Does anyone use homeopathics in their system?

[Teresa Torrella]

I have been studying and using homeopathics for years for my family and pet and recently I connected with a homeopath who wrote a couple books on using it in your gardens and farming...I inquired to him about the use in an aquaponic system.  He was not familiar but I thought it would be a fantastic method in issues within the system.  Just wanted to know if anyone was using it?

 

With Gratitude,

Teresa

[TCLynx]

I think you might need to provide a little more explanation of homeopathics for some of us to answer.

[Teresa Torrella]

Homeopathic is an alternative medicine whereby a highly diluted medicine is created based on the symptoms.  Homeopathic treatment rejects antibiotics and other laboratory-made medicines. Instead, natural cures such as flowers, barks, herbs, stones, etc are used to create remedies.  A basic law of treatment in homeopathic medicine is the "law of similarities." This law states that for a cure to be effective, it has to produce the same type of symptoms as the disease it is designed to treat.

 

I have used it in my garden and seed starting but wanted to see if anyone is using in an aquaponics system.  It is good for plants and animals, can be used for diseasees, pests and shock, etc. 

 

 

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[TCLynx]

Well, most aquarium type "medications" can't be used for aquaponics anyway.

And antibiotics are not appropriate either since you can't use anything that will kill your bio-filter.

The strongest thing most people ever really use on their fish is occasionally salt or aloe but mostly trying to keep the water quality as good as possible with good aeration and good temperatures for the fish.

On the plants, you are again limited in that most pesticides would be very dangerous to fish and bio-filter so we avoid using most of them, even organic ones.

Oils and soaps are also dangerous to fish and bacteria so must be used very carefully and preferably the plants removed from the system and sprayed away from the system and allowed to dry before going back in the system to avoid danger of oils/soaps dripping into the system water where it could coat the fish gills or interfere with the bacteria's access to air.

 

[Teresa Torrella]

I understand all that you have explained and agree that there are not many items that can be used in the system....thank you.  It isn't a "medication" in the typical sense of the word.  It isn't an oil or soap, herb, pesticide, fertilizer or anything along those lines.  They are a highly diluted....which essentially comes down to their essence (life force) is left over and that is what you treat with.  There are not alot of people familar with homeopathics especially in the US it is more highly regarded and used in Eastern medicine but I believe it may be an answer to many of the issues that most people have and I am willing to try and see on my systems.  I am a part of a group of homeopaths and many are agrohomeopaths and there is a lot of unchartered territory in its use with growing food but like aquaponics itself we are all learning and as a community.  It is something I will be using if the need arises....as I said I start my seeds with it now...I can treat fish in shock....transplanting....I have found useful treatments for any of the issues with plants that I have come across...I was just wondering if I was the only one out here using them....or if I had other adventurers in aquaponics that I could share with and bounce ideas off of...learn together with both communities :)  Thank you for responding TCLynx. 

[Jon Baldwin]

I have not yet found a way to incorporate my mycological enterprises (mushroom farming) into aquaponics, but I'm a big Paul Stamets fan (the science at least) and am looking for a way...

...it may not apply to your aquaponics efforts, but various mushrooms and fungus are big in alternative meds. Good luck!

[TCLynx]

I know there are people out there struggling with aphids, spider mites, and scale that would love a safe/non-toxic treatment

 

If you can come up with any and the instructions please share!!!!!

 

I've got older/mature outdoor systems so I usually have ignored pests and they don't seem to be out of hand for me but those with indoor systems have more trouble.

[Kevin Twyeffort]

http://www.considera.org/hrxintro.html has a listing of problems and remedies.

 

Homeopathy for Home and Garden http://www.moodie.biz/kaviraj.html

 

Hope this helps, would like to know about your trials with your system.

 

Kevin

 

[TCLynx]

any chance of a recipe or instruction.  I'm not up for buying an e-book or spending hours studying/reading through other sites and links right at the moment in order to help some one else come up with a solution to aphids.

 

I didn't actually find the listing of problems and remedies.

[Kobus Jooste]

I must say I am also not sure where organic chemistry ends and homeopathy begins.  For your aphid issue TCLynx, I have found that relatively dilute mixture of garlic and canola oil chases them off.  I had lots of issues in my system that was enclosed in greenhouse plastics, but the mix sorted them.  Also, when I decided to open the system up and let the praying mantis in, my "chemical" use almost stopped.  Only the ants to chase off now.  I  wonder about the "mental powers" issue between human and ecological treatment though.  As a scientist, I am comfortable with the fact that a lot of healing influences in humans and likely too in animals are down to that organisms mental state and desire to improve rather than medicine at times, but as an ecologist, I am more inclined to think down the line of ecosystem balance (predator / prey ratios, limiting factors, competition etc) than of treatment methods. I'm no fan of western medicine but think like the ecologist I am, which can likely be considered "clinical" by others :). 

[Harold Sukhbir]

On another forum it was suggested to capture some aphids and grind them up diluted with water as a spray seems to activate some type of  self-preservation reaction causing them to flee, would this qualify as homeopathy?

[TCLynx]

probably only if you diluted the mix, then shook it up, then you take one drop of the mix and add it to another container of water and shake it up again, then repeat some number of times before you finally take the supper supper diluted form to spray.

 

[Harold Sukhbir]

Hi Jon,

Almost missed your comment being distracted.Very interesting idea with mushrooms.Why not start a thread on the subject, might attract solutions through discussion, I for one, would like to follow it.

Jon Baldwin said:

I have not yet found a way to incorporate my mycological enterprises (mushroom farming) into aquaponics, but I'm a big Paul Stamets fan (the science at least) and am looking for a way...

...it may not apply to your aquaponics efforts, but various mushrooms and fungus are big in alternative meds. Good luck!