Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

The lettuce sprout have all been eaten overnight.

I seem to have a mass of slaters in my bed. I have tried to get rid of them before with little effect. I might have to raise the water level so the surface of the bed is submerged and leave it like that for a long time, and hopefully drown the buggers out.

Anybody found a way to get them out of the grow bed fish safe wise?

Don't know how practical this is for you Doc:
Q. How do I get rid of slaters without using chemicals?

A. To combat the slaters you will need to cut a yellow grapefruit in half and scoop out all the flesh. Then all you need to do is simply place halves around vegetable patch checking each morning for slaters underneath grapefruit halves. Scoop the slaters out and drown in a bucket of water or place into the bin.
from: http://yourpatchorganic.com/frequently-asked-questions/

or

Make traps from hollowed out orange halves or seedling punnets filled with potato peelings, to distract slaters from seedlings, and germinating seeds.

In larger gardens, rotating chooks over vegie beds in between crops is a great way to clear up infestation and provide your birds with protein.

from: http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s2577408.htm

Good luck!

Slaters still rule my garden bed. I was going to flood it but had a heap of seedlings growing for my little fell's dirt bed.

I stripped my bed clear of toms back in mid January. Seeds have sprouted everywhere. I shared some plants wih my son, and chucked a heap in the compost. My bed is now covered in plants, and we ate the first fruit. There are toms every where. I think that in a weeks time I will be pulling off more than the 1/2 kg per day.

I think this summer has been less sever heat wise and as such the plants haven't been smashed, and growth is just amazing.

Just need to find out how to grow other plants other than toms, basil and chives in gigantic proportions. Mind you, how much can one 1m2 bed grow anyway!

Good to see you here again Doc.

You becoming a tomato farmer?

Will never be able to compete with the likes of Ryan!

Lol. Yeah some guys are way out there but still - its good work.

Well, the tomatoes and the chives have taken over the bed. I pulled out all my chives, and split one in half, and replanted one half. That should see us through winter. Found a few snails and caterpillars hiding in the chive clumps.

Still getting about 2kg of cherry toms each week, so I thinned out some of the bushes, now down to about a kilo per week. Filled up the compost bin with heaps of plants and roots and worms.

Have planted a heap of seeds in some growing mix, waiting for them to sprout and get strong before tempt the snails and slugs.

Didn't harvest any fish this summer, but they are there. They smash the feed when I remember to feed them. Bigger ones are probably 18 inches long now.

Great Doc, impressive harvests like always.

It was mothers Day yesterday, and my wifes' birthday, so the kids cooked dinner. Damn they make a mess, and make heaps of washing up.

Entree was bruschetta (home grown toms and basil), main course Shepherds pie (Home grown spuds, toms and various herbs), Dessert Apple Crumble. The Pie was the best I have ever eaten. Well done Kieran!! Bruschetta up there with what I have had in restaurants.

So proud of my 9 and 11 year olds. The 11 year old is representing Australia in the Cars Maths in motion Final qualifying race today. Hopefully they qualify for the final race and they get a trip to England.

Awesome kids Doc! I need to have a word with my 10 year old about his cooking skills...

Hey Doc, just had a great read through your thread. Looks like a bountiful system that feeds your family in more ways than just food. Well done and thanks for sharing your journey.

A first for Australia.

My boys car and his team (Kingston Primary School) have qualified for the final of the Cars Maths in Motion for 2015. So the better half and he are off in June, and I can spend some quality time with the other two boys and my AP. No distractions for a week, well, except for running a house hold!

Thanks Joc,

Fed the family again last night. Another huge batch of tomato sauce for pasta. Spotted preserving jars at the $1 shop in Treendale. Might need to grab some, then I can cook up all the remaining tommies. Still getting over a kilo per week from the one remaining plant.

Bok choy is looking the best it ever has (under my half soda bottle anti-snail cups). I am determined to have a batch survive the ravages of the slimies. I also built a mot so the slaters wouldn't attack the seedlings. I have a section of bed that is flooded as thats where the outlet is, and there is a build up of muck in that corner, and I notice that there are no slaters there. So I build up a mound in that area, and plated out by seedlings. So far so good.

Nice Doc and well done to your son for his victory.

Thanks MC. I think the day will rate pretty highly in his list of accomplishments. They are the first overseas team to ever qualify. The program is sponsored by Jaguar, so is mostly UK based.