Comment

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on July 20, 2012 at 11:06am

John, if the fish weren't gasping for air, it probably wasn't an oxygen issue. A spray bar certainly won't hurt, by any means. 

Did the Petsmart test reveal anything? Do you think it was the metal?  I'm still wondering about pesticides. Once Bob carefully sprayed something near the FT tank, but just the mist was enough to keep the fish from eating for a day.

Comment by Converse on July 20, 2012 at 11:06am

One of the nice things about worm casting tea is that you do not need to worry about burning or over application. Go ahead and spray/drench away! Be sure you are getting coverage on all plant surfaces and undersides, etc.. Just do not apply it when the sun is shining on your plant. Keep us posted.

- Converse

Comment by John Malone on July 20, 2012 at 10:42am

Thanks to all for your sympathies.

I'll get to work on the second grow bed and re-folding the fish tank liner.

It'll give me a chance to play with the water flow seeing as I'm adding another siphon to the mix.   It'll be nice to get that all bedded in and running smoothly before risking any more livestock. 

I think I'll also add a spray bar to the fish tank for improved aeration.  From what I've read, a spray bar is one of the most effective ways to aerate the water.

Cheers

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on July 20, 2012 at 10:26am

I just looked at the plants and the scale is greatly reduced. When I drenched the plant, I tried to spray hard enough to knock them off & mess up their fuzz. There's a lot of white, dusty scale residue around & dead scale bodies. I think I'll spray them daily for a while. You can't overdo worm tea, can you? 

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on July 20, 2012 at 10:21am

I should have mentioned that the scale, fortunately, is not in the A/P system. It's in a potted hibiscus plant.

Converse, thank you for the information, it is encouraging! I have a white, soft scale. I should have looked at the plants a while back when the scale was in a more vulnerable state. I did find information that indicates the tea might help, but nothing specific, so I'm happy to read these articles. I pretty much drenched the plant in tea yesterday, figuring it certainly can't hurt.

Bob, I was just reading about the use of alcohol. One article said to use Cepacol or Listerine, both of which have an alcohol base. Isopropyl is a lot less expensive than vodka or Listerine, and I'd rather use the vodka for better purposes. :)

I may try the tea on one plant and the alcohol on the other, just to see what happens.

Comment by Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. on July 20, 2012 at 9:24am

Can you use straight ethanol instead of Vodka?

Comment by Bob Campbell on July 20, 2012 at 9:08am

Sheri I spray scale with alcohol.isopropyl or vodka works

Comment by Converse on July 20, 2012 at 8:48am

Greetings Sheri,

    Since I have no personal experience with "scale" or scale insects, I opted to look for the research to see what the respected and reliable sources show. 

I have been checking into research about using Brewed Worm Castings Tea on  Scale Insects.  It took some time to find out an answer that I was satisfied with  because scales are a result of differing insects hard and soft.  If you look at this article (http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7408.html ) from UC Davis, you can see that this article reveals clearly, the differences, and has treatments, but nothing you’d want to use with an AP system. But do not dispare, this article did not event consider worm casting tea...the thing I wanted to know about its effectiveness.

  According to Dr. Clive Edwards (of Ohio State Univ.) worm casting tea is effective in the battle against such pests as cucumber beetles and sucking insects like aphids, medley bugs, and scale insects,  and against pathogens as Pythium, Rhizocronia, Plectosporium, and Verticullium…  I did find the research article by world-respected Dr. Clive Edwards - and others- that sites this.  In true ‘research-paper style’ the title is very long but descriptive (

‘ THE CONVERSION OF ORGANIC WASTES INTO VERMICOMPOSTS AND VERMICOMPOST ‘TEAS’ WHICH PROMOTE PLANT GROWTH AND SUPPRESS PESTS AND DISEASES. ‘  )

And you can find it at: http://www.reykurassociatesinc.com/clientwebfiles/compostcritter/Ap...      or you can go to the Ohio State Univ. Soils Lab online research source, and search for this paper there.

In this paper scale insects are specifically mentioned on page 3….I had read this paper before, but I had not remembered the scale insect being specifically mentioned.  So thank you for posing the question.  Now we have both learned something new!

   I certainly hope this news is encouraging and of real help.

-          Converse

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on July 20, 2012 at 7:44am

The Valley Permiculture Alliance (Phoenix Permiculture) is looking for chicken coops for their annual Tour d' Coops in November. This year they're looking for more than coops, though. They're looking for people with chickens who also have other sustainable systems, like composting, aquaponics, water retention, etc.

If you have a coop and are interested in showing it and your other ideas, contact Lisa, the Coops Coordinator at coops@vpaaz.org.

Comment by Bob Campbell on July 19, 2012 at 10:04pm

@John -  I too use the pond liner from Home Depot so I think you can dismiss that idea.

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