I've heard of folks in warmer climates growing banana and papaya trees, but didn't think I could hope to do so here in Virginia.
But I happened across the GreenEarth website. He's got two dwarf banana varieties I could grow in my short greenhouse, and a third variety, California Gold, that should survive outside in the winters here (I'm in Zone 7a). Here's the description for the Truly Tiny Banana Plant, which I'm thinking of trying out:
Delightful small banana that has a beautiful form. Grows only to about 2 - 3 feet in height. Excellent houseplant. Great as a groundcover or as a container plant. Likes generally warm conditions, bright light, moist soil. Fast grower that quickly attains full size. A miniature version of the Dwarf Cavendish Banana. Grows only 24" tall. Great tasting bananas. Easy to grow, indoors or out! Zone 8-11. Great house or patio plant. approx. 6" to 8" plant.
Now that's sweet!
In your research, have you come across a discussion as to how one replenishes an aquaponic system after taking fruit from the plants.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me, if you take a pound of squash from your grow beds, eventually you will need to put the nutrients needed to make a pound of squash back into the system.
Hi Tim,
ReplyDeleteMurray Hallam talks about this a bit in his DVDs - there are things you use to buffer up the pH that have good stuff in them. He talks about adding chelated iron and other additives.
In my case, I'm adding commercial fish food, so I get some nutrients from that source. Remember that a lot of what you get from your veggies is water and what I like to think of as "sequestered carbon." So if I eat a pound of fruit from my garden, I don't have to add a pound of nutrient. I just need to occasionally add water to my tanks, feed my fish, make sure I exhale, and add a pinch of nutrient from time to time. I'll go research this again and assemble a concise list.
Oo - the main thing you want to do is make sure your pH stays around 6.8-7.0, because that's where the majority of nutrients are made "accessible," if they're in your system.