Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Naw, jungle is gonna be when you gotta duck and crouch to move through the greenhouse cause the vines have gone up and over and are hanging down and all the shorter plants are hanging leaves out of the grow beds turning your nice wide pathways into narrow ways But it's all good, just hack off what it annoying you too much and perhaps have it for dinner!!!!!! Lets see, in your neck of the woods, I expect true jungle to start in July and then August and September you better be ready to can and freeze the excess!!!!

Well, been away for a couple weeks, so time to update..

Went out of town for a week and asked a neighbor to take care of my system while I was gone. Overall, he did very well, though I was terribly worried the whole time I was away. My chief complaint was that he did not harvest much, if anything, and some of the plants were showing signs of stress when I got home.

Add to that the fact that the temps have absolutely soared the last week and about half of the plants in my GH are struggling, though the fish are in heaven! Tank temps hovering at 82º, so I'll have to begin to cycle at night to keep from warming it further... Don't want to turn it into the 'love shack' with 245 tilapia in it!!! LOL!!

I have a couple pics of pre-vacation harvests following.

Two problems I am currently battling... The strawberries are beginning to produce, but having some plant issues and am not sure what the root cause it.. I have three varieties and only had problems initially with one, so thought it was a fungus that the other two were resistant to. Leaves would get a rust colored spot on it, then it would spread before the whole leaf would die. Eventually, the whole plant would die... I tried picking 'infected leaves' and discarding while also being careful not to share wet/water in order to prevent spreading the problem. Thought it a red/rust problem. Maybe, may not be.

Now it seems to have spread to the other varieties in areas, so I am not sure if a fungus or, here is the recent thought, I wonder if the strawberries are reacting negatively to my water that is salted to 2 or 3 ppt. Seems I read somewhere that they are not very salt tolerant....

Ideas would be appreciated...

The second problem is more likely heat stress on the plants, but simply, my tallest plants (those that really get up into the upper parts of the GH) have a lot of yellowed leaves as well as reduced production. Also, my hybrid burpless cukes have a powdery mildew looking stuff on the leaves... I have added Maxicrop (US version of seaweed extract) to the system in case it is an iron deficiency, but shorter plants that do not extend above the gutter/sidewall line do not seem affected the way the tall plants are. On the cukes, I also sprayed with a 1:9 milk:water solution because I read a part may be a calcium deficiency, but no tomatoes have bloom end rot... Any ideas on this one??

The BSFL have been multiplying like crazy! Chooks and broilers are loving it! Haven't fed as many to the fish, but guessing they are getting big enough to appreciate a meal of BSFLs...

Been missing you guys, but letting the family do much of the harvesting while I have started another major project... Adding on to the patio and building a woodfired brick oven. (Learned about that from the Aussies on here... Gathered info on the http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/ and got free plans there... ) Also in the build will be a fireplace for cool evenings.







CB

More pics in a sec..

And, one last pic...



Now the rain shower has stopped so it is back to digging the foundation for the brick oven...



CB

Okay, so I was bored (still raining and stuck inside) watching my wife prepare dinner when she asked if I could make some other dish to go with the rice and chicken picatta...

This is what I came up with on the fly... and most everything was fresh out of the AP system!!



from the AP:
3 cukes, peeled and chopped
4 medium tomatoes chopped
2 small onions finely chopped
several sprigs of fresh dill finely chopped

From the shelf:
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
2 tbs of malt vinegar
2 tsp of sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Mix shelf items, toss in AP items.
Garnish... (for the pic)
Photograph (for the proof )
Enjoy!

It was good, too!


Next time we have the red china beans I'll get pics and recipe..


CB

your GH/sys. looks awesome Countryboy. Sounds like your strawberries might be getting crown rot? I'm not sure, but I put in 9 strawberry towers (converted my aquaculture system over to aquaponics- now I'm truly a purist. ) and i was researching crown rot quite a bit because I was a little concerned. I tried three different planting techniques to see if I had crown rot issues with any of them. I guess you should look to see if young leaves turn a bluish green before they die, then cut the crown of the plant into a cross section and look for red coloring. I guess if it has a red color, or the crown breaks easily in half you probably have crown rot. . .

Nice harvest CB...

Strawberries are also some of the most sensitive to salt. Most other plants can handle 3 ppt but that might be too much for some strawberries. Also, what's your system pH lately? Strawberries are one that likes the pH lower.

So some of the standard things to check for strawberries are
1-is the crown getting wet, strawberries can't handle much of that.
2-salt
3-pH

If they don't recover for you, ya might perhaps wait till the system matures a bit more and try them again for next year.

Hey CB,
How come you're not making your own mayo? Give it a try!

Can I ask where you got the china red bean seeds, they look fantastic

Oh, just realised you are in the US

I am currious to know if you have had any issues with the water tank after cutting the top off, if the sides are bowing or not holding shape. I also am using a 1500 gal water tank as a fish tank and after a friends concern about the integrity of it if I cut the whole top off I opted to just cut 1/4 of it off leaving the rest as support....makes it kinda hard to get to the fish sometimes. So just currious what results you have had.
Very impressed with the setup! Would love to come visit sometime

A quick update and a few answered questions..

Been super busy, but the system is ticking along. Heat has been a huge factor in the plants and this weekend I'll reprogram some of my cycles to run in the evening/early morning hours to keep the tank under 86º and give the plants cooler roots...

Current project is a patio extension with a woodfired brick oven and a fireplace...

Also, some plants have run their course, so it is time to plant some new stuff in a couple beds... Thought I could get them to go longer, though they have been super productive.

Red bean seeds... They were a gift. The package label says 'Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds'.

ralath, have had no problems with the tank. Pretty sure you could cut very close to the lip and be fine. I left about 8" of the top all the way around.... Super solid. Come visit anytime. Drop me a PM for # and directions.

VT... yep, I do need to try making my own mayo... We make a lot of our stuff and I am amazed at how people a century or two ago got along!! Talk about working ALL the time for the simple stuff we take for granted!

Just ordered some seeds from bakers creek. Now to see if they get through customs

For a while we were hijacking someone's thread discussing outdoor ovens. I nominate you to start a new thread on the subject. I had built a mud oven a few years back but the goats dismantled it for me (& I dismantled the young buck & put him in the freezer). I'm hoping to have my son & husband start a brick one this summer, now that I'm done with my AP set up.

This recipe takes 5 minutes:
Whisk:
2 eggs, at room temp
1 tbsp Dijon
Salt & pepper

Whisk in:
1 cup oil (room temp) a little at a time. When oil is all in, whisk 30 sec more. Then add 2 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice.

For a quicker, thicker (like store bought) Joy of Cooking has a food processor version.

If you don't have eggs, by Michel Roux you should get it. It'll help you use up some of those cackleberries.

ps I've used that mayo for up to 10 days, and my fridge isn't particularly cold.

Been out of the loop for a while, so thought I'd check in.

The GH is doing well, though a few little glitches and an incredibly warm summer!! Gonna HAVE to spring for some shade cloth before next year. still, been harvesting near daily and the fish are getting big. They eat like hogs, too!

I have spent the last six weeks building a wood fired brick oven. It is nearly complete and is in use... Tonight's dinner included chickens we grew on the property (and fed LOTS of AP GH scraps..), tomatoes and basil from the AP GH as well as fresh backed bread and blueberry cobbler.

For those interested in a WFO, the best place on the planet for info and helpful discussion is the Forno Bravo Forum. My build thread with pics and descriptions is here.

I'm taking on a pic or two of the nearly finish product and some of this evening's dinner....