Aquaponics - Carrot algae

For some time now I've been growing a carrot by hanging it over the side of my fish tank so the carrot is in the water, but the stems and leaves are tied to the side and above the water line.

It seemed to have worked a bit.

The green is from algae, and I'm guessing just part of what happens to roots when you give them full sunlight.

The test was never intended to go as long as it did, and the original plan was to see if the carrots formed in any un-carrot like ways that made it a crazy idea to grow them in water.

It grew pretty much like a carrot.

This is a miniature variety, and it grew to the same size as it's cousins growing in the grow bed.

I suspected it would have no sense of direction because the nutrient and water were everywhere, and  it would have no need to grow down to get fed.

I wonder if anyone has grown carrots in space.

This experiment has been a fail in so far as making tasty food, (I'm not going to eat it) but a success in finding that it may well be possible to grow carrots by threading them through something that makes it dark underneath, and also that floats.

A sheet of polystyrene might be the ticket.

I've just started another experiment with a tomato plant to see if that will also grow by dangling it's feet in the fish tank.


120 Things in 20 years - Wasting food one slimy algae covered carrot at a time.


6 comments:

  1. UnknownSeptember 20, 2012 at 12:36 AM

    I suspect that a peeler would do a good job of getting the green off?

    Pretty cool that you did the 'impossible' - growing carrots in water. I'd seen several sources that said it couldn't be done.

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  2. Geek2NurseSeptember 22, 2012 at 3:00 PM

    I don't know if they were carrots, but many years ago my sister-in-law sent seeds into space for her PhD botany project, which theorized that gravity is what tells plants which direction their roots need to grow. I've slept since then, and I can't remember what she said happened when the seeds sprouted up there...but I'm pretty sure the results supported the gravity hypothesis.

    Also: When you talk about the volume of your growbeds, is that the total volume (water plus media), or just the water volume? I'm trying to calculate growbed size to go with my 100-gal tank (plus planned 110-gal sump), and I can't figure out from the things I've read which way to calculate it.

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  3. 120 Things in 20 yearsSeptember 22, 2012 at 10:40 PM

    Sleep can do that.

    The desired ratio lots of people ...desired... for growbed to fishtank is 2 times the volume of grow bed to fishtank. But less works - you just cant stock as many fish, and more works - you can stock more fish. (within reason)

    Aim for 2 growbed : 1 fishtank

    by volume when empty.

    If you are about to embark on an aquaponics adventure, I strongly recommend signing up to

    http://www.backyardaquaponics.com

    Their forum is populated by great people, and I've NEVER received junk mail.

    If you are in the design phase, it's a good idea to start a system thread and post what you plan on doing. There is lots of great feedback to be had from all kinds of experts and novices alike.

    I'm there as BullwinkleII and my own system thread is ...

    http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=7290

    There are a stack of other decent forums as well, but this one just happens to be my personal aquaponics choice.

    Dont pay for a book or a design pdf. There is much better info for free.

    If you do happen to join BYAP, drop me a note to let me know you are there.

    I'm not affiliated with them in any way other than as a user.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Geek2NurseSeptember 25, 2012 at 1:44 PM

      Thanks for the clarification, and the advice! I joined as Geek2Nurse, but haven't started a thread yet. I'm in a grouchy mood from having to deal with too many stupid people in one day and want to go sit in the corner and sulk for a while. I downloaded the PDF you recommended. I'll read some of it while I sulk. Maybe it will un-grouchify me. :)

      Delete
    2. Geek2NurseSeptember 26, 2012 at 3:51 PM

      I tried to PM you back on BYAP, but I'm not allowed. So I started a thread called "Geek2Nurse's aquaponic daydreams," but I can't send you a link to it yet because it has to be approved before it's allowed to exist. So I'm going to go to sleep, because I'm already approved for doing that. :)

      Delete
  4. 120 Things in 20 yearsSeptember 22, 2012 at 10:47 PM

    I mention not paying for a pdf because there is a scam pdf available for sale.

    The management and users of BYAP made this pdf which is free in response to the scam.

    http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/Travis/IBCofAquaponics1.pdf

    Called the "IBC of aquaponics" it is a free guide to making a system from recycled IBC's (inter(national or mediate) Bulk Container)

    It's probably worth a look even if you dont plan on using IBCs, and the price is right at $0.00

    ReplyDelete