Growing Fish & Plants in an Aquaponics Micro Food Forever™ Farm

This is a Copy of our March 2014 Aquaponics USA & Aquaponics World Newsletter. If you’d like to view the actual Newsletter as it was created in Constant Contact go here: http://conta.cc/1gYWudR

Growing Fish & Plants in an Aquaponics Micro Food Forever™ Farm is Awesome. Dear Subscriber: It’s been about one month since we completed our big conversion over here at Aquaponics USA & Aquaponics World turning our Greenhouse and our Growroom into a single system Aquaponics Demo Micro Food Forever™ Farm; and the results are amazing. We turned our demonstration Greenhouse and Growroom from demonstrations of our Aquaponics USA Food Forever™ Small School and Backyard Growing Systems into a demonstration of a Micro Food Forever™ Farm. Small Backyard and School Systems are a completely different design than our Micro Food Forever™ Farm, which at the moment doesn’t have one Deep Media Grow Bed set up. Everything you’re about to see growing in our Greenhouse and our Growroom are growing in proprietary combination Deep Water Culture/Nutrient Film Technique Grow Beds that we call Duffy Ducts™ after their designer, Oliver Duffy. The image above is our new Aquaganic™ Trademark Logo. Aquaganic™ food is the healthiest food on the planet because it is beyond Organic. It’s grown in a Pesticide, Petrochemical and GMO free Aquaponics systems where the fish are fed fish food that has no land animal parts like pig’s feet or cow tails as a protein supplement. Here’s what our Micro Food Forever™ Farm Growroom looked like one month ago. The pink light you see here is coming from four LED Grow Lights we are using to grow our Seedlings. The Seedling Area has 11 Growing Holes instead of 6 making it possible to grow lots more tiny seedlings before they are transplanted into the Grow Out Horizontal Duffy Duct™ System. Here’s what that Growroom looks like today! In this photo, you can see the Butter, Head, Romaine and Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce. Here’s the front of our Groowroom where we  are growing Swiss Chard and Butter Lettuce.   We are testing out a new Grow Light. It’s called an Induction Light; and it’s similar to the T5’s we have everywhere in our Growroom except here in the front. We’re finding there are several advantages to Induction Lighting. First and foremost, they are about twice as efficient as either T8’s or T5’s. Secondly, they last 5 to 10 times longer. A typical Induction Light designed as a Grow Light will last for 70,000 hours at nearly 100% brightness and continue on to 100,000 hours at 70% brightness. Our Growroom Is Pumping Out So Much Lettuce We’re Starting a Locally Grown CSA Program To Sell It! In this photo we’re growing Living Romaine and Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce along with some Living Cabbage. All of our produce comes with the roots still attached for a long shelf and cooler life. Our Basil Is Growing So Tall It’s Touching The Lights! One of the fastest and easiest things to grow in a Food Forever™ Farm System is Basil. It rapidly grows huge leaves and tall plants. Induction Lights hang about a foot above Fluorescent Lights, which will be perfect for growing Basil Plants this tall without them hitting the top of the Grow Lights. We’ve Added Some Tasty Head Lettuce To Our Lettuce Selection. The loose, curly leaf Head Lettuce is crispy, firm and fits perfectly in our Clam Shell containers for packaging and delivering to our Community Supported Agriculture participant markets. You’re Not Going To Believe What’s Happening In Our Greenhouse! Our system designer, Oliver Duffy, has outdone himself this time. He’s designed a Vertical System that can pump out 224 heads of Lettuce and still we have almost as much room for Deep Media Beds as we had in our original Greenhouse. The photo above is what the  original Greenhouse used to look like. Here’s A Series Of Pictures Showing Our Vertical System We’ve Named After Our System Designer, Oliver Duffy. This Duffy Duct™ System is working so well, it’s actually what has prompted us to start the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Program in our local Hi-Desert Community. We’re being overrun with Living Romaine Lettuce that is delicious, gorgeous and huge. In The Previous Photo, You Only See One Wall Of A Two-Wall Inverted “V” Duffy Duct™ System. Here’s a peek at the other side of the Inverted “V” Duo Walls! We Have Two Sets Of Inverted “V” Walls In Our 28×8 Sq. Ft. Greenhouse Growing 224 Heads of Living Romaine! This Vertical System has been in the design stages for quite a while so it’s a real joy to see it in action; and it’s working beautifully. We’re planning to add a hoop house next to this Greenhouse with as many of these Inverted “V” Lettuce Walls as we can put in it. So stay tuned. Here’s the Aquaponics USA CSA Program Invitation! If you live in the Hi-Desert of California above Palm Springs, own or manage a small local market or restaurant, you’re invited to join our CSA Program. We’ll be enlarging the CSA Program to include local residents once we get that Hoop House built because then we’ll have enough Living Lettuce, Herbs and Leafy Greens to include our local residents. In the meantime, restaurant owners and market owners can call (760) 671-3053 to get an appointment with us to discuss and join our Hi-Desert CSA! Watch this Section of our Newsletter for a List of all the participating Markets and Restaurants in Morongo Valley, Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree & 29 Palms! If You’re A Local, You Can Purchase Our Living Lettuce At Sue’s Health Foods Store In Yucca Valley! Sue has been encouraging and supporting us for over a year now; and her Sue’s Health Food Store was the first market to sign up for our CSA Program. You can pick up a head of delicious, nutritious Living Romaine Lettuce from her cooler or get a clam-shelled box of crispy loose leaf Living Head Lettuce. No other company is selling Living Romaine or Living Head Lettuce. We’ll be delivering some Living Butter Lettuce to her store soon. Look for our zer0 Pesticides, Petrochemicals & GMO’s™ Brand!   Get Involved! Join The Aquaponic Gardens Campaign! It’s Rolling Through A School District Or Charitable Organization Near You!   Our Mission is to Generate $1,000,000 each year in order to donate Aquaponics USA’s Food Forever™ Growing Systems to Schools and Charitable Organizations. You’re Invited to help support our FundGenerators and their efforts to donate Aquaponic Gardens to Schools and Charitable Organizations. The Aquaponic Gardens Campaign is seeking supporters that are able to sign up for business services from their A+ rated FundGenerating Service providers. All Schools & Charitable Organizations are welcome to request their Aquaponic Garden donations! For More Information Go To:https://aquaponicgardenscampaign.shutterfly.com/ Or Email Jason Nole at: AquaponicGardensCampaign@aol.com Or Call: 760-717-4414   You Can Help Fund The Aquaponic Gardens Campaign! Just Visit our Go Fund Me Site at:  http://www.gofundme.com/AquaponicGardenCampaign   Everyone is invited to become a FundGenerator™ where they can immediately begin to reach out to their network of friends, family and other contacts that wish to support the Aquaponic Gardens Campaign for Schools and Charitable Organizations.The purpose for FundGenerating™ is to collectively generate $1,000,000 every year to invest into Aquaponic Gardens for Schools and Charitable Organizations. FundGenerators™ FundGenerators™ earn 25% of all “Commission Dollars” that they Generate for their Campaigns.  The Campaign donates 60% of all “Commission Dollars” directly to the Schools and/or Charitable Organizations. 15% of all “Commission Dollars” go towards operating the Aquaponic Gardens Campaign for the cost of doing business. Thank You for being one of our valued Subscribers. We so appreciate you reading our Newsletters. Next month we promise we’ll feature The Food Revolution. Sustainably, Grace Sylke Marketing Director Aquaponics USA/Aquaponics World

Ready to Grow Food For Your Family or set up an Edible Schoolroom, Here’s a 10% Discount on any of our Growing Systems. This Offer Is Good Until May 1st, 2014

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!

WhiteFlies

In the last few posts, we’ve been all about the Good; but this post is about the Bad and the Ugly! What’s that, you ask. WHITEFLIES!

Don’t let their White Wings fool you. These pests are far from angelic. In fact, today I’ve decided they are pure evil; and they’re sugar addicts to boot.

WhiteFlies are not really flies at all as they are related to the aphid family. There’s a species that’s called Greenhouse WhiteFly (GHWH) and their favorite plant is eggplant. But in our Greenhouse they have decided our Basil is their plant of choice. They are also attacking our Okra and even our lettuce.

This is Grow Bed #5 where a lot of sweet Basil is growing. That’s where the major infestation is occurring.

We totally blew it in relation to this infestation because we were going out to the Greenhouse at night when it was cooler. The WhiteFlies were tucked away in their resting mode under the plant leaves and we missed them until they became a full-blown invasion of our beautiful Greenhouse. From our perspective, we had none and a week later we had thousands. UGH!

You can’t tell from these pictures but the Basil and small Okra leaves are full of Sticky Gooey WhiteFly excrement.

When we thought we had none, they were going through the mere 18 days of development time necessary at 86 degrees.

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about this scourge on Greenhouses: “Developmental time (egg to adult) for the GHWF can take from 123 days at 54° F. to only 18 days at 86° F. GHWF eggs hatch and go through several instars (stages of larval growth) while attached to the undersides of leaves. Shortly after hatching, the GHWF larvae attaches into the leaf tissue and begins feeding on plant fluids. It remains attached until it emerges as an adult. While attached, the larvae is covered with a protective skeleton that makes it difficult to kill with insecticides. Adults can begin laying 4-10 eggs per day within 1-2 days after emergence. As the various stages of the GHWF feeds on the plant, it excretes large amounts of honeydew. A black sooty mold can grow on the honeydew that can interfere with leaf photosynthesis and transpiration.”

We’ve pretty much lost our Basil in the back Grow Bed. It’s all sticky with the sugary excrement  of the WhiteFlies. Good bye Pesto and delicious herbal spice. It’s really amazing how quickly what appears as a few WhiteFlies turns into an endless army of these invaders.

Thank goodness they don’t seem to be interested in the Corn because it’s not mature yet. But they love the Greek Basil.

We’ve taken the first step at reclaiming our Greenhouse by putting up Sticky WhiteFly Traps. However, we didn’t use them soon enough obviously. Sticky WhiteFly Traps are about detection more than they are about waging war with WhiteFlies.

Take it from us who are learning the hard way, everyone with a Greenhouse Aquaponics system should be putting up Sticky WhiteFly Traps (especially in warm weather) for monitoring WhiteFly adults as soon as a crop is seeded. We sell them on our website Accessories page. Each adult White Fly caught on a trap may prevent 100 eggs from being laid on your plant.  And believe me when I tell you to wear a face mask if you put up traps after the infestation and then deliberately shake the plants where the WhiteFlies are residing. I didn’t and I’m going to drink a nice big glass full of GSE (Grapefruit Seed Extract) as soon as I finish this post. Somehow, writing this post has turned into my revenge on WhiteFlies.

This is also REVENGE!

But the Sticky WhiteFly Traps are only the beginning of our counter attack. Because in a couple of days we’ll be receiving our Encarsia formosa (WhiteFly Parasites). We’re getting the Nile Delta WhiteFly Parasite because it will go after all major types of WhiteFly including Greenhouse, Silverleaf, Sweetpotato and Banded Wing. These Nile Delta guys are actually wasps. You can get them at Hydro-Gardens.

Nile Delta encarsia formosa

WASPS! EGAD! That’s fighting with some real big guns. We’re hoping they’re going to be so full of WhiteFlies, they won’t bother with us. Actually, the instructions regarding how to release them say they will only go after WhiteFlies and not plants or people. That’s good news. Here’s how they operate on the battle field.

Below is a photo of a plant leave invested with WhiteFlies. What these WhiteFly Parasites do is actually lay their eggs into WhiteFly larvae. No wonder they are called parasites. WOW! That’s infiltration of the enemy lines at the deepest level. Once that happens the leaves look like the pictures below depending on which kind of WhiteFly is in your Greenhouse. The instructions do say these guys do a better job if you employ them early in the fray. We hope we’re getting a real serious Black Water bunch that can eradicate the infestation after being hired late in the insurrection.

If things go as planed, the back of the leaves where the larvae is turn into this:

The photo above is of a leaf that was invested with a species of  WhiteFly called Silverleaf after the Nile Delta Parasite laid its eggs inside the WhiteFly larvae. This is good news.

Here is a leaf that was invested with Greenhouse WhiteFly after the Nile Delta parasite laid its eggs inside the WhiteFly larvae.  Again, this is the good news.

We’ll keep you posted on the process of eradicating WhiteFlies as it progresses. In the meantime, I feel a whole lot better after hitting the Publish button because I have just aided in the eradication of WhiteFlies all over the world.

We really consider ourselves to be peace loving people. We even take most bugs we find in our desert home outside rather than killing them (except black widows). But those WhiteFlies have turned me into a Warrioress who is defending her Greenhouse and her food.

Thanks for being there. Now for that big glass of GSE!