Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Check out these pictures. These are mostly cucumbers. A tomato plant or two. What on EARTH could make them do so bad? They started off so strong. I keep adding nutrients, after doing regular water changes, so I just don't think its a lack of nutrients, but maybe it could be. My thoughts on possibilities:

1. Too much light? "Bleaching"? Although that would seem odd. I only have on 3 LED lights I got from Freighthouse Tools - I seriously doubt that is too much light.

2. Too much nitrates? They seem to be going up REAL FAST in my system. Its weird, I only have a few small cichlids in there. I think that maybe roots from prior plants have fallen to the bottom and are decomposing. But still, I change the water like a 70% change and test the nitrates and they are immediately a good bit above normal, and within a few days are real high. I know too much nitrates can cause damage to the plants. Burn or nutrient lockout or whatever.

3. Cucumber disease? Wilt, blight, etc? Although, they are indoors with basically no insects, so don't know how this would happen. And it would not explain the tomato plant doing so bad - its leaves keep wilting/dying, and no tomatoes after months. At least I do have a few cucumbers.

Any ideas?

Thanks!!!

??

Post some pics so we can see.

Ak, that happens to me so often! Here they are! Well, links anyways, said files were too big to upload.


https://i.imgur.com/Gpdia0s.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/UZVTzW4.jpg


Thanks!!!

I don't know if this will still work (a bit old); viewtopic.php?f=4&t=107

Yep,those LED lights again.That is bleaching.
If they are not meant for growing & are ebay cheap types,it shouldn't be used.

The lights would also explain why the plants aren't fruiting.Tomatoes & cucumbers are heavy fruiting plants,you would need heavy output mostly red spectrum LEDs for that or HPS HID bulbs for that.


How old is the system?
How high are the Nitrates?
What test are you using?
How much are you feeding the fish? & what are you feeding the fish?.
Is there an RFF or mineralisation tank?

Thank you 7341!

So, the cucumbers are actually fruiting. But the tomatoes, nothing. Are there any best recommended grow lights? Best overall and/or best based on what you get for the price?

So, I wouldn't even call what I have a "system". Its just an aquarium with ply wood on top with holes cut out and net cups placed in there for the plants. I add minerals to the water after every water change, mostly Masterblend (super high in potassium, a little bit of phosphorous and trace minerals), epsom salt, a bit of calcium chloride, and some monopotassium phosphate. That plus the nitrates in the water make it a complete package I think.

I just have a pump that I put in when nitrates get too high which sends the water to the back yard, I then pump in new water from a 55 gallon trashcan that I fill with tap water and aerate for at least a day and then use.

The fish are a few cichlids, Johanni cichlids. Feed them just flake food.

No mineralization tank or anything like that, I just add the minerals as I said after every water change.

All open to any other ideas! Thanks!!!

By the way, you mentioned "those lights again" referring to the harbor freight lights. I'm googling them and growing things with them, and I'm not seeing anything off hand saying they won't work, are bad, etc. They seem a little on the "bright" color side, but are they really that bad? I'm using 3 - if I only use 2 might it stop the bleaching and what not?

Thanks 7341!!!

The cucumbers will start to fruit but won't get any bigger,they'll stay at about an inch long.And the tomatoes definitely won't start without proper light.(been there done that )
All of this is a sure sign the lights aren't correct for what you're doing.
Harbor freight lights I've never heard of,are they meant for growing plants?
When I said "those lights again",I meant LEDs.Do a quick search on the forum here & you'll see how many try using them and end up with (mostly) burnt plants.There are those that have succeeded too.


It won't make a difference,it's radiation that's burning the leaves & maybe heat as well.
"Best" lights to use could be real LEDs meant for growing or CFLs,use these for the growth stage & HPS for the fruiting stage.CFLs are cheap enough to buy & run.
The burnt leaves & the lack of fruiting are definitely down to the lights.

The Nitrates.
What you're doing,is a hydroponic system with a few fish.Master blend is a hydro solution made up of synthetic nutrients.I don't know exactly what particular combination their nutrients are in (they wouldn't release their recipe anyway) but most hydro companies use Potassium Nitrate for K & Ammonium Nitrate to get N.
In your case,that,plus the few fish,would explain where your explosion of Nitrate is coming from.Too much N could cause an unbalance in the system & also prevent plants from fruiting.

Be careful with wood and fish,it can kill them.

I'm sorry it sounds all bad but I think you need to rethink all of this.Maybe have the cucumbers & tomatoes in a separate hydro system & grow some leafy stuff with the fish.But you'll need to feed the fish better (not flakes).

Hope this helps.

I think that you may have another gremlin in there that is causing you problems. I have always had problems with tomatoes and that is why I went to hydroponics and then AP because I thought if I got everything out of the ground it would be Okay but I stuffed up in the process and took it all with me. I used to get that many cucumbers and capsicums that I didn't no what to do with them and now I can't get enough. I have only found out today that the virus that kills the tomatoes also effects the other two plants. So that explains that. So what I will have to do is set up another system for capsicums and cucumbers and make sure that I wash my hands and any tools and take nothing from my present system to the new one. I am getting some tomatoes out of the present one so I might leave them there for a while until I think of something else . I don't think changing the water often is a good idea because you are losing all your nutrient as well. I have had a few mishaps and lost water and everything was looking sad so added some pee to it. As a result I have got the best tomatoes that I have had for years. And the best strawberries. So we both have some home work to do. In hydroponics you can put bleach or something like that in it to kill all the bugs in it but with AP you would kill all the fish and the good bugs in your grow bed. The virus is that bad in town here that virtually no one can grow tomatoes. If some one knows the answer I would like to hear it.

@dbird
I think we have a similar thing here.It might be some sort of blight,once someone has it,it seems to spread throughout the area & no one can grow them until there's a deep freeze or maybe no food for it?.
I'm not sure how to stop it.Prevention is really the only thing,like you said about disinfecting tools etc.

I grew tomatoes for a few seasons in a cool summer area, outdoors in the ground, and we would get blight. I noticed that some varieties had more resistance than others. Some would get ravaged, and seem to die within a week.

Others would die a slow death. And it would set in after the plants were producing, but before ripening fruit usually.

People grew tomatoes successfully with little issues in poly tunnels there. I think the layer of plastic protected them from the cool humidity that was constant. Which I think caused the blight.

If it's viral, and in the soil or passed by sucking bugs, that could be more tricky to deal with in a system.
I think someone testing using a soil additive called actinovate in their AP system a long time ago on here, but I don't remember who, or if it was for the same kinds of issues, or if they had success. I believe it is supposed to help with issues like that in soil gardens.

If it was something like a viral or bacterial issue in AP, or Hydroponics, would growing plants that aren't host's for it starve it out after a while? It seems like it.

Thanks so much everyone!

So, I got 3 proper growing LED lights, 2 I hooked up in the last couple of weeks. Here is a picture:



https://i.imgur.com/OT03MHx.jpg



Things seem to be doing better - I'm actually getting a fat cucumber again!

But take a look at this picture. Is this bleaching from too much light? Do I just need to raise the light up a bit?


https://i.imgur.com/I7KPJnO.jpg



Thanks!!!

Lights look good!

The 2nd pic/link,I don't think it's down to the lights.
The little leaf above is unaffected by the bleaching & being higher on the plant,surely it would burn first if it was to do with heat coming from the lights.Notice the vein is green it might be a deficiency.

Is this bleaching happening on all the plants & is on the lower leaves or upper?
Did this bleaching happen before the new lights went up?
How powerful are the lights?