Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

What's the best soil for Moringa?
My seedlings keep dying once they get 10cm high.

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If 'some' is good, and 'more' is better, then 'too much' should be just about right - Buckminster Fuller

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Aquaponic Lynx
TCLynx Bought The Farm
Old Main System
Old 300 gallon System

Woman who owns nursery in Northen NSW kept them in a GH and they died, same as yours... probably rotted. She will try outside the GH this year.

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KudaPucat
A horse is only a horse for as long as we see it as a horse.
The Pale Horse Rides Again
My System #2

If moringa grows back from the root and produced enough leaves then perhaps I should give it a try. However, my soil is clay and I may have to grow the tree in a large pot.

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Think Outside the Box, Do your Thinking for Yourself!

If you amend enough of the surface soil with compost and such, the moringa would probably do some work at pushing it's tap roots down through the deeper clay and breaking it up for you so long as it doesn't rot from being waterlogged or anything. The fact that it's deep tap root can mine for nutrients through poor soil is one of the real benefits of the tree.

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Aquaponic Lynx
TCLynx Bought The Farm
Old Main System
Old 300 gallon System

I agree. I have read that Moringa will tolerate clay but good drainage by planting it on mounds and adding lots of humus can give it a good start.

To produce enough leaves it is essential to pinch out the top 10cm when about 60cm high. This aids pod production too. Apparently if this is not done it will shoot sky high very quickly with thin foliage cover. Some cultures even grow it as a crop in rows packed closely together, keeping it very low with regular lopping to keep up production.

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Chelle.

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. Ellen Parr

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident.
Arthur Schopenhauer

Can you suggest a US source for seedlings.

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Think Outside the Box, Do your Thinking for Yourself!

I don't know about getting seedlings but here is a source for seeds.
http://echobooks.org/index.php?cPath=25_68

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Aquaponic Lynx
TCLynx Bought The Farm
Old Main System
Old 300 gallon System

Came across this about growing Moringa in colder zones.....


http://www.ehow.com/how_4513911_grow-mo ... tside.html

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Chelle.

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. Ellen Parr

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident.
Arthur Schopenhauer

Ordered a moringa plant a couple of days ago. Also ordered some mexican fern tree seeds(mile-a-minute) 5mtrs in 18months

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When I go, I want it to be peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like his passengers.

http://www.backyardfarming.com.au/phpbbb/

A couple fast growers!

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Think Outside the Box, Do your Thinking for Yourself!

My Moringas are doing so well now. Nipped of the growing tip at a half meter and been cutting back branches at 20-30cm as that booklet said. Has stopped them shooting straight up....

First winter growing Moringas now coming up. ......

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Chelle.

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. Ellen Parr

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident.
Arthur Schopenhauer

The moringa trees I planted last year that the tops froze off, have not grown back from the roots yet. Looking really dead. I hope they surprise me but I will definitely be planting the new seedlings that I have going into a space that I can easily protect for winter freezes. I also plan to add papaya, banana, and perhaps a few other tropicals to that protected space.

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Aquaponic Lynx
TCLynx Bought The Farm
Old Main System
Old 300 gallon System

How tall were they before winter hit TC?

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Chelle.

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. Ellen Parr

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident.
Arthur Schopenhauer

water logging is about the only way ..... short of freezing to kill Moringa.
from memory original Moringa comes from highlands in India/nepal ,, so cold not a major problem but not below say 5 Celsius.
I DO NOT recommend growing moringa in an closed-loop AP system , some of the greatest benefits of moringa are addition of elements lacking in AP ,, so if grown in a close-loop ap they remove at least as much as supplying,,,which means a nil benefit oter than perhaps protein convertion.
moringa's ability to find nutrients and water ( long tap root) in poor soils is part of its talents.
I plant it just 10cm apart in soil ,, very poor sandy soil ,, dump any pump outs there in dry times and allow the chicken/pig runoff's to trickle down that way. We have about 1,000 square metres of moringa ,, it's amazing how much output it gives. don't always think of moringa as an ANIMAL/FISH food ,, it is a very nice vegetabe for human consumption.
cattle give Outstanding results with wlited ( not in sun ,, say 6hoursi shade) cut moringa , up to 12 kiLo DAY PER HEAD.PIGS LOVE IT ..... CHICKENS DON'T ,, you can heat the leaves to seperate the protein to add to the chicken feed ,, but my opinion it's not worth the time.

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I call a Spade a Spade,,,you can turn it upside down and paint itred but it's still a Spade.