Fish, greenhouse, plants, no soil

Insert something witty here...
User avatar
John G
Posts: 613
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2003 1:06 am
Real Name: John Godbey
Location: Springfield, VA

Fish, greenhouse, plants, no soil

Post by John G »

Here is an article which, while not exactly on aquatic plants, may be interesting to some of you. It is about a man who built a greenhouse, and fertilizes his plants only with fish waste. No soil involved at all.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/garde ... .html?8dpc
John Godbey
Springfield, VA
User avatar
DelawareJim
Posts: 1249
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 4:25 pm
Real Name: Jim Michaels
Location: Southeast PA

Post by DelawareJim »

Cool article John.

I've been doing this on a small scale with my house plants for the last year and a half. Using LECA clay pellets in a system called hydroculture. No soil, no molds, no bugs, no mess. Best move I ever made for my plants.

You can learn more at:
http://waterroots.com/abouthydroculture.htm

I use the traditional pot-in-a-pot and water guage system instead of glass vases, but the principle is the same.
Like this:
http://www.gardeningoncloud9.com/wp-con ... tem-01.jpg

Cheers.
Jim
User avatar
SCMurphy
Site Admin
Posts: 2104
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2003 1:40 pm
Real Name: Sean
Location: Maryland United States

Post by SCMurphy »

What feeds his winter crop of lettuce is recirculating water from the 150-gallon fish tank and the waste generated by his 20 jumbo goldfish.
I bet he grows some HUGE plants with that kind of waste production staff. :lol:

Thanks for the article John.
"したくさ" Sean

Aquascape? I'm a crypt farmer.

If you've got bait, I've got wasabi!

I wish I could be like Mr. Sarcastic when I grow up! ;)
User avatar
Aaron
Posts: 3647
Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2004 11:18 pm
Location: Woodstock, MD

Post by Aaron »

Jim - Are you using the small pebbles for your emersed setups? I'm thinking of switching to something like this because I keep battling mold big time.
User avatar
DelawareJim
Posts: 1249
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 4:25 pm
Real Name: Jim Michaels
Location: Southeast PA

Post by DelawareJim »

Aaron;

I'm using Hydroton and an other brand of LECA called PrimeAgra for the easy stuff like Echinodorus, Anubias, Lagenandras, Crypt. wendtii strains and such. Haven't tried any blackwater species because I'm afraid of loosing the plants.

You can get a finer grade of PrimeAgra from Ray Barkalow at
https://www.firstrays.com/cgi/cart/comm ... t_match=on
I haven't tried any yet.

I still get some mold and moss outbreaks because the plants in LECA are mixed in with others in soil mixes. Beauty is if I do get a mould outbreak, I remove the pot, unpot the plant, swish the hydroton around in a bowl of soapy water, rinse, and microwave (in water). Clean, sterile substrate again. Some of the orchid folks flush their pots with hydrogen peroxide to kill off molds and mildews, but I've not tried that yet.

I'm planning to tear down one of my freshwater setups and put everything in LECA all in one tank so I can eradicate the moss, and duckweed and hopefully keep a cleaner environment.

Cheers.
Jim
User avatar
Ben Belton
Posts: 633
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 12:21 am
Location: Mayberry, NC
Contact:

Post by Ben Belton »

I have a 50lb bag of PrimeAgra I've been trying to get rid of for year. If anyone is interested, remind me next time I make it to DC. I know I know... no telling when that will be.
User avatar
DelawareJim
Posts: 1249
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 4:25 pm
Real Name: Jim Michaels
Location: Southeast PA

Post by DelawareJim »

Ben Belton wrote:I have a 50lb bag of PrimeAgra I've been trying to get rid of for year. If anyone is interested, remind me next time I make it to DC. I know I know... no telling when that will be.
PA or Hydroton? I'm interested.

I've got a ton of orchids and houseplants I'm still converting to S/H and hydroculture.

Cheers.
Jim
User avatar
Ben Belton
Posts: 633
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 12:21 am
Location: Mayberry, NC
Contact:

Post by Ben Belton »

PrimeAgra
User avatar
DelawareJim
Posts: 1249
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 4:25 pm
Real Name: Jim Michaels
Location: Southeast PA

Post by DelawareJim »

Yes!

You should come up for the Longwood show. I'm sure they have a Phal. violacea or two not in your collection.

Cheers.
Jim
User avatar
Ben Belton
Posts: 633
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 12:21 am
Location: Mayberry, NC
Contact:

Post by Ben Belton »

DelawareJim wrote:I'm sure they have a Phal. violacea or two not in your collection.
No Way!
Post Reply

Sponsors