Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

its been mentioned
but not thoroughly

Vetiveria zizanoides is a grass of southern India
most forms in australia are sterile
the tested CV in australia is 'Monto'

It has a high capacity for such things as

-P asborbtion
-N absorbtion
-pH swings
-Innundation

among many other things that youl never see in your AP system

It produces a massive curtain of roots that scrubs water of pollutants

im thinking if you are primarily a grower of fish vs a grower vegetables
then vetiver offers a distinct opportunity

http://www.vetiver.com/PRVN_wastewater_bul.pdf
http://www.vetiver.org/discus/messages/16/16.html

the biomass might be used as bedding for vermiculture

Suprisingly I found that vetiver did not thrive in AP.

what went wrong?

because theres a few papers on using them on floating fats to clear effluent ponds
or down in grafton NSW where they used it to treat effluent from a motel using Wheelie bins with floating raft biofilters

i used it down in NSW around and on my septic system evaporation trench.
teh evap trench is an area ringed by bessa blcons filled with coarse rocks and topped with soil
the septic effluent pumps out in there using a bilge pump
and suposedly evaporates?

i sped up the process using Comfrey, Vetiver, Canna, Banana and Bana grass
fast growin nurient hungry sterile plants with spike or fibrous non invasive roots
the growth of all was excellent and i then used all that biomass for composting or mulch

in a way the mix the palnats were in was like a flood n drain gravel bed

They just never took off. I have heaps of vetiver at my place - I have lined part of the gully at the bottom of our place with it (only one side - about 40 metres worth). My intention is to do the lot, on both sides. I'll do more this spring. I also have some on one of my banks that copps runoff from my shed skirt - to prevent erosion (works great).

I know that vetiver is meant to be good on the rafts and stuff, but my strain (which I am sure is monto) just doesn't seem to like the water as much as that. Even some of the bushes on the bank of my gully - and these are big advanced clumps (a couple of metres high and quite wide) have died at times. The ones that have died have always been in the parts of the bank which are most swampy during wet periods (from runoff - not the creek itself).

interesting

ill have a go too
when i get another system up n running

maybe monto doesnt like it wet as you say
im not sure if i have monto or not

i def know vetiver has 2 kinds of nemesis
1.Shade
2.Glyphosate based herbicide

Yep - it has crossed my mind at times that the neighbour may be giving mine a bit of Glypho - but unlikely because it is just certain clumps that seem to die.

Surprised by this and wondering whether or not any body has run any extra tests on Vetiver.

I don't have an Aquaponics system but do use a lot of Vetiver on a property and often though that Vetiver could be propagated quite well as a bare-root plant in media for planting out after root establishment.

I often try different ways of propagating Vetiver. Most developing countries spray it with a root hormone derived from water hyacinth (I use Willow) and leave it under hessian. Often dipping into a cow manure or clay slurry will help it along.

I've propagated in a 10L bucket:



And just last week in a bathtub (soil from clump, seaweed solution and a dash of fish emulsion):



The pump is superfluous as I loaded up a clam shell with water and soaked in that for 14 days and had good development for bare-root planting then too. Nutrients were worm castings and one big cow pat.

Root growth from bathtub: