I knew going in to this project not to expect bumper crops with a new system but this has got me confused. I have planted lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, celery, peas, cucumber, summer squash, and kidney beans. I expected the lettuce, cauliflower and the broccoli to do the best and the others to struggle. It has been just the opposite. The lettuce get 1 1/2" and stops, the broccoli has only gotten 3" and stopped, the cauliflower is 1/2" and pathetic looking. The celery has never come up. The kidney beans, summer squash and cucumber plants are up and growing but no sign of producing anything. The peas are the only thing producing and if I get a serving full I will be surprised. My system has yet to cycle either. Nitrates came up (barely) about 2 weeks ago and then back to 0. A few days ago they came up to 5 for about 3 days and once again back to 0 now. PH is at 7.4, ammonia at .25, nitrites are at .25 now (had been above 5). PH had dropped off some but I adjusted that back up, ammonia and nitrites got high but I got that adjusted back down. I started this project on 5/25/13. The fish are doing fine and are growing so I seem to have that part right. I've added more light so that is not an issue. I can't even seem to get duckweed to grow either inside or outside. Do I just have a black thumb?