There is not a whole lot to update this week. The plants are looking really good. Growth is very noticeable. The color is deep green and healthy.
My fish tank appears to be suffering through an algae bloom. I constructed screen covers for the whole thing and for the sump tank. I also put a makeshift lid on the swirl filter. Hopefully the algae levels come down in a few days.
Water PH is 6.6 and is holding. Haven't added acid for 1 day now. Amonia is at 0.25ppm and nitrates are around 10ppm.
Here are pics of the various plants:
Basil. This is what they looked like when first planted 6 weeks ago. (originally planted in the bathtub bed, and then transplanted into this grow bed.
That's a lettuce trying to come up under the shade of the basil plants. I should have moved it to another area of the bed where it would receive more light, but forgot. It's doing OK regardless.
Basil, three radish plants, and rosemary.
Rosemary, mint, oregano, purple basil.
Lettuces and spinach, 1 week after planting. Most are noticeably bigger than when planted, others do appear to have "taken".
It's common to use a UV-sterilizer in Koi ponds to fight algae growth. I don't know if people use them in AP systems. In theory, nitrate uptake by the plants should limit the algae's food supply, but the inverse might also be true.
ReplyDeleteThe basil should be prolific in your system. I let some basil I had growing in in wicking beds go to seed a few years back and now I have copious amounts of "spontaneous" basil every year.
Thanks for the update....Jeff