Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I thought it was a Greek name. I assume it is pretty popular in South Africa then?

As a surname it is quite popular like Charlize Theron. But it is pronounced as a "T" not "Th" as "The", Ta-ron.
It's a very Afrikaans surname. I've always assumed that because it is Afrikaans that it has Dutch origins but I am not sure.

I thought my system's water was too cool for it, but I was mistaken... I have tilapia fry.

breeded in your system?>

Yup, that can be a blessing, or a curse.

Nice one Ron. You will be a Tilapia farmer in no time. It's interesting how they breed nearly anywhere but with other fish it's so hard to get them to breed even when you try hard.

Anyway, I think it's a good thing. Shows a healthy system.

I'll raise you 1 lb 2 3/4 oz. I'm all in...oh dirt does it matter lol.

My first eggplant!

The poinsettia peppers are growing back after their root pruning and aggressive trimming.

My bell peppers are bouncing back too. In this bed I also have what is left of the chard that produced vigorously this summer, but needed to be thinned out, cabbage, and the tomato vine.

The two plants in the front are both romanesco. the one on the right is clearly doing better. I have been eating the leaves. They are quite good. In the back are jalapeños that had been pruned back aggressively before. I nipped the flowers for a while to get the plants larger. Now I am letting them produce. There is also another bell pepper with them. It was one of my early bonsai attempts. It seems to have worked.

Here is my raft bed. For some reason the lettuce wants to grow tall...

I think tall lettuce might be lack of light. You can see them all bending towards the light too.

Just read through the whole thread - impressive - and very instructional. Reminds me that I need to do an update on my small system now that it is at the three month mark. Dunno if I should just add on to the Amarillo TX startup thread or create a new update thread. I don't guess it matters.

I learned a lot just from a careful reading of your progress.

Keep the same thread. It makes it easier on people who are following your progress. Plus, if you have a question it makes it easier to scroll back and see the setup. There are some members that post new thread every time they have the smallest question, then blow up if it is not answered in 5 minutes. If they would just use one thread, their questions would get answered so much faster.

Whoops, just chose the opposite so I guess I'll take it down and go back to the first one. Haven't got the pictures posted yet anyway since my phone is being contrary about sending them to me

Hi Ron,

I have been following your thread for awhile , what a great system!

I have tried growing Jalapenos in my system and just cant seem to get them to grow. I have a bunch of seedlings that are
now ready to plant , do you do anything special for the Jalapenos or have any tips that you could recommend? I had read on a pepper forum to try cutting the plant back when it is small and that will help promote a stronger but I am not sure if that will work.

Definitely trim off the blossoms before they bloom. Keep trimming them off until the plant is of a decent size. You want the plants resources going into vegetive growth for a while. Once it is of a good size, let it blossom. Major cut backs are also useful. Remember that after the cut back, you will want to nip the blossoms again to get some size in the branches again. If you let them fruit too early, they won't grow very well.

Thanks Ron!