July Update

Just a quick update with photos. Things are going pretty well, except that every now and then, my tomato structure will fall down. The plants with large tomatoes are extremely heavy, and I've got all kinds of string trying to keep the pvc pipe towers in place. I'll need to do something better next year - maybe some kind of rack that hangs above that I can fasten the PVC into for support.

Tomato taste report:
- The Amish paste continue to be the most productive in terms of #'s of tomatoes, but their taste isn't all that special. They make nice salsa, though
- I let those 3 large, green German Johnson's sit on the windowsill, and lo and behold, they turned red and taste good.
- I've had a couple of the Moonglow's. They have a subtle flavor and a nice texture. I ate one tonight that I just picked right before, and it seemed a bit watery.  That got me to thinking that maybe it's best to let them sit on the windowsill after picking for a day or two to sort of let them dry up and enhance the flavor. Thoughts?

Cherokee purple (left) and Brandywine (right)

Moonglows and Cherokee purple

The whole system

Trouble with German Johnson's

From the beginning, they seemed a bit weak in the system. I bought them as organic seedlings from Whole Foods. They just never seemed to take well to my aquaponics system, though they had 3 very large tomatoes (still green) on them. For the past week, they've looked weak and wilted, as if they weren't getting enough water. I tried giving them a little boost of nutrients, I tried pouring fresh water over their roots, and I tried cutting the water level down a little. Nothing - they remained wilted. I finally pulled them up yesterday, 'cause they simply didn't look like they were going to make it. The roots looked pretty rotten.

Doesn't make sense, as there are several other tomato plants in that same grow bed, and all are doing fine and producing fruit and looking healthy.

So, maybe it's just that German Johnson's don't do too well in aquaponics (or my aquaponics)? Or maybe I just had a couple of weak plants.

Will try them again next year to see if they consistently perform poorly in my system.

Update and a Reminder

First, the reminder:
- Once your plants are well established and large, you should check your drains periodically (maybe every 2 weeks) for root invasion. Roots grow very quickly and will spread throughout your grow beds. One of the best spots for a root to find is the drain, as it has a nice flow and a steady supply of nutrients. If you aren't vigilant, you may find that your drains have clogged with roots, and your grow beds will overflow.

Now the update:
See for yourself. Things are looking good. Tomatoes are large and healthy. Shouldn't be too much longer before they start to turn color. Some varieties are more prolific than others. Cherokee purple's are probably doing the best in terms of making the most fruit. Also doing well are the Amish pastes and the Brandywines. Not doing so well are the Pineapple somethings and the Moonglows, which only have about 2 tomatoes each on the vine. Not sure why this would be - it could be a great many things. Maybe they like a different pH? Maybe they need more or less sun? Maybe they need more or less water/nutrients? Or maybe they just take longer to get going?

Also, you can see that the yellow squash is repeating the feats of last year by showing MONSTROUSLY large leaves. It seemed at first that they were more normal-sized, but at this point, they are MUCH larger than the squash I have in the dirt. Also, you have to be careful to not leave the fruit on the vine too long. You go away for the weekend and come back to squash the size of bowling pins!

Problem Solved!

I went with the cheap and easy option - elbows! Found a neat little piece of conduit in the electrical department for the overflow ($3). Kinda looks like this:

          ------(
)-----/

Happened to have some 2" pipe and a 2" elbow, and had some leftover aquarium caulk.

So, I put in the piece I bought (middle), put in the 2" elbow (and a lot of caulk), had to move the pump outlet over a little (the pipe on the right was longer, so that the pump was centered in the skimmer) to make room for the previous two items (and added a lot of caulk), and voila!

Did all of this just in time for the 2.5" of rain we got yesterday. Now the pond is at an all-time high level, with probably an extra 300+ gallons in it from before.

Took the opportunity to update the veggie photos.

Broccoli looking really good. I cut a bunch of it already, fearing that I would somehow let it sit too long again and have it flower.

Tomatoes, broccoli, strawberries, squash, etc.

Basil, tomatoes, strawberries, peppers, etc.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Just a quick update on the garden:

Things are growing quite well. I've got about 6 different heirloom tomatoes in, some broccoli that's starting to crown, strawberries, basil, sweet and hot peppers, eggplant, and yellow squash. I'm using leftover 1/2" pvc as support for my tomatoes, which is nice, 'cause you can keep building on to it if you need more height. Other than that, I'm waiting for a call from Foster Lake and Pond about the tilapia. Should be sometime this month.

Oh yeah, I also replaced my water inlet piping, 'cause I had it going from the 1.5" feed lines down to 1/2" when I was trying a drip grid. The problem with 1/2" pipe is that it's the perfect size for hydroton to get stuck in. So, I got some 1.5" PVC. Shouldn't clog now!

Snow Camp Aquaponics Has Gone Flood/Drain

I purchased a timer relay, and after some consultation with my electrical engineer of an uncle, managed to set everything up nicely. As we speak, I've got my pond pump running for 60 minutes, which runs the waterfall and floods the grow beds, and as that switches off, an aerator switches on for 30 minutes, allowing the grow beds to drain fully while still providing the fishies with oxygen. As a bonus, the aerator only uses 15W of electricity, which is a fraction of what the pond pump uses. So, for 8 hours a day, my electricity meter will be spinning a little more slowly.

The garden this year will feature heirloom tomatoes. We've been enjoying the spinach, arugula, and cilantro. And with such a warm start to spring, it looks like it won't be long before the first fruits of summer!