A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

Aquaponics For Beginners

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This is a place where Beginners can post questions and find answers.

Advanced Users are welcome to help the Beginners out.

Please KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) .

Members: 672
Latest Activity: Feb 2, 2019

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A few fish for sale or good home

Started by Linda Logan. Last reply by Linda Logan Feb 2, 2019. 1 Reply 0 Likes

I need to shut down my indoor system for a few months. I have 2 mature Shubunkin, 1 albino Hypostomus to clean the aquarium. There is another small fish living in the sump.I live in SE Portland and…Continue

Aquaponics system as filter for swimming pool

Started by John Wilson. Last reply by Wade J Rochelle Jan 25, 2019. 3 Replies 0 Likes

Hi all, we've just purchased a property with a large indoor swimming pool. Around 80,000L with a greenhouse roof and plenty of room around it for grow beds. However, this is far too big for us to…Continue

Not for human consumption!?

Started by Nichelle Hubley. Last reply by Nichelle Hubley Jun 30, 2015. 7 Replies 1 Like

Well, I think I messed up big time. I've been feeding my precious tilapia koi food (I like in a small place and it was all I could get... :( ) for about 2 months and last night I read on the back of…Continue

Help!! Help !!! with new filtration and set-up.

Started by Henrique Miguel. Last reply by Wayne Mcbryde May 14, 2015. 2 Replies 0 Likes

Hi,I have a set up of 2 55 gal blue barrel with Tilapia and guppies separate. I have young ones and they are growing well. Issue of overcrowding and feeding. 1. I would like to use a water…Continue

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Comment by Jim Fisk on June 3, 2015 at 2:36pm: Hey guys that is a great primer. I will cut and paste to my notes. And Dana not to worry. We are used to being used up and thrown away. Right Leo?

Comment by Dana Choate on June 2, 2015 at 8:05pm: I will have to try that Leo. Thanks for sharing.

Comment by Leo White Bear on June 2, 2015 at 7:57pm: Instead of pulling the petals off the male squash flowers, bend them back and use them to pollinate with. After you are done, you can then use them as dinner. Pull off the calyx and stuff them with ricotta cheese. Dip them in a egg wash and bread crumb them. A bit of a shallow fry and.........YUM!!

I know this is not a cooking forum but I couldn't help myself.

Comment by Dana Choate on June 2, 2015 at 2:51pm: Although, since I do throw the males into the compost bin I guess their usefulness hasn't been completely used up, I found a whole new use for them.......now if only I could get him to fix the... :)

Comment by Dana Choate on June 2, 2015 at 2:47pm: Yup that's me Leo!

Comment by Leo White Bear on June 2, 2015 at 2:32pm: You can install a fan inside your GH and this will mimic the wind, be sure it is an oscillating fan. Also if you grow indoors i.e. over winter, use a fan also. This has the benefit of not only helping to pollinate plants but will help prevent spindly stems. It is the wind that strengthens the stem. I once did a comparison test with identical corn, tomato and squash plants indoors. The control plants had no fan, while the other had a fan on medium for 7-hours a day. The ones with the fan had strong, stiff structural stems while the control had thin, spindly weak stems. I ALWAYS add a fan to my over-wintered plants and seedlings.

You still need to harden the plants off in the spring if you intend to transplant them outdoors.

Sure, when you need us, we are always there. Then discard us when you are done. I See how you are ;)

Comment by Dana Choate on June 2, 2015 at 2:00pm: Jim Fisk I have not had luck just shaking plants that have separate male and female flowers for pollination to work. It works well for plant that have hermaphroditic flowers (male and female parts on the same flower) for the seperate flowers you need the pollen from the male to get into the female flower, which in nature is done by bugs and birds. You can use one male flower for pollinating several female flowers. I usually use 1 male flower for every 3 female flowers. You can also use the Q-tip method as Leo White Bear suggested, but since the male flower doesn't bear fruit I have no problem plucking the flower off using it up and tossing it in the compost after I'm done. (I didn't mean that in any insensitive way to human men ;)

Comment by Leo White Bear on June 2, 2015 at 12:06pm: Most plants will have a male and female flower growing on the same plant. In squash plants the male flowers first. A week or so later the female will flower. Look for a bulbous growth on the stem just behind the flower. You can do just as Dana suggested and use one male flower per female, or take a q-tip and gather the pollen from the male and you can pollinate multiple flowers with that. Be sure to completely encircle the stamen with the pollen ladened q-tip to ensure pollination.

Tomatoes and corn are different, each flower is hermaphroditic, male AND female parts. All that is needed is a good shake below each flower cluster and pollination will occur. You are substituting this shaking for wind pollination. As in corn, you will see a pre-cobb formation with silk. The silk is the receptor part of corn so be sure the pollen falls onto the silk. Each silk strand leads to a kernel of corn so you need good saturation

Look at each stem just before the calyx on the flower begins and see if it is bulbous and TAKE NOTES, this is how we learn which plants have male and female flowers and which are hermaphroditic. I urge everyone to take a master gardener class, I learned so much from it and have never been sorry about the cost. Granted I need a refresher course as I gained my master gardener certificate in 1998. I am constantly referring to my course notes.