Additives

[vermiman]

I have an 18 gallon tank(gold fish right now) and an 18 gallon grow media container. When ever I grow tomatoes they seem do grow well with no additives. But this last year I tried growing cucumbers and they did not grow as well. Yellowing leaves. What types of additives do I need to add to my system and how do I add them without harming the fish?

[davidstcldfl]

Hi vermiman,
The yellowing, may have been, a shortage of iron.


Your signature may be the answer.
I use worm tea...using AP water to start it. Besides the worm castings, I add...molasses (It has iron and trace minerals, plus it aids in the bacteria production) and maxicrop with iron.
Filter and spray on the plants...

Chelated iron can be added to the system's water. Again, maxicrop with iron is popular in AP. Plus, it too, has trace minerals.

[vermiman]

Hi vermiman,
The yellowing, may have been, a shortage of iron.


Your signature may be the answer.
I use worm tea...using AP water to start it. Besides the worm castings, I add...molasses (It has iron and trace minerals, plus it aids in the bacteria production) and maxicrop with iron.
Filter and spray on the plants...

Chelated iron can be added to the system's water. Again, maxicrop with iron is popular in AP. Plus, it too, has trace minerals.

I use AVCT(aerated Vermi-compost Tea) weekly or bi-weekly. I spray the leaves of the plants in the growbed nearly every time that I brew the tea, I also throw a few worms on the media every year to start a worm colony. Tomatoes do fine in my system with no problems. It may be that the tomato's roots grow deeper into the grow media. I use a solar powered pump system. On cloudy days, I let the pump function far less than on sunny days. I'm afraid I'll kill my battery if I let its' voltage get too low. On these days I believe that tomato is able to get it's nutes deeper in the media.