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  1. #11
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    Re: Have Flowers, No fruit

    eggshells will add calcium (among other things) as it breaks down..
    everything that happens in an ap system is a balancing act between the fish and the plants,, a "slow release" nutrient like eggshells are commonly used... another one is to bury a banana, or half a banana in your growbed - provided you have worms in there - to add potassium that will be slowly released as the worms and micro-organisms break it down
    adding anything besides media and plants to a growbed has implications beyond your vegetables... that's all i'm sayin

  2. #12
    Moderator urbanfarmer's Avatar
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    Re: Have Flowers, No fruit

    I bury bananas too! You don't need the worms though. Potassium cannot volatilize into the atmosphere; therefore, it will stay in the system. I have left a banana peel on top of my gravel (it will decompose slower this way mind you) and it decomposes very rapidly. I also tried one with the water that goes into the grow bed making regular contact with it. This sped things up noticeably. These are just observations.

    Quote Originally Posted by keith_r
    egg shells will take a long time to break down, which won't hurt anything...crushing them and burying a dozen with each tomato plant in dirt gardens is common (at least around here)
    re the fertilizer.. some contain phosphates... bad for fish..
    others may not conain anything that is bad for the fish, but excess nutrients can cause an algae bloom which can starve your fish of oxygen.. or an cause an amonia spike..
    Phosphate isn't an additive to fertilizer, it's the fertilizer... but yes, too much of any chemical salts in the system can cause toxicity or acute problems with osmoregulation in the fish... with that said, that doesn't mean you can't do it.

    I didn't say you can't use eggshells or that it doesn't work... I just tried to disclaimer the fact that it needs to be done carefully because (as APers who have tried it have discovered) it can lead to fast and hard pH spikes. I believe you see most people who do this make sure their eggshells are readily removable from the system. I would not suggest burying eggshells in the system near the root system where they cannot be removed later...

    Ammonia is also not an additive nor is algae, but too much ammonia can harm your fish especially at lower pH. You can safely have 10x more ammonium at pH 6 than pH 7. The factor approaches 100x for pH 8. Algae adds oxygen during the day. Some commercial fish farming operations pour fertilizer (or manure) into their ponds to promote algae. It feeds the Tilapia for free in some cases. They fish aren't magically dead. I'm not telling anyone to do this, but algae (with all the bonus aeration in everyone's systems these days) will definitely not kill your fish. I have recently experimented with algae in aquaponic systems. It does not seem to rob the plants of any nutrient besides nitrogen. Short of a chemical analysis of the plant matter, this has been the only problem. I have injected urea and ammonia directly to the root zone of certain plants and have seen a reversal of the affects.

  3. #13
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    Re: Have Flowers, No fruit

    i peed on a bush all the time one summer and it died

  4. #14
    Moderator urbanfarmer's Avatar
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    Re: Have Flowers, No fruit

    Quote Originally Posted by keith_r
    i peed on a bush all the time one summer and it died
    try it on a bush in an aquaponic system with a pH of 6, it will laugh at you and grow bigger (than...)

  5. #15
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    Re: Have Flowers, No fruit

    than what i peed with? hahahaha

    ok, back to your regularly scheduled program

  6. #16
    Moderator urbanfarmer's Avatar
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    Re: Have Flowers, No fruit


  7. #17
    Members cedarswamp's Avatar
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    Re: Have Flowers, No fruit

    Quote Originally Posted by keith_r
    i peed on a bush all the time one summer and it died
    Probably from humiliation.

  8. #18
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    Re: Have Flowers, No fruit

    I had an idea how to get calcium to the plants..... There is cricket feed that is for gut loading and calcium loading crickets to feed to geckos..... It looks like 1 mm tilapia feed but really colorful.... If you feed a little to the fish every few days would it help your plants have more calcium ?

    and FYI the bush didn't die from any chemicals in the pee or anything but like anything that's alive that you regularly pee on it commuted suicide... LOL

  9. #19
    Moderator urbanfarmer's Avatar
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    Re: Have Flowers, No fruit

    Quote Originally Posted by WAbedroomponics
    I had an idea how to get calcium to the plants..... There is cricket feed that is for gut loading and calcium loading crickets to feed to geckos..... It looks like 1 mm tilapia feed but really colorful.... If you feed a little to the fish every few days would it help your plants have more calcium ?

    and FYI the bush didn't die from any chemicals in the pee or anything but like anything that's alive that you regularly pee on it commuted suicide... LOL
    I would check the ingredients in the food to make sure. If they put gecko sex hormones in there or something like that it might be bad for the fish (I have no idea what is in that kind of feed). If you post the ingredients, I'm sure everyone will chip in to check them!

    Poor keith!

  10. #20
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    Re: Have Flowers, No fruit

    They have some on my schools green house I will add the list Monday lol I thought of just posting it tidy but thought it wouldn't be important in hind sight its extremely important lol

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