Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi there everyone,
I am concerned that I may have some sort of root disease going on in my grow beds. I have been battling to grow anything of significance in them for quite a few months like easily six. The only thing that grows is one lemon grass plant and that's even got yellowing leaves. I put heaps of pumpkin seeds in a month or so ago and they germinate , look good for a couple of weeks then shrivel up and die. I bought a tray of tomatoes same thing as with tray of basil. Toms and basil went ok for about one to two weeks then died off. When I pull the plants up they have brown roots and the stem at grow bed level is brown and shrunken.
Does anyone have any idea what may be going on.?

This sounds like damping off. As plants get bigger they become less susceptable to this. When growing in soil they recommend you start with sterile soil but that's not really an option here.

Things to try -

1. Make certain plants in trays have been hardened off outside before transplanting(this makes them less susceptable)
2. Transplant at a larger size.
3. Increase air circulation and lower humidity if you can.
4. Reduce any splashing on the plants.
5. Space seedlings wider apart for better air circulation.
6. Most of us raise the water level to start seeds - Try setting the water level lower ASAP so that the stem won't be up against any wet media.
7. Your plants might be more susceptable because of a deficiency so you might try adding some seasol or maxicrop.


There were some other suggestions here http://gardening.about.com/od/gardenproblems/qt/Damping-Off.htm
The notes about Hydrogen Peroxide, cinnamon and camomile could be useful.

A couple of other thoughts - I didn't look through your entire thread so I'm not sure about whether your growbeds are adequate to handle the number and size of the fish you have (Could solids be an issue?). I did notice you put in some effort to increase the aeration early on - have any of the new changes reduced the aeration. You might try upping the aeration since this has helped some systems.

Hi all again, just a bit of an update on things. Fish all ok , I have about 9 koi these days and a few goldies. I tried some barra early in the season but that was a total disaster . They all died within 48 hrs. I put it down to water being not warm enough , ph may have been to low as well. Was an expensive exersize. I haven't restocked yet but I think when the time comes I will get a batch of Silver perch. One of my grow beds seems to be going ok, the other I am in the process of cleansing. I let it dry out for a while to try and kill off root disease an now I have a crop of canola in. Aparantly it is used by farmers as a break crop and can help kill root disease. It's going good at the moment but I may add some season as suggested by above to give little plants some extra help.

Hi Skipd, happy to see that you are still at it but I would like to see some more success. Why don' t you try trout when the water temps cool?

Hi Y'all,
Well my plant growth is still pretty dismal.
I have decided to buy some more fish.
Hi Faye , I bought some Barramundi at the start of last summer and well it was a bit of a disaster as I lost the whole lot within about one week of getting them. I am guessing that my PH levels were not matching where I purchased from and temps were possibly different as well. This kind of rocked me as I spent about $120 on them.
I have decided to go with Silver Perch and called supplier to ensure my PH levels matched.
I have pledged now to keep my PH levels at 7 or as close as possible, (just blue on my PH chart) I have lost to many fish through my PH levels dropping.
I have looked back through my records and this is always why I have fish deaths. The other causes have been mixing breeds and fish sizes so I now have 2 tanks, one for Koi and Goldfish and the other for edible fish. This other tank has been in the system for quite a few months so is well and truly part of the system.
I bought 30 Silver Perch which I will grow out to yearlings, at that stage I hope to purchase another lot at yearling size so my school is all of the same size.
I am also planning to buy some more Koi and goldfish, these don't seem to mind being of different sizes in the same tank.
My Canola experiment was a bit of a flop as it all died off. I do need to get some more stuff planted in the grow beds as all I have at the moment is one very old lemon grass plant a couple of very small spinach and some beans.
Any suggestions for bomb proof plants would be great, They don't have to be vegetables as I would kind of like to have a couple of permanent plants. I have two Grow beds so one could be for veg and one for permanents, I love the tree fern at BYAP shop.
Sorry to blab on,
I trust and hope all you Aquaponics people are well,
Is the shop still going? I tried to find address on Internet the other weekend but failed .??

Hello skipd. The BYAP shop is at the corner of Jandakot Road and Berrigan Drive, in Jandakot.

So, still in the same place , I just wanted the address the other weekend as I was on the road and wanted to put it in my phone for directions, I have since bought one of those directory thingies with all the street names in it and maps, I think it's called a UBD it's really handy when your phone runs out of battery.

Hahaha. I admit to being one of those dinosaurs who still relies on 'primitive' methods, ie a street directory.

Well I'm back,
Not so great news, all my Sp died within first week I think.
Wasn't ph as I matched with supplier before purchase. Maybe temp ?
Plants suffering but fish ok (koi and Goldie's)
I have large bottle brush tree which over hangs system, I know some natives have growth retardant properties in leaves, does anyone know if bottle brush would be one of these trees?

The Koi and Water Garden Society of Central New York says it's toxic to fish.

I found bottlebrush on their list here...

http://www.cnykoi.com/articles/plantpoisonous.asp

That seems strange as the koi and goldfish have been there for a couple of years now and are all fine , I have some of the original koi still.?
Still , I think I will take to Bottle brush tree with vengeance.

Hi skipd

I have no idea of the lists authenticity. It's probably as reliable as a list compiled here would be if we had a crack at it. Useful at least in so far as cutting something down to see if it's true. I'm guessing its based on people removing a plant, and then having no more troubles.

Who knows.

Hack it back to it's roots, and see

I tried to contact them to add viburnum tinus to their list, because rainwater from that turned out to be what was killing my silvers, but all my emails bounced.

viburnum tinus...

Well, I cut back bottle brush tree so at least it's not hanging over my fence anymore. Had a general tidy around system and cleaned off lid to tank as this had a fair bit of bottle brush build up.
In a bid to get something growing in gb I have planted mint in gb. I know it gets out of hand but
I am getting a bit desperate to get stuff in gb,
I think I really probably need to get a totally new system and place in new spot. The current location is also getting very little winter sun which doesn't help. Hopefully in the next couple of months I will find some time and money to do a change over.