Aquaponics Nutrients can be reclaimed by Filtering Aquaponics water by providing a light source.
Aquaponics Nutrients can be reclaimed by Filtering Aquaponics water by providing light source at the bottom of your tank(s). An example application can be accomplished with an HID (high intensity discharge lamp) lamp. The lower layers of an Aquaponics system can be clump up with anaerobic material that does not decompose easily. If one looks at [...]
Platystemon californicus – Cream Cups – California wildflower Annual
Platystemon californicus – Cream Cups – Delectable cream and yellow annual growing under 1′ tall, with fuzzy nodding buds. Early spring bloomer but can be planted sequentially for later bloom. California native plants are an acquired taste, but there are exceptions to the rules. Cream Cups is an excellent plant for color splash in your garden. [...]
Salvia columbariae – Chia – Golden chia – Desert chia – California wildflower Annual
Salvia columbariae -Chia- Salvia columbariae -Chia- It grows in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Sonora, and Baja California and was formerly an important food for Native Americans. This is the seed for the Chia drink. It grows about 2 feet tall with a ball of blue flowers at the top. The drink goes for about $50 per [...]
Clarkia rubicunda – Ruby chalice clarkia – Farewell to spring – California wildflower Annual
Clarkia rubicunda -Ruby chalice clarkia - Long-blooming showy pink-lavender flowers with dark red blotch at base of petals. Flower stalks 12 to 18 inches tall. Still blooming in September on the coast. Blooms the best time in July and June. California native plants are an acquired taste, but there are exceptions to the rules. Ruby chalice clarkia is [...]
Gilia capitata – Globe Gilia – California wildflower Annual
Gilia capitata -Globe Gilia - Grows quickly, blooms heavily, dies with first frost. Can regrow following spring if seed falls on bare ground. Thrives on dry banks in the chaparral. Long bloom period. Plant fall or mid-spring to bloom with summer. California native plants are an acquired taste, but there are exceptions to the rules. Globe Gilia [...]
Clarkia concinna – Red ribbons – California wildflower Annual
clarkia concinna - red ribbons- This is an annual plant with erect, herbaceous stems. The distinctive flowers have four looping sepals of red or dark pink which look like loops of silk ribbon. The longer, pink petals have three lobes which are usually streaked with white. Flowers throughout the summer. California native plants are an acquired [...]
Nemophila menziesii – Baby Blue Eyes – California wildflower Annual
Nemophila menziesii – This California wildflower Annual flower does not have to have an explanation. It has a small bold blue flower that lasts for a month or longer. They can be planted throughout the summer months. California native plants are an acquired taste, but there are exceptions to the rules. Baby Blue Eyes is [...]
Clarkia unguiculata – elegant clarkia – California wildflower Annual – Mountain Garland
Clarkia unguiculata – elegant clarkia – California wildflower Annual flowers have hairy, fused sepals forming a cup beneath the corolla, and four petals each one to 2.5 centimeters long. This flower with its pink, red or purple flowers arching gracefully in a bouquet for almost a month. One of the wildflowers that can out-compete weedy [...]
Fruiting Edible Mushrooms Indoors
Fruiting Edible Mushrooms Indoors for large yields can be difficult. The biggest problem is keeping the newly emerging mushroom moist and away from carbon dioxide. If you ever bought a mushroom brick or loaf from a mail order or super market, your yield can be small if the brink is not kept in the correct [...]
Hard Water-Chloramine-Chlorine-Dissolved Minerals Removal
When water comes to us from a wells, rains or cities, it normally has some or all of the elements of Chloramine, Chlorine or Dissolved Minerals. For us to make good compost teas, grow mushrooms, grow Aquaponics systems or just plain using water, we need to make sure it is safe for our plants and our [...]
Aquatic Nitrogen Fixers for Aquaponics – Almost Fishless Auqaponics?
Aquatic Nitrogen Fixers for Fishless Aquaponics Systems. Nitrogen fixing is the way or a process where plants can take up nitrogen from the air and make it absorbable by roots. Plants cannot take nitrogen directly from the air. It first needs to be fixed. The chemical compound is NO3. Or called Nitrate. Nitrate is produced by [...]
Monkey Flower – Mimulus guttatus – seep
Mimulus guttatus is an annual to sometimes perennial that grows in seeps, springs or along creeks. Useful along the edges of ponds or the fountains. Very floriforus for months in spring-summer. Seep monkey flower is well liked by hummingbirds, disliked by deer. If Seep monkey flower goes dry it disappears, sometimes coming back, sometimes it [...]
Planting Method 1 – Flooding Plants in Ceramic Balls
There are several ways to plant plants in hydroponics and in Aquaponics. I found the easiest and most successful way is to plant in ceramic balls with no coconut husks or any soil. The method is simple and it works with the laws of nature. Plants cannot be grown directly in water. They need air by their roots as well as [...]
Preparing Soil Samples
Preparing soil samples for microscope analysis is easy. The actual analysis has a steep learning curve. It takes a bit of practice. Preparing soil samples is different than preparing compost tea and compost extract samples. In preparing soil samples we are going to be measuring the amounts of micro-0rganisms contained in the soil. That means [...]
Soil Test Equipment
Testing your won soil with a microscope is fun, but there is a large learning curve. It is simple to make the samples, but identifying the animals on the slides takes a lot of practice. Here is a list of items you need for basic microscope soil analysis. These items can be used for analyzing compost, [...]
Trichoderma
mycoparasitic fungi Trichoderma viride For Identifying pests by pictures or by names (this also includes solutions), Click here For more Information on other Natural Pest Controls, Click here Where to buy this, Click here Trichoderma when introduced along with seeds or at root zone protect the seedlings from attack by soil borne pathogens that cause [...]
Chinch
What to use to Control: Beauveria bassiana Strain GHA For more Information on Beauveria bassiana Strain GHA and how to use it, Click Here
Borers
What to use to Control: Beauveria bassiana Strain GHA For Identifying pests by pictures or by names (this also includes solutions), Click here For more Information on other Natural Pest Controls, Click here Where to buy this, Click here For more Information on Beauveria bassiana Strain GHA and how to use it, Click Here
Aphids
What to use to Control: Beauveria bassiana Strain GHA For more Information on Beauveria bassiana Strain GHA and how to use it, Click Here
Snails
Snails are a wet weather pest for most vegetable gardens. They can destroy your whole garden in a few nights. If you do not look to eat Escargot, then here are a couple of methods to control this pest. What to use to Control: Diatomaceous Earth, Copper Strips, Chickens For more information on use, [...]
Slugs
Slugs are a wet weather pest for most vegetable gardens. They can destroy your whole garden in a few nights. If you do not look to eat Escargot, then here are a couple of methods to control this pest. What to use to Control: Diatomaceous Earth, Copper Strips, Chickens For more information on use, availability [...]
Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous earth also known as diatomite or kieselgur, is a naturally occurring, soft, silice ous sedimentary rock that is easily crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder. It has a particle size ranging from less than 1 micron to more than 1 millimeter, but typically 10 to 200 microns. This powder has an abrasive [...]
Making Compost Teas – Video
Here are some simple How To Vidoes to Make Compost Teas. For more information on Compost Tea Application schedules for preventing diseases see, For more Information on applications schedules for Tea Applications, Click Here For more Information on Disease and Pest Suppression using Compost Teas, Click Here Compost Teas/Extracts Foods, Click Here Making Compost Teas [...]
The Nitrogen Cycles – Videos
In this episode we looking at two Nitrogen Cycles. This is a replacement for chemical pesticides and fungicides. Applications are done as compost teas. And applications are done with Azos bacteria. Nitrogen Cycle part1 from Paul Holowko on Vimeo. For More Information on Nitrogen Cycles, click here. Nitrogen Fixing Cycle Part 2 from Paul [...]