A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners
Do I need to thin out my GB?
Hi all,
New to AP but figured I'd just jump right in and build something without knowing everything I need to know. I started my system (50 gal FT, two 25 gal GBs (one fill/drain with loop siphon, one contant flood)). The photo below is of the fill/drain GB. I planted stuff while cycling the system. One tilipia and one goldfish in the FT right now. About 4 weeks out.
I planted lettuce, zuchini and cucumbers. Someone told me you only need one zuchini and one cucumber but as you can tell, I have quite a few on the right side of the GB. Should I thin this out? Pull some out? If so, how many should I leave in?
Any thoughts or ideas appreciated!
PS Oh yeah and one tomato in the back right corner :)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by TCLynx on
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You might let them go a bit longer and then cut off the smaller ones while you let the bigger ones grow.
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Permalink Reply by Carey Ma on
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I'd say that thinning is not only a option but a must. Instead of pulling/ cutting the weaker ones, I'd plant them in the garden but one zuch & one cucc is all a family needs for fresh eating. Most beginning gardeners grow way too many to give away and become pests but I can (canning) and compost and make feed so... I plant seeds whenever I get a chance and place.
2. It also depends on your trellis system and how high/ long it reaches vs how sturdy it is and how much room your roots have to grow.
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Yep, as Carey says that is also a good option. If you try transplanting, flood the bed when you go to pull seedlings out as this will traumatize the seedlings the least. Moving plants from Aquaponics to dirt will leave them pretty weak though so you will need to baby them for a while till they recover and not all will make it and you want to be careful when you remove seedlings that are close to others in the grow bed since damaging the roots of the ones you want to keep can set them back a bit too.
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Permalink Reply by Alexandre Letellier on
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"Most beginning gardeners grow way too many to give away and become pests but I can (canning) and compost and make feed so... "
Lol, YES WE CAN !
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Sorry couldn't help it
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Permalink Reply by Ricky Flickenger on
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Hahahahahahahahahahaha
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Good play on words. Now I can go to bed with a smile on my face.
Cheers
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Permalink Reply by Gary Wong on
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Thanks everyone! I transplanted 3 zucchini, which I don't think was enough, but it was all I could prep on the ground for. I'm gonna have massive slug problems on the ground but I did put out some slug bait. If I only leave the lettuce and one cucumber and one zucchini, I'm gonna have to pull out A LOT of cucumber and zucchini! :(
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Permalink Reply by RupertofOZ on
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Yeah, zucchinis are probably one of the plants that I'd grow in dirt rather than AP...
Not because they wont grow well... but just that they require so much area.. for (relatively) so little yield... that I think they're a waste of productive space in an AP system...
You could do them in a wicking bed... watered by AP water...
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Permalink Reply by George on
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Rupert, would you name some of your favorite productive plants for AP?
RupertofOZ said:Yeah, zucchinis are probably one of the plants that I'd grow in dirt rather than AP...
Not because they wont grow well... but just that they require so much area.. for (relatively) so little yield... that I think they're a waste of productive space in an AP system...
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