Update June 25, 2013

Not much to report other than really fast growth.  The tomato on the front right has taken off.  The tomato at the back left is growing slower.  The only reason I can give for this is the 6500K and 2700K lights are a far more effective pair than the 6500K and 3500K.


The bigger of the two also has blossoms starting.


Other than another application of worm tea and epsom salt no other fertilizers were used.

Let there be "more" light

With the addition of 2 tomato plants I figured more light would be advisable.  The first time I did tomatoes in hydroponics they did not bloom.  I believe this was due to two factors.  Not enough light and not being pollinated correctly indoors.


A second reflector hood was added with two more 100 watt CFL bulbs installed.  They are 100 watt equivalent but use 23 watts each.  A nice thing about this arrangement is that I can have the lights at two different heights.


There are two 6500K, one 2700K(right back, yellowish glow), one 3500K(left back).  I went with a 3500K this time due to the 2700Ks only coming in a 4 pack.  So we will see what a 3500K will do.  Also with the two hoods and four CFLs I added a fan on the timer as well.  This is set for 12 hours on 12 hours off. 

Cucumber from seed

Now that I know pretty much what went wrong last time it is time to try it again with cucumbers.  This time the rockwool cubes will be skipped and the seeds put directly in the clay pebbles.  These are the same Burpee picklebush cucumbers.  Basically to plant scoop the pebbles till you hit the wet layer.  That should be about 1/2" deep.  Place your seeds there and then cover and sprinkle a little water on top.


This is after 2 days in the grow bed.


Eight days.  Cucumbers are in the back right hand corner.  Tomatoes in front and rear left hand.  Strawberries on the front left corner.


Thirteen days.

Strawberries from a Bonnie potted plant

For this planting I am going to use a Bonnie potted plant that is available at most home improvement stores.  Being as these are started in dirt it may get shocked a bit.  Hopefully it won't die but I expect it to live as many people use this technique.  First select the best looking plant you can find in the store.  No excessive dead leaves, no yellowing and no pests.  I took this and set it to the side of my growbed for a couple days to get it kinda used to my grow light.  Now on to the planting.


First prepare a hole in the growbed for the plant.  Notice the large netpot over the bell siphon hole.  That stops any pebbles from going down into the siphon.  Now to dig the hole I scoop away a bit of the pebbles then use a netpot with the bottom cut out to make the hole.


This is the plant we are going to use.  These Bonnie plants come in a biodegradable pot.  You are just supposed to take off the plastic wrapper and put it in the dirt.  But even when container or dirt gardening I still remove the pot.  They grow better with out it.  For aquaponics we definitely have to remove it.  Hold onto the plant and use a hose to gently remove the dirt from the roots.  You want all the dirt and the white fertilizer pelets removed.


It should look like this when cleaned.  Put this into the netpot, the one with the bottom cut out.  Then gently remove the pot from the grow bed.  The pebbles should gently fill in the space.  Fill any remaining space by hand and be gentle.


And done.  Now it either survives or it does not.

Worm Tea - part 2

This part 2 is just for those for who like pictures.  Most of this was explained in the first post but without pictures.


This is just a fine mesh strainer picked up for a couple bucks from the grocery store.  Here I have strained out about 24 ounces of tea.  There is plenty more in the coffee container but I will just put the airstone back in and let it bubble.  A funnel was used to put the tea into the spray bottle.


I have removed the lettuce as that was where the major infestation of spider mites were.  They were just being used to keep the aquarium water clean inbetween plantings.  Now with the tomatoes getting bigger, a few cucumber seeds planted by the water inlet and a strawberry plant I will be putting in the water should be fine.  I used a heavy mist of the worm tea on all the expanded clay pebbles and tomato plants.  This will be repeated 2-3 times daily for the next few days.


About 16 ounces of tea was added directly to the tank.  It turned the water a brownish color.  It should not hurt the fish but I want to see what it does.

Worm Tea - part 1

In this post we are going to cover making a simple worm tea.  This is safe for both the plants and fish in the aquaponics system.  This will also add extra nutrients to the system that fish and water alone cannot supply.


Here are the items needed:

• Small can.  Coffee or something that size with a lid.
• Unsulphered molasses
• Worm castings
• Air pump with hose and stone.
• Water from the aquaponics system

To make the worm tea add about 1-2 tablespoons of molasses to the coffee can.  Follow that with about 64 oz of the aquarium water.  (I use the aquarium water cause it has already been dechlorinated.)  Stir the mixture to dissolve the molasses.  Add about 1/4 cup of worm castings to the water.  Then throw in the airstone and plug in the pump.  If you have it you can also add some fish emulsion, seaweed extract or lemon juice.  Just a tablespoon or two will do.


I cut a notch in the lid for the airhose and put the lid on.  This keeps all the bubbles inside the can.  Let this go for 24 hours or a little longer.  Strain though a tea strainer into a spray bottle or other container.  Put the worm castings in your compost pile or in somewhere in the garden.  Use right away and keep for about 3 days in the fridge.

This can be used a few different ways.  In a dirt garden it can be used as a soil drench, in other words pour in the ground.  You can use it as a foliar spray to feed the plant directly.  Dilute it 1 part tea to 9 parts water and use it to get rid of and prevent spider mites, aphids and other pests.  You can also just pour it right into the fish tank.  It won't harm your fish.


In the center of the picture on the leaf those little dots are spider mites.  They look like little red specs but if you watch them closely they move.  You can also see tiny webs.  I plan on using the tea to get rid of these.

May 2013, Tomatoes added

This will be my second attempt at aquaponics but now with an established system.  I chose some cherry tomato seeds I have planted and used in my container garden.  They were started with the Burpee seed starting kit and rockwool cubes as previously posted.  I planted them about 3-4 inches deep in the clay pebbles.


I planted the two plants in opposite corners of the grow bed.


Here is a view from the front.  The one in back is hidden.


Here are two of the three fish. Funny thing is I had originally bought one gold one, a black/gold and a white/gold. Now in about 6 months they are all gold.