Comment

Comment by David on May 12, 2012 at 11:14am

Tannins inhibit iron uptake. You growth and mileage may vary.

Comment by Paul Smith on May 12, 2012 at 10:39am

Question??

How high can I expect a wicking system to effectively give water to plants?

I am building a tower system that I want feed plants to a height of 48".  Will I have to provide supplemental moisture to the upper plants? I know the media I use will make a difference.  I have a product called, "ZEBA," a water-absorbent polymer that is biodegradable.  It will hold moisture in the media for the plants.

I know the argument that the water absorber also absorbs water that the plants need.  I use it in my grow towers to help with moisture storage.  I have used this material for 3 years now and have had great success. 

You can also buy Zeba with slow release 10-10-10 fertilizer to place in the root area of plants as they are planted.

His and Your Very Grateful servant, Paul.

Comment by TCLynx on May 12, 2012 at 8:32am

Tea colored water is often a sign of say dosing with seaweed extract or the tannins from things like coir or leaves.  I once tested wood chips as a media, coffee colored water but the plants still grew, I just couldn't stand not seeing the fish.

Comment by David on May 12, 2012 at 6:08am

Not to add confusion but tea colored or brown water indicates high levels of suspended solids usually indicating overfeeding, contaminants, dyes, high phosphate levels or water run off. If/when this happens in my syststems I strain it off to clear the water up. White roots indicate a healthy and more productive root system. A slight tint is one thing but tea colored indicates an imbalance which could inhibit nutrient uptake.

Comment by Chris Smith on May 11, 2012 at 10:45am

I began washing my coir because i had a poor germination rate from some blocks and not others. I read somewhere that virgin coir is high in tannins. I also suspect that there can sometimes be a high salt content. When I washed the coir I would get a better germination.

Comment by Larry Yonashiro on May 11, 2012 at 10:25am

Interesting point on the color of the return water after passing through the coir.  Chris, in our rafts systems we were taught that the tea tinted water was what we were seeking after.  But that must just be from the coir, since in my cinder bed systems which have no coir, the water runs clear.  Since it doesn't seem to be affecting water chemistry, plant growth or fish health, I don't consider it a problem in the raft or wicking bed systems.

Comment by David on May 11, 2012 at 3:30am

Hey Chris,

What I meant was that it tends to make the color of the return water brown.  I did try a presoaked/washed so results are not in as of yet.  That container is not returning water to the pond.  It dead ends into a potato bucket.    I will take some pics when the storms pass and post them.

Comment by Chris Smith on May 11, 2012 at 12:38am

I have to agree that coir is not the beast media for a standard media based aquaponics system but it works very well as a seeding medium for raft systems and use in wicking beds. For seeding media I added vermiculite so that it did not water-log and drowned the seeds. The vermiculite squashes after a while and looses its effectiveness. I have used coir for many years now but have not bought any for more than a year. I have recycling the same material so many times that I cannot count. It has grown crops in my raft systems, gone through the worm bins and grown multiple crops in the wicking beds. It will slowly break down though. I am constantly amassed by its resilience. I can get it cheep since I live in the tropics and it is a byproduct of the coconut oil industry. The only reason I stopped using it as a seeding media is because I live on a volcano and can get cinder much cheaper.

Community AP can you can you elaborate on what you mean by "clarity being the biggest problem" and would you please post some pictures so we all can see?? I think you may be referring to virgin coir that can have dust and other impurities. I had issues with virgin coir in the beginning but quickly realized that one or two rinses would wash away most of the extra stuff and leave clear water.

TC can you please post some pictures of your wicking beds??

Comment by David on May 10, 2012 at 8:43pm

Im currently running an experiment using coconut coir, perlite and canvas in a wicking bed recirculation setup. Id not recommend coir for several reasons like TC mentioned. Clarity being the biggest problem accessibility being the second.  Same with perlite. The canvas is looking promising but no results yet since this system was recently built.

Comment by TCLynx on May 10, 2012 at 6:33pm

Coir is not a great media for aquaponics since it tends to break down and hold too much moisture as well as tinting the water and affecting pH.

Keep in mind that not all coir is created equal.  There are many different kinds, some is more like bark chips made from the harder parts of the coconut husks while other coir is more like peat (sometimes called coco peat) and other coir is more fiberous.

You can buy bags of coir and compressed block, bricks or bails of coir. 

I regularly use some coir mixed with worm castings and peat to make soil blocks for seed starting.  However I wouldn't use it as a media in flood and drain aquaponics though it would be a great addition for wicking beds.

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