Tomatoes are in...

Have now bought four varieties of tomatoes; Roma, Sweet Bite, Cherry Roma and Beams Yellow.

I have included some broccolini and chives, now just waiting for September to plant the Capsicum, one red, one yellow, one green.

A Bag of Spuds on the side

I know aquaponics is not compatible for growing very many root vegetables, particularly not potatoes.
Since we enjoy roasted and mash, as well as a good potato salad in summer, I've set up an alternative system for growing them which I was told dates back many generations.

This is aptly called Spuds in a bag. Simple and very versatile and I'm told huge harvests without digging, and doesn't take up a lot of room because it works on vertical growth.

It involves a hessian bag and access to a large amount good composted soil. Getting the hessian bag was the hardest, my local produce store had these bags as dog pillow bags, and are perfect for only $4.50 each.
As I have chickens, their scratching yard has THE best aerated and fertilized soil (without being too acidic) so I had a win/win situation. Simply roll the bag down three quarters, fill that portion with the soil, plant the spuds and wait for them to grow about 40cm high, then unroll the bag about 20-30cm, back fill with more soil and repeat until the bag is full and the plants are growing beyond the height of the bag.
Each time this is done, the plants will send out roots and grow more spuds at that level, all the way up the bag. Therefore, when the spuds at the top section are a good size then you know the ones at the bottom should be huge so then harvest the lot. I have planted two different spuds, the pontiacs and the standard whites. I also put the bags on shade cloth, so they are not sitting directly on dirt and shouldn't rot as quickly. I use diluted worm water from the worm farm mixed with water from the aquaponics as the main watering for my spuds.

Once harvested, I can then put the old soil back in the chook pen and start again. I will set up two more bags when these two are half way so I can alternate and have plenty to harvest.

Getting closer to Spring

With the daylight hours starting to get longer, and the weather a bit warmer, well on certain days anyway, I've now planted some Broccolini and a few Strawberries.

The back section has been left empty in preparation for tomatoes. I will plant two Cherry and two Roma tomatoes in two grow beds. I will also plant a few capsicums and that should be the extent of these six growbeds for this spring. The peas are doing well too, and have plenty of small pods on the way.

I will post regular updated pics of the growth over the next few months.

Warmer weather

Now that the temperature of the water appears to be more stable around 8-11 degrees minimum, I have purchased five silver perch fingerlings with 15 dark comets in the middle tank. I have also added another 15 comets to tank 3 to really kick start the new grow beds and the first two are doing well:

One lesson learnt is not to overcrowd. I've removed a few lettuces that were being smothered and moved the chives to a different bed.

The second planting of silverbeet and celery is also picking up:

A few weeks ago I started my second growbed of Lettuce and parsley, giving more room for individual plants in the centre, rather than around the sides:

Full growth at last

Growth is rapid now with the daylight hours increasing and the bacteria cycling well.

I have added a few more yabbies to Tank 1 and when the water temperature is stable above 10c I'll add the Silver Perch fingerlings. In late August I will plant out the other four grow beds with tomatoes, basil, capsicum, and more lettuce.

I'll also investigate the trellis apples, could be a winner!

Preparing for Spring planting

Based on the first two grow beds, it takes about 2-3 months for the bacteria to really establish in the scoria of the grow beds. After many hours of washing, I've prepared another four grow beds in preparation of the spring planting of tomatoes, capsicum, beans, more lettuce, oregano and perhaps zucchini. The level of the scoria is not high enough to plant but enough to start the bacteria cycle.

The single pump in the middle tank has proved powerful enough to pump to all six beds, and I can still add one or two more - I'll like to try trellis apples once this system is well established!

It is early July and I'm looking forward to warmer weather (and longer daylight hours) when I can purchase some silver perch fingerlings for the middle tank and some more yabbies for tank one. Though both are fairly hardy, the colder temperatures can raise the mortality rate significantly - patience, patience, patience and let the system develop and cycle by adding stock and plants slowly over time.

How the Aquaponics cycle works

We've all heard of hydroponics, the growing of plants in highly fertilized and treated water without soil. This requires periodic water changes to replace the toxic waste buildups and guess where this usually ends up...

Aquaculture is the culture of fish, trout, perch, etc, in tanks or ponds for restaurant trade or retail. Again this requires massive amounts of energy and water changes to remove the build up of ammonia and guess where this usually ends up...

Both systems need constant attention to water quality to ensure best growth. Aquaponics is the combination of the two, whereby bacteria in the grow beds of clay beads or gravel or even small scoria, develop and change the fish waste (ammonia) into nitrite and and secondary bacteria change this into nitrate which the plants take up for growth. This basically purifies the water that returns to the fish tanks as clean clear water. No need for water changes and once the cycle has established, very little maintenance.

In this system the only feed required is for the livestock, whether fish or crustacean, as adding fertilizers will kill the fish and the bacteria. Pellets for the fish and vegetable scraps for the yabbies is all you need do, every second day in winter and daily during warmer months, and only small amounts so very low costs after initial set up.

Having the grow bed at hip-height also means no bending, there is no weeding or digging and it only requires about 10% of the water used to maintain the average soil veggie patch.

The aim is to produce not only the freshest organic veggies but also fresh fish for the BBQ.