Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Your a saint

Nice one Charlie. What are the greens and purples on the right?
I have lettuce and red lettuce like that but it looks slightly different.

Cheers guys

@ Marty-martian = yea just a few different varieties of lettuce, we prob get different ones to you south africaans over there but Id imagine they would be similar in some way or another. I think the green small curly leaf one is a butterloaf but I cant remember the others sorry. They are a beautiful lettuce in the DWC, so much softer and delicate. Kick ass in a taco anyways!

With those really deep red oakleaf lettuces you must have some really good sunshine hitting those raft beds too.
I've noticed that the lettuce will really look drastically different depending on the lighting that gets to it. My little tiny greenhouse currently has a rather dirty roof and any lettuce I leave growing in there for long tends to be almost all green no matter what color variety it is supposed to be while those same types out under just 40% aluminet come out nice a dark red and if out in full sun and no protection they come out super dark. Single layer Greenhouse film gives something in between the dirty greenhouse and the 40% aluminet since it actually blocks more UV light than the aluminet cloth.

Thanks Charlie. Not happy that you outed me, I have been undercover for years.

Lettuce looks great. I have some growing in a veggie patch more big leaf than yours that's why I was curious.

Regards, Martin.

Interesting information, TC, thanks! It gets full sun from mid morning till mid afternoon in summer plus reflective sun from the coreflute sheeting I guess. And our sun is pretty dam hot here too.

While your tuned in, TC, Id like to hear your opinion on why it might be that my basil is suffering in my raft? The leafy greens are going well, Ive grown coriander, rainbow chard, carrots (wierd huh?), peas and other bits and pieces but the basil just doesnt seem to like it. Its got me dazzled and Id love your opinion.

Lots of what Charlie has there in the picture looks like red and green Oakleaf lettuce (there are many varietie of those types) which will give the smaller looking leaves Looks like there might be a red dear toung (which is kinda like romaine but pointed) and maybe some others.

I don't know if it is commonly available world wide yet but there are some very frilly sweet crisp lettuces and insized lettuce that rip off the heads to make very nice leaves for a lettuce mix, very fluffy on the plate not all flat like most spring mix, so it holds the salad dressing nice and is easy to pick up with a fork to eat and I've found it seems to keep in the fridge even after being cut and washed far better than any of the large leaf varieties I've grown. When ripped up, washed and dried leaf and butter lettuce would already be going brown and slimy this other lettuce still has at least week of storage life in the fridge.

As for you basil not doing all that well in the raft? Hum, in what way is your basil suffering, can you describe the symptoms?

I don't actually grow much else in the rafts other than lettuce. Most of my basil is actually growing in Zipgrow towers. (I'm trying some basil in rafts just because I want to be able to sell some living basil instead of just cut.)
But I've had some major potassium deficiency problems in that system which seems to hit the basil rather hard and was actually at a very extreme stage before it had any effect on the lettuce. The basil was suffering from downy mildew and had bronze/brown and black spots on all the older leaves as well as interveinal chlorosis,
And YET I've still been able to harvest large amounts of basil tips from the plants every week for the past month. I'm wondering how much more productive it will be once I get the nutrient balance more in order.

Celery did very well in the raft bed, however, it destroyed the net pot and was threatening the raft itself and since I normally like to cut outer stalks over a long season with the celery instead of harvesting whole plants, it doesn't make sense to take up raft space with the celery since it would mean replacing the rafts and net pots for it and that fact that I would have to bend over and reach out into the raft bed to harvest. I'm now growing the celery mostly in media beds like with all the other large greens that are continual harvest for me like chard and Kale. I need all my raft space for lettuce production.

So far I've found that most other things do far better for me in the media beds. During hot weather the basil seems to thrive in the Zipgrow towers.

But are you guys not Just coming into your warm season? Basil is a Hot weather crop so if you have been trying to grow it through the cool season, then that is likely your problem. Get more going ASAP so that you will have something to thrive through summer when most of your greens crops are not doing as well. Look for heat tolerant lettuce varieties to go into the rafts. I'm just heading into my cool season so the basil is going to start suffering due to lack of heat here.

Oakleaf, thats it, thanks TC. I think they are all varieties of oakleaf now that you mention it.


Basil, I planted heading into our summer but we have had a lot of cool nights (typical of our desertous climate) hmmm, Ill post you a pic tomorrow but basically Ive tried growing 3 different varieties and all have been stunted and look to be suffering from some deficiency, but Im not the best at working those ones out. There is some lightening of some of the leaves and in some cases dieing and blackening. You may be right that I have gone in too early and need to wait for warmer weather, problem is we will have a 38deg day then a 10deg night... the plants dont know whats going on (either do the fish) But anyways, a pic will prob be the best so Ill sort that tomorrow and hopefully we can revisit this one.

Thanks, TC!

Thanks for the lettuce info TC and Charlie, it looks seriously tasty.

Charlie regarding the Basil - I had a recent experience which was interesting. I planted (mainly in pots but some in soil) some veggies this spring. I have a sprinkler set up to water them and my 2 1/2 year old girls would water them, more often than necessary. All the plants are doing well except the basil. My Mozambican Gardener (who is like an encyclopedia when it comes to growing stuff) said the basil was getting too much water. He moved that pot away from the other veggies and the basil suddenly started to thrive. It is actually nearly neglected right now and it is going gangbusters.

Does basil have a history of thriving in raft beds? If not maybe there is just too much moisture and it is better suited to a different environment.

I'm really no expert when it comes to this but I thought you might find this anecdote interesting.

Regards, Martin.

I like your thoughts and experiences, Marty.

Im definately no basil expert (or plants of any kind for that matter) but I know Rupe grew a smashing forest of basil in his NFT system... which begs that net pots are ok... but is DWC? Not sure. Dont see why not really so Ill get some pics of the poor soles in the morn and holefully someone can help.

Cool Charlie. If it's been done before then it probably isn't too much water that is the problem.

I wish there was a database where we could query real world experience, research and anecdotes about plants and fish. These forums are amazing but it is often hard to find information you need if it is highly specific.

Martin.

Mate I know this forum inside and out but I still struggle to find some specific information. I know the big AP system in sydney is growing coriander and prob lettuce as well. I could go back through other operations but Im tired at the moment with only a few hours sleep in the last 24hrs. Ill regroup tomoz.

Cool Charlie.

Sleep tight.

the Basil in my raft beds did ok (other than my serious potassium deficiency problem) and I know many people who have done it in rafts. I actually never thought of basil as being a plant that had any problem what so ever with too much water. It might not like having it's leaves too wet though. Now if the water doesn't have enough aeration or if the flower pots are not draining then that could be a problem I suppose. Hum...

the basil in my raft beds does seem to be a bit more prone to attack by some pests while the stuff in the towers, while I occasionally see pests, I haven't seemed to loose much productivity to them.