would be "left over" from the N loving leafy greens.

Cool, now we're moving into crop rotations in AP. Unreal