Aquaponics - Exciting new mould

Just when things within the aquaponics system were going quite poorly, a new problem has dropped in!

Exciting, isn't it.

The universe saw fit to add some white powder-like mould to my peas, to go with the black, powder-like mould it provided to keep my strawberries company.

It looks like this.

Actually it only looks a bit like that.

That looks more like some white powder-like mould with some spray on it.

I forgot to take a photo before I dosed it.

And I also forgot to rig up a fan to circulate some air around my growhouse to stop things like mould outbreaks.


The spray is water mixed with a tiny bit of Eco-Rose.

Eco-Rose is a product that claims to be good for treating powdery mildew and black spot. It's also a product used to add potassium to aquaponics systems.

I don't know if I have powdery mildew, but it worked on the black mould I had last time.

I thought the black mould might be powdery mildew as well, so I cant see any reason why it shouldn't work on the white mould that I also suspect is powdery mildew.

In fact it should work better, because the black stuff turned out not to be powdery mildew after all, so I've very slightly increased my odds of being correct this time.

Which is nice.



120 Things in 20 years, offering slightly better aquaponics odds and exciting new moulds.

Aquaponics - Mould

I hate it when nature takes out the bad day it's having, by taking it out on me, and bringing me grief in the aquaponics system. What have I every done to nature?

Oh yeah...note to self - send "sorry"card to nature re: carbon footprint.

I don't mind so much when things go wrong that are my own fault. Sometimes I take shortcuts in the way I build stuff, so I feel that it's inevitable that it will need some "adjustment" at some stage in it's life.

But mould is a different story.

I mean it's still my fault, but I'd still rather it didn't happen because it's kind of icky.

When I built the new grow house, I didn't bother reinstalling the computer box cooling fan I had hanging from the top, to stir the air within the growhouse.

Opps.

So now I see mould on the PVC strawberry towers.







I have no idea how I'm really meant to spell those two words so this will have to do.

I've decided to spell mould, "mould", because when I made molds I used "mold" already, and I cant really see using "mould" for mold, and "mold" for mould would make that much difference anyway so I'll stick with "mold" for mold, and "mould" for mould.

I wouldn't want to confuse anyone.

It's also growing on the strawberry plants.

And that.

Nature.

Is unacceptable.







When my pH dropped too low, someone who knows stuff, told me they thought my leaves were showing a potassium deficiency. It turns out different minerals are available to the plants in varying degrees depending on how acidic the water is.

Sounds fair.

The solution is, you can adjust your pH by adding shell grit to your grow bed. Shells are made of calcium carbonate, and that raises your pH. The natural process of converting ammonia to nitrate via nitrite cases your system to become acidic over time, so the shell grit acts as a balance. It's convenient as well, because the more acidic your system gets, the more the shell grit gets dissolved. Once the system is no longer too acidic, the shell grit stops dissolving.

The system finds a balance.

In the meantime, as I was waiting for my system to gently come back to a pH of around 7, I added some potassium bicarbonate.

This adds potassium, which was a nice boost for my plants, but it also adjusts pH away from being too acid.

So I bought some Eco-RoseⓇ

It's actually sold as a solution to powdery mildew, and I guess that could be the culprit.


I dont actually know what powdery mildew looks like, and it would only take 5 seconds of my life to search for it, but that would take the mystery out of life.

Either way, the strawberries will enjoy it, so I'll give it a go.




Not just Aquaponics - Mould - 120 things in 20 years