Okra in Aquaponics

It has been awhile since I've posted.  As I've written before, there is not much gardening that goes on in South Florida once the rainy season starts.  Our temperatures are in the 90's almost everyday.  In the month of June we had over 15" of rain and that was before our first brush with tropical weather.  To say that it is hot and humid would be like saying the Atlantic Ocean has a little water in it.

It is very hard to grow anything edible in those conditions (well except that the mangoes and avocados are getting ripe).  The irony of all ironies is that I can grow a few things using aquaponic techniques during this time.  Yes, plants that would drown from all the rain if they were planted in soil will do OK if they are planted in water.  They just must be plants that can take the heat.

Right now in my at home aquaponic gardens, I have purple hull peas, mint, lemon balm, rosemary, vinca, french marigold, oregano, miniature pepper,  green onion, and lots of okra growing.  The okra are the plants from the Floaters versus Sinkers seed wars I chronicled.  As I suspected, there is really no difference between the floater and sinker seeds once the seedlings were planted.

However I am seeing a difference in how the okra is growing using different techniques.  Unfortunately I don't have photos of  the plants that were growing the best.  These were the plants that were in NFT tubes.  Even though the okra variety is Cajun Jewel, a dwarf variety, they still get several feet tall.  Once I could no longer reach the plants in the tubes, I had to take them out and transplant them.  This involved pruning both roots and tops.  I re-established them in my newest  media grow bed with my purple hull peas and due to the pruning they are now the smallest of the plants.  Bonsai okra so to speak.

The okra in the DWC (deep water culture) rafts are growing steadily.  However they have not flowered and produced fruit yet.  As you can see, the plants are exceptionally healthy and should be flowering any day now.  By the way, the crud on the raft is caterpillar poo.  Hubby thought it would be nifty to put some zinnias on the raft, but instead grabbed some of my milkweed seedlings.  Needless to say it only took a few days to have monarch eggs and within 10 days they had hatched, eaten every bit of milkweed on the raft, and then conscripted into the caterpillar relocation program (CRP).

The okra that were planted in media beds filled with hydroton and gravel are also doing well.  They have just started to flower.  What is odd about this set outperforming the set in the raft is these plants receive an eastern exposure.  The plants in the raft get a southern exposure.  Southern exposure equals more sun, however the eastern exposure plants are outperforming their southern kin.  I know that there are people sold on DWC for all plants, but it has been my experience that in most instances plants in media beds do better.  Maybe I am doing something wrong, but I get more nitrates using a media bed than depending on the biofilm on the raft.

The current superstar okra (since their kin in the NFT tubes got the bonsai treatment) are the okra that are in a bed of lava rock and a small layer of gravel.  I really don't like planting in lava rock because even with gloves on your hands it is hard work and always seems to ruin my manicure.  But those lava rocks provide an incredible amount of specific surface area for the nitrifying bacteria to take hold.  The honeycomb
structure is similar to zeolite.  These okra plants have already begin to bloom, fruit, and produce their first harvest.  The okra have already crowded out the bottom row of NFT tubes that are mounted over the bed. I am planning on using that tube again when the okra get just a bit taller.  As I did last year, I will use the okra as a shade for other plants on that bottom tube.  This system is getting southern exposure like the DWC system, but it is doing so much better.

I was joking with a fellow gardener on-line this morning that I know so much useless information about okra.  It is in the same family as the hibiscus and cotton.  If you have ever seen an okra bloom, you know that they are very beautiful flowers.  And if you time time to actually look at an okra bud and bloom then you can easily see how hibiscus and okra are related.  The buds and flowers are shaped in a very similar manner.

I know lots of people don't like okra, but I think you just have to give it a chance.  It is only slimy if you boil it.  People eat oysters and they are slimy!  If you have an overabundance of okra, pick it while it is small and make pickles.  I like them pickled hot, bread and butter, or dill style.  I don't think I have ever made the acquaintance of an okra pickle that I didn't like.  I can't say the same for cucumber pickles.  Besides what would gumbo be without okra?  Okra is the defining ingredient in gumbo.  If it isn't thickened with okra, then it is just another soup. And okra makes an excellent fried vegetable. 

 By the way, I planted some of my okra seedlings in soil on the same day as I placed the others in the aquaponic gardens.  I've even given them a little fish emulsion to try to make things even.  The growth of the plants in soil can't be compared to even the slowest growth of the plants in the DWC system.  The soil based plants are not as richly colored and have not produced a bud or bloom yet. Their leaves are smaller and the plant stems thinner.  But they do attract visitors.  I wonder if this monarch is related to any of the 'pilars that started out on the DWC raft?  

If you have never tried to grow okra, I encourage to give it a shot. It is very forgiving and once it gets going is a prolific producer.  Even if you grow in soil, I still recommend growing the dwarf varieties because okra can get tall.  And last but not least, be sure to save some of your seed.  All of these plants are from last year's seed.

OK, I've shown you my okra......let's see yours!

Aquaponics Doesn't Have to Be Ugly

My hubby has been itching to build a new aquaponic garden.  He has had an IBC tote cluttering up the garage for several weeks.

The problem is that we are running out of space.  We do not have much growable space to begin with.  Some of what we do have is shaded.  The areas that get enough sun for growing edibles are already occupied by aquaponic gardens or conventional soil beds.

Little Okra

He has been eying our swimming pool deck and commenting about the abundance of sun it receives.  Of course it does, who puts a swimming pool in the shade?  I could see where the hints were going.  By the time he said he wanted to put an aquaponic garden by the pool, I had accepted that this was going to happen.  I just wanted to minimize the damage. 

By damage, I mean that our house is built around the pool area.  It is visible from most rooms in the back of the house.  I did not want to look at something ugly.  Let’s face it, most aquaponic gardens are collections of tubs, barrels, buckets and lots of pipes and tubing.  These components are not terribly attractive.  While our existing aquaponic gardens are not eyesores, they are not exactly things of beauty.  Even though they are full of beautiful growing things, I don't want something like that the focal point of the back of my house.

I was willing to compromise (one of the reasons we have been married for over 30 years) and he was willing to compromise (another reason our marriage has lasted so long).  I agreed to the IBC, if he agreed to do some extra work so that it was not an ugly eyesore.

IBC Aquaponic Garden

Voila!  He clad the system in pressure treated lumber so that it will withstand the elements and from the house, it almost looks like a hot tub! The bottom holds 125 gallons and the top gives us a grow area of roughly 4 feet by 4 feet. Plenty of room for the tilapia and veggies!  He fitted it with a bell siphon, but I would like to change it over to a timed flood and drain. I like the way that method performs on the larger systems.

This past week end we began cycling.  Because I can’t stand for the fish to die, we are cycling with ammonia.  You can read my January post about my experiences cycling with and without fish and come to your own conclusions about cycling with fish.

Just to start, I put in some purple hull peas and Cajun Jewel okra.  I already have plenty of okra in our other grow beds and even some in rafts and NFT tubes, so I think we can expect a large crop of okra.  Unfortunately, because it is the rainy season, there is very little we can grow.  Summer in South Florida is like winter in the Midwest or North, there are very few edible plants that can survive.

Which brings me to an RIP moment.  One of the first thunderstorms that came barreling off the Everglades produced a lightening strike that has taken out one of my coconut palm trees.  As you can see in this photo, the tree is dying and you can even see the stripe on the tree trunk where the lightening exited. 

Coconut Tree with Lightening Scar

 It appears that the areca palm next to the coconut is a goner as well.  The areca only went in after hurricane Wilma.  The coconut is over 20 years old.  I  will miss them.  Its like saying good-bye to an old friend.

Areca with burned fronds

Do you get attached to your trees?

Floaters versus Sinkers - Seed Wars

When it comes to planting okra, I always like to soak my seeds for a day before planting.  I am sure there is a highly scientific reason that okra seeds should be soaked, but I do it because my father always told me "Cheryl, soak your okra seeds before you plant them."  He has been dead over 15 years, but I still do what he says.

Soaking this last batch of Cajun Jewel okra seeds, I noticed something strange.  Some of the seeds floated on the top and some sunk to the bottom.  As many times as I have planted okra, I couldn't remember if I had ever seen this before.

Floaters and Sinkers

It is possible this happens every time and I have never paid attention before.  Honestly soaking the seeds is usually one of those "Oh Crap" things you remember just before you go to bed.  You are in your jammies, turning out the lights and locking up the house when you remember that you were planning on starting those okra plants the next day.  So the standard practice is usually to find the seeds, dump them in a glass of water and go to bed without giving it another thought until I am ready to plant them the next day.

This time I remembered so far in advance that I paid attention to what I was doing when I popped the seeds in the glass.  Immediately I noticed floaters and sinkers.

I had a theory about floaters and sinkers.  I decided that the floaters didn't have much to get them started and that they would probably not germinate at all.  I hypothesized the sinkers were better seed and would have a higher germination rate and would grow faster.

So, the next day I carefully separated the sinkers from the floaters.   The floaters went in one starter flat and the sinkers went in another starter flat.  They were placed in the same area so that they would receive the same amount of water and sun.

I planted them on Thursday afternoon and as you can see that by Sunday morning there was a definite difference in the germination between the floaters and sinkers.  The floaters were sprouting away and the sinkers not so much.

Sinkers on Sunday May 11

I waited until Tuesday to check on them again.  At that point, the floaters and sinkers were the same size!!!!

So, the sinkers germinated quickly, but once germinated didn't grow up any faster than the slower germinating floaters. 

Floaters on Sunday May 11

Unless you are in a really short growing season and you need those extra two days, there is no difference between your floaters and sinkers, except that some float and some sink.

I transplanted both floaters and sinkers into flood and drain grow beds.  I have one bed filled with lava rock and the other filled with hydroton.  I also set a couple of floaters and sinkers in a DWC raft.  I also put one each floater and sinker in soil.

Since transplanted on Saturday, floaters and sinkers in the lava rock have produced their first true leaves.  The floaters and sinkers in the hydroton and the DWC raft have not produced true leaves yet.

As you can see in the photos I took today (Monday), in the lava rock grow bed, there is no difference between a floater and sinker.

Floater and Sinker on May 19

So, don't throw out your floaters. 

Stay tuned for updates during the growing season.

Worms in Aquaponics?

Last week I was cleaning out one of the beds that uses a continuous flow technique.  The plants had become so overgrown that it was time to do some serious pruning.  Because I was removing so much of the top of the plants I thought it would be a good idea to prune the roots as well.  These Everglades tomato plants are so hardy and they really respond to this pruning technique.

The grow media in this particular bed was a base of pea sized gravel with about 2 inches of expanded clay (Hydroton) on the top.

When the bed was first set up, I put some earthworms in there just to see how they did.  The answer to that question is..... they did wonderful thank you very much!  The earthworms help break down solids from the fish tank and help keep your grow beds clean.  They also assist with "mineralization" which is a fancy term that means they convert their food to available nutrients for the plant roots.  If you read much about serious aquaponics then you will run across the use of worms, but not earthworms.

My earthworms didn't know that they were not the preferred worm for aquaponics.  Each time I dug up some roots to prune I came up with enormous earthworms!  Now I know many aquaponic enthusiasts are crazy for red wigglers for their worms, but I am liking earthworms.  The first and foremost reason is because earthworms are cheap.  They are already growing in our compost beds.  We don't have hardly any red wigglers in our compost.  Maybe they aren't indigenous to South Florida.  I don't know, I just know that if you want red wigglers you have to buy them.

Because our compost pile is fed with bunny manure, I purge the worms before putting them in the bed.  I don't want to introduce any e.coli from our furred friends into the aquaponic gardens. 

Purging the worms is easy, just put them in a small amount of moistened corn meal for a few hours and they will have the equivalent of terrible diarrhea and vomiting. It is gross when you look in and see all that black gunk in the cornmeal, but the worm is clean inside and out.

I just give them a quick rinse in some water from one of the fish tanks and then into the bed they go and boy do they grow!

I put just a few earthworms in there when I set up the bed with the tomatoes at the end of last summer and now it is full of earthworms.  I have been routinely adding worms to each new bed that we set up, but I haven't done much in the way of digging around to see how they were doing.  Out of sight out of mind is the way they have been operating.

So I say if you don't have some worms in your grow beds, get some.  You may not have to go any further than your compost pile.

So do you use worms in your aquaponics beds?