Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Curious about what's eating the greens. The wife says "caterpillars". I have some assorted goldfish and mosquitofish not pictured.

My money is on cabbage moth caterpillars. Dipel is a good control.

Your wife is spot on. You can see one on the stem in the third pic and the droppings in the second pic. As Charlie says - dipel is an organic caterpillar specific spray which will do the job and not harm your fish


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Thanks for the help guys.

Bender - good eye.

It looks like in california i'd have to special order "dipel" but there are other organic products readily available with the same active ingredient: Bacillus thuringiensis. I intend to pick some up tomorrow.

This is what i was able to find - hopefully it is the same stuff.

Yes looks like a similar product based on B. t. Should do nicely


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The caterpillars seem to be gone. No corpses but also no more bites.

I am now wondering how to get this tomato to produce food. It grows, it flowers, but i was hoping for more and the toms in the ground here are fruiting nicely. Is there any supplement i can add? My system has only been cycled for a few months.

Your nitrates are probably high. Any idea what they are?

your products in US are different to ours in Aust... an option if you have an equivalent is Blood&Bone with added Potash.
[ handball to Scotty.... ] Else something with Potash (for Potassium) and trace elements.

If you can get something similar you sprinkle a little bit around the base of the tomato plants in the GB and gently water it in. Seems to do the trick. If your nitrates are too high the tomatoes will just basically grow lots of leaves and vine.

My nitrates are probably high. I'll test tomorrow morning.

I was just browsing the forum for ideas to add a growbed but i'm a little space constrained so i was thinking of a vertical gb over the sump somehow.

I read this as around a hundred ppm for nitrates.

There is a bit of crustiness around the edges of some of the leaves.

Amazing growth from the bok choi and basil. I am somewhat wishing i had just done greens this yr.

it is why I grow tomatoes in buckets on the side. Makes it much easier to dose each plant.
And I can control the flow rate via the buckets separate to the GB's.

In main grow bed I found they took over and were too green leaf.
Once I moved to buckets I was able to control them much easier and also blood&bone easily etc.
Kept them under control with pruning and got a regular supply [until the fruit fly got into them in late December].
looking sick now through winter - not enough sun around side of house - roll on spring.

Yeah this tom is taking growing way too seriously. I do have some pottassium sulfate in the garage. I will put some of that in there. I had read that tomatoes could be tough for a first year system and it was an extra start from the dirt garden so i put it in the media bed, thinking it was probably wouldnt work out.

I didnt actually add any supplements other than the seaweed plus iron that i have been lightly spraying about once a week, but i am excited to report a few tomatos growing