My system reached 3 months old last Friday. And I made my first harvest of pak choi! The feeling is just unbelievable because I barely look after it, I just feed the fish. If I were to plant it conventional way, on the ground, I probably won't be able to harvest yet, or worse even grow it. I'm glad I didn't hesitate to start this project. Now I can't wait for the fish to grow to a palatable size!
As you can see there in the grow bed, I just planted the mint given by my mom and daun sup (daun saderi), a species of parsley. What you can see is what it has become after just a week in the bed. I planted it from root cutting leftover from our kitchen. I also planted spring onion but it is on the far right of the bed and refused to enter the frame, a bit shy maybe...and look at my kesum, finally no more white and dead young leaves. Amazing really.
How about the fish? they all are doing just fine in the tank. Getting fresh water from the rain everyday. In fact, ever since I started this project I changed the water only once on week one because it was too smelly. Never see any reason to change the water till date.
That has to be iron deficiency. Growth looks good, but leaves are yellow with greenish veins. A common aquaponics problem.
ReplyDeleteYou can get EDTA iron chelate powder from Ace Hardware. But it is freakin expensive! RM70 for a 10kg tin can which can last for a lifetime since your system will only need 1/4 teaspoon every month. They don't sell smaller portions. I had asked several shops at Sungai Buloh but nobody there sells them.
Another way is to drop some rusty iron nails or bars into the system. Make sure they are NOT galvanized steel if you dont want toxic metals to enter you and your family. You have to place those iron at an anaerobic spot(no oxygen) because anaerobic bacteria can extract the oxygen from rust and bind the iron atoms into a soluble form.
Thanks for your comment William. I'm looking for the iron bar now...
ReplyDelete