Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hii,
My plants grow slowly I think , I am planting basil and duckweed and other vegetable I cant find its english name , basil is 3 weeks old now , they are about 3 to 4 centimeter long they have 4 small leaves ( including the initial ones ) .
In respect to duckweed , I can not tell if it is growing or not because of its floating and movement .
The third plants is much slower , it is about 1 to 2 cm( 3 weeks old too )
I have read in the forum that aquaponic system needs iron chelate for the plants to grow better , so I thought may be this is the problem , so I went to agreculture shop to get chelated iron , but I noticed that there are some other constituents with iron ,like EDDAH and folate and some other things I do not remember their name . Is it safe to add those things , or should I seek for only chelated iron .
Best

Iron only needs to be added if there is a deficiency. Iron deficiency is detectable by looking for yellowing of the leaves. Slow or stunted growth could be a sign of general lack of nutrients. What's your pH and nitrate levels?

_________________
2008-2009: Experimental, NFT
2010-2012: IBC system(s)
2012-Now : 1000L FT, 500L GB, 23/25 trout (added 27Apr. 2 jumpers)

SkyPE: wabbit.com.au

you dont say if you have fish or not yet, if you do how long have you had your system running?

EDDHA is the form the Iron is is... it is the Iron.

Folate... ... they now put it in our bread here, so we consume it whether we like it or not... so it can't be that bad for us, otherwise the politicians wouldn't force it into us!... just like flouride!

I would doubt you have an Iron deficiency at this early stage... more likely a lack of Nitrate... or nutrients in general, as Bunson suggested... do you have any fish in the system yet?... Have you added any seaweed extract, such as Seasol or Maxicrop?... what is the pH of the water in the system?

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Mr Damage - a.k.a: Yabbies

I am afraid I do not have test kits , unfortunatly they are not available here .
the system has fish( 11 common carp + 4 goldfishs + 6 baby goldfishs )
the system has been running for 6 months now .
I have planted lettuce , basil , spinach for a while but they were very slow ( lettuce stayed for more than 4 months to grow only for about 10 centimeters or less . But at that time there were only 4 goldfishs and one carp .
I use a handfull of pellets every other day , and duckweed .

Best wishes

ok do you know how big the tank is that you have your fish in and how is your system set up?
cf,chift pist, timed fd?

The fish tank is half 1000 L tank ,fulled to the half ( so the water size is about 250- 300 L )
I have 3 grow beds : 2 for duckweed( about 1 square meter each ) , the water is pumped from the ft to the grow bed continuously .
1 for vegetable ( about 1 square meter ) , I am using flood and drain with siphon system .

I need your help with this guys . What is the problem that cause this slow growth.
thanks

Hi guys, Any information will be useful to me .
Thanks

How many fish? What size are they? What are you feeding them?

_________________
2008-2009: Experimental, NFT
2010-2012: IBC system(s)
2012-Now : 1000L FT, 500L GB, 23/25 trout (added 27Apr. 2 jumpers)

SkyPE: wabbit.com.au

3 weeks is still pretty early on in the game too. I wouldnt imagine there is any available Nitrate for plant growth. Are you able to use some worm tea on or some kind of seaweed extract till a Nitrate colony begins to establish. You basically need to feed your plants till the fish poop takes over.

_________________
~2010/2011~
~2012/2013~
~My Yabbie Hunting Adventures~

Two square metres of duckweed would be chewing up a lot of nitrates and ammonia. The extra fish you have now might make a difference

_________________
IBC system
Bigger system
Greenhouse system
Horsham Aquaponics

I hope so
Thanks