Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Now i am confused. Picked 3 of those leaves with damage this morning. No eggs underneath, no bugs, leaves not chewed or eaten thru. Didn't take a photo cause there is nothing to see. If salt damage causes leaf browning this is not salt damage. Left a couple of damaged leaves on seedlings to see if anything hatches/ browns etc over the coming week.

Leaf miner burrows inside the leaf itself TT

Ta Rup, sneaky lil buggers. Must be tiny, got my game face on now suckers, hatch, i dare ya!

Went down to the local ag store with a leaf and compared it to their Yates Garden Bug book. Does indeed look like classic leaf miner. What cracks me up is it appeared on the same relative leaves of each plant on the same day. Anywho, plucked each affected leaf and binned it.
Also got some iron chelate and whacked half a teaspoon in each drainpipe during the flood cycle and threw half a sock full of shell grit in the bottom of the tank. Interested to see the readings at the end of this week. Seeya.

I am in the process of building a mini greenhouse (3x3) and I've done it for about $150. So long as you don't want glass then you can do it pretty cheap. The most expensive part is the plastic. My One. It still needs a front and back.

gemmell your pic is a dead ringer for one of the blokes that plays for my team, gfc.
I have been watching your thread and with the 'P' word, could prolly build my GH for next to nuthin. The one i want is in the Redpath Propagation Series, 4.1m by 8m. It has a pop top vent that runs the length of the GH, plus an internal fan.
I think i could build my own for $1000 to $1500, if i only had the roof structure as per EB, not the wholly enclosed GH. This is a definite option, your laserlite or f/glass sheets are the price killers in a fully enclosed system.
With a 'roof only' system, i need some concrete footings, 4" by 4" posts, railings, roofing and dasall structure wise. However, we then have floor base,plumbing, GBs, fishtanks etc. If i got out of it for $1500 i reckon i would have done well. Paying retail, two 1000lt IBCs would be $750 alone. Second hand materials, a keen eye in the press and some savvy shopping will be all important on this system. If you have the money, the easiest thing is to spend it. For me, this next system is about doing it right at the right price.

week 4 with seedlings and fish.
Ammo 1
Nitrite 0.1
Nitrate 0
GH 260
KH 50mg/lt
pH 6.4

Just about there. Been picking lettuce all week! Threw in some shell grit in a sock which has raised pH. KH has risen of course too, GH as expected with last week's salt addition. Ammo, nitrite, nitrate have all been falling and nearly all at zip. Reckon this means waste gets converted pretty much straight away.

Had lotta suspended solids that my pump doesn't seem to be clearing, so i did a 25% water change and left the spa pump running for an hour. Things seem to be a lot clearer. Water temp has dropped to 19C from 22C a week ago. The nights are cloudless and cooler. The fish are not quite so voracious in their feeding, as a result.

Boy do they love live food tho. Put duckweed full of mossie lava in each evening. They sit under the tin as i empty it and the next 30seconds is lava heaven for fish. Also noticed a lot of what i suspect are bloodworms on a decomposing apple in my duckweed tank. Dunno where they came from.

Happy vegemite and 'hi' to all you West Coke Eagles supporters.

Greenhouse $4000

Twins I am building a greenhouse 12m by 4m for less tan $3000 from VP Structures.

AP

AP are they local or national? Any web address? Looking hard at building it from scratch myself, have cleared the space, but don't want to go much further until i am definite about the whole thing.

Done some pricing and could build it for close to 2 grand not including fish tanks. Too many bloody design options and not enough money!

TT.... link to VP Structures

Thanks rupert. Twins they are local. My build price for greenhouse approx $2500.00. In kit form and I am building it myself. Go to my posts "Aussieponics proposed system".

AP

Thanks Rup, man they got some stuff.

AP been following ur thread religiously. Can't wait to see it firing.

Had a fish die today, first one. Took a couple of pics which i will upload in the morning. (Off to see Pink shortly!.) It had some red/purple around the gills and tail, tell tale signs probably. Cut it open and their was undigested food in there so it had been eating today. I have been thinking about changing my pump cycle to longer flood times to get more air in. This may be the answer. Will do all the tests in the morning.

OK, say thanx for the useful replies, a pic might help.