Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

Discussion forum for the various methods and structures used for getting an early start on your growing season, extending it for several weeks or even year 'round.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old April 30, 2017   #16
Cole_Robbie
Tomatovillian™
 
Cole_Robbie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
Default

I have played with both hydro and aquaponics. But I happen to have such rich soil, that it is much more feasible to just grow in the ground.

Fish waste is almost entirely nitrogen, so aquaponics is great for growing lettuce. But for tomatoes and other fruiting crops, I think you would need to mix additional fertilizer with the fish water, and then set the tomato plants up as run-to-waste, like a typical container.

Humates and humic acid, which is what makes compost or rich soil have a dark color, also shows promise in helping plants make the most of water resources. Rich soil requires less water, I know that from experience.

And I haven't tried it, but yucca extract is also used on plants to help them survive droughts. Fertilizer companies also offer what is basically synthesized yucca, for use as a spray.
Cole_Robbie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old April 30, 2017   #17
mohanurs
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Bangalore, India
Posts: 22
Default

Thanks for sharing your experience Cole_Robbie. I guess nothing can beat the balanced soil. There is a company in Bangalore which has demonstrated using combination of biochar, humic n fulvic acid, trees were grown in a arid terrain with rainfall of less than 10mm per annum. They have agreed to ship me the samples. Will update the results
mohanurs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 1, 2017   #18
Cole_Robbie
Tomatovillian™
 
Cole_Robbie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
Default

That is really cool. Humic and fulvic acid are great stuff. A friend of mine makes bio-char from pine needles.

And by the way, if English is not your native language, I certainly can't tell. If it is a 2nd language for you, then I have to say that you command it very well.
Cole_Robbie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 1, 2017   #19
mohanurs
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Bangalore, India
Posts: 22
Default

Oh my english! getting Christian convent education in my formative yrs and 25 yrs of work experience in global companies just rounded my language skills enough to do business communication.

Made some 100 kgs of charcoal last month with firewood, need to powder it and innoculate with various soil bacteria anf nutrients to make biochar.
mohanurs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 1, 2017   #20
Cole_Robbie
Tomatovillian™
 
Cole_Robbie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
Default

Interesting. I have made aerated compost tea before, out of my very best soil. Molasses, or any sugar, is combined with water, and an air pump added. After about two days, bubbles foam up, indicating high bacteria count. Whatever good bacteria you have, you can culture them exponentially greater in an aerated tea.
Cole_Robbie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 1, 2017   #21
mohanurs
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Bangalore, India
Posts: 22
Default

Quite a knowledge, I do use aerators in my water tank to keep away the algae formation.

Tried doing the same with cow dung, a handful of wet soil, sugarcane juice and some malt like corn floor or rice floor, but it became messy n smelly. Stopped preparing it, have to design a cleaner system with filter, so that I can use the compost tea through drip.
mohanurs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 1, 2017   #22
mohanurs
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Bangalore, India
Posts: 22
Default

Thanks for your inputs. You can always participate in my whatsapp group, I call it proof of concept by mohanurs. The invite link is here https://chat.whatsapp.com/81zACpJVZQG1QLBiuQlo5f
mohanurs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 1, 2017   #23
Worth1
Tomatovillian™
 
Worth1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
Default

We get next to nothing on the news about the drought in India.
How are the poor doing there not good I would think.
Worth
Worth1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 1, 2017   #24
mohanurs
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Bangalore, India
Posts: 22
Default

The reality is, its terrible, unfortunate, our media loves to cover sensational topics and ignore the reality. Fresh water scarcity will peak in the next decade. Water conservation has to be made mandatory for farmers. My goal is to build proof of concepts with acute focus on water management, and zero pesticide.
mohanurs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 1, 2017   #25
mohanurs
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Bangalore, India
Posts: 22
Default



Tomato variety Valouro beef steak from Rijkzwaan, NL,
mohanurs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 1, 2017   #26
dmforcier
Tomatovillian™
 
dmforcier's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 3,825
Default

Wow! That's a big greenhouse. The plants look pretty good. I think you're on to something.
__________________


Stupidity got us into this mess. Why can't it get us out?
- Will Rogers


dmforcier is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 1, 2017   #27
Worth1
Tomatovillian™
 
Worth1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
Default

Thanks I will get back with you on water conservation in this thread.

But I have to ask here.
If you know anything about Indian food could you start a thread on it in the cooking section.
Everyone here knows how much I love food from all over the place.
Worth
Worth1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 1, 2017   #28
mohanurs
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Bangalore, India
Posts: 22
Default

Yes, its a 22000sft (2000 sqm) greenhouse, holding 4000 tomato saplings and 2000 cucumber vines.
mohanurs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 1, 2017   #29
mohanurs
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Bangalore, India
Posts: 22
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Worth1 View Post
Thanks I will get back with you on water conservation in this thread.

But I have to ask here.
If you know anything about Indian food could you start a thread on it in the cooking section.
Everyone here knows how much I love food from all over the place.
Worth
Indian food! Done let me open a new thread with some spicy Indian recipes
mohanurs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 1, 2017   #30
GrowingCoastal
Tomatovillian™
 
GrowingCoastal's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Vancouver Island Canada BC
Posts: 1,253
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by mohanurs View Post
The reality is, its terrible, unfortunate, our media loves to cover sensational topics and ignore the reality. Fresh water scarcity will peak in the next decade. Water conservation has to be made mandatory for farmers. My goal is to build proof of concepts with acute focus on water management, and zero pesticide.
Wonderful goals! Wishing you all success.
GrowingCoastal is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 11:58 PM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★