Issue 9
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Table of Contents:
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1. Something About Those Bugs
A. Now you can spray beneficial insects on plants and trees. This of course will be a big labor saver and consequently money. Because beneficials should be placed at selected intervals throughout the area to be protected. The secret is to place the beneficial eggs (like trichogramma or lacewing) evenly throughout the area.
In other words, you don't cover each plant entirely with the eggs - just a few on each plant or micro area to give an overall protect- ive inoculation. To do this by hand is pretty time and labor consum- ing. There has to be a better way.
That way is nearly here. Dr Louis Tedders, associated with Benefi- cial Insectary at Oak Run, CA has come up with a sprayer model which may do the trick. Smucker Mfg in Harrisburg, OR has 3 model sprayers which they have licensed under USDA regulations.
Why do these sprayers work better than regular sprayers? They don't kill the beneficials' eggs when they are forced through a tube in- stead of a nozzle. To date success has been had with spraying on eggs of trichogramma, lacewing and predatory mites.
In addition a solution which is non-toxic is used to help bind the eggs to the leaves of the plants or trees being sprayed. Past methods produced considerable loss of eggs when distributed throughout an area. The eggs must be sprayed when they are just about to hatch.
Well, all and good, It is hoped that the sprayers do the job as advertised. Because anything which reduces labor is just fine with me.
B. Damsel bugs are usually not abundant in any given area, but they do help to augment the services which other beneficials, such as ladybugs, lacewing and trichogramma wasps provide in keeping an area clean of pest insects.
Damsel bugs are about a third of an inch long. Gray in color, they catch and hold their prey just as a praying mantis does. Damsel bugs will prey on lots of small insects among which are caterpil- lars, leafhoppers and aphids.
C. Predatory Mites of the western variety are a mean bunch for spider mites to come up against. When their eggs are installed early in the spider mite season, the mites can keep ahead of any population surge among the spider mites.
In the West, predatory mites are used to protect fruit and nut trees as well as grapevines. They will eat spider mite eggs and adult spider mites too when the spider mite eggs run out.
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2. Liquid Carbon now Touted for CO2 Implementation
The following is for hydroponic installations only. The use of liquid carbon fertilization in soil can result in an overdose of carbon.
If you decide to use liquid carbon, experiment first on a small area so you can get the hang of it. This is a good idea for any new idea you are thinking about implementing.
Disadvantages of using CO2 gas:
Advantages of using Liquid Carbon:
For both the bloom and the grow stage of your plants, you should eliminate or at least cut down the amount of phosphate in your fertilizer. Why? Because liquid carbon has its own share (about 4%) of phosphate. You should also add a little nitrogen to make sure the nitrogen and phosphorous have the right ratio. Liquid carbon can be used by itself in the bloom stage.
A product known as Carbon Max will satisfy the needs of your plants, both in soil and hydroponics. However, be sure you add oxygen every day as this element is rapidly depleted and needs to be replaced. The directions on the product box will no doubt tell you how much, if any, of your regular fertilizer to add along with the product.
Also watch the pH of your nutrient system. If you find you need to add Potassium Hydroxide, keep the pH at 7 - 7.8 as this sort of solution drifts to the acid side of the pH spectrum.
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3. Here Come Those Strawberries Again
When we run across new information which may help you with a crop, we keep tacking it on. You never know - one piece of good informa- tion may be just the thing to make a crop a success.
A grower in Australia suggests the best way to grow strawberries is outside (not in the greenhouse) and using an NFT system with plants placed in rockwool cubes. The plants should be spaced 5 inches apart with NFT troughs at waist high height. The troughs should be rectangular (as viewed on the end) - about 4 by 2 or 5 by 3 (all inches).
This Australian grower recirculates his nutrient - 24 hours a day in summer and 1 hour a day in winter. At the end of two months he throws out the old nutrient and replaces it with new. The pH is as it should be: 6 to 6.5 and the EC is kept around 2-3 ms.
This grower's preference is Red Gauntlet for good tasting high- yield fruit. Tioga or Shasta can be good if the fruit doesn't grow too big.
But why not grown inside the greenhouse? Our Australian grower found that strawberries grow best out-of-doors because they like their winters warm and their summers cool.
Well, that's what our friend down under thinks. It may be just the climate after all. One thing he says: pick your hydroponic berries in the morning. They'll be sweeter.
Now look below and see what can be done with strawberries and fish effluent.
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4. Our Government Hard at Work
The U S Department of Agriculture has been experimenting in aquaculture with the effluent and manure from rainbow trout. Here are some of their findings.
They used pots filled with vermiculite and stacked as high as six feet. That gave them 24 strawberry (Chandler) plants to each stack. Which means they probably used 3 to 4 plant plugs per pot. Which also means the pots are big ones. Or they could also have used 1 plant plug per pot and stacked 3 or 4 pots together at a time. (You still have to allow for air and light.)
What's confusing is the statement that they allow the trout effluent to drip in regular irrigating pulses to the top pot(s) and then let the drippings from those to go down and infuse all the pots below. This practice, one would think, would lead to leave rot and other undesirable results.
Their results show a decrease of Phosphates from the effluent to a safe level when the effluent comes out "the other end" and so can be released to the outside world without polluting any water contained there. Also the researchers maintain they harvested 600 gallons of fruit from each plant through the 3 month fruit- ing period.
What did they do with the trout manure and feed left in the aquacultural system? They composted it and used it as a growing media for lettuce.
All in all, quite interesting and no doubt better explained by the folks at:
USDA-ARS Appalachian Fruit Research Station
45 Wilshire Road
Kearneysvikle, WV 25430
Phone: 1-304-725-3451
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5. Here and There
A. It's time again to talk about pH.
The reason why a pH of 6.0 to 6.5 is the best all-round is because most of the elements needed for good plant growth fall heavily in that area. For example take a look at the following:
So as you can see most of them fall fairly heavily in the 6.0 to 6.5 or 6.8 range. But most important, this is the only area where we can get them all, including iron.
B. Well, it had to happen. Now there is a patented process for growing vegetables and foliage plants on rooftops! And according to the patent holder, the results have far exceeded expectations. It occurred in St Louis with greenhouses on top of 7 rooftops.
The process is available through EcoTek Hydrocultural Plant Systems of St Louis, MO. (Sorry, you'll have to get the rest of that address through the Yellow Pages.)
C. Vertical hydroponic "farming" is going strong for growing feed for animals at the San Diego zoo. Grasses packed with nutrition are grown in trays which are stacked above each other in an area which is sealed. The trays are shallow and rectangular with slits on the bottom.
The slits allow a nutrient solution to begin at the top tray and drip down to all the others. Space between the trays must be maintained during the growing cycle in order to allow the grasses and other nutritious plants room for growth.
It has been claimed that lettuce can be grown this way too. Lettuce plants will reach maturity in 30 days using this method.
This idea, known as Herbagere, after Baston Perin, is somewhat similar to that discussed in my book on hydroponics at (http://www.mayhillpress.com). Here an Australian farmer grows hay to supplement his feed crops for his cattle. He also uses "vertical farming" in this fashion.
D. Earthbound Farm at (http://www.earthboundfarm.com) has been growing baby salad greens for over 12 years. This company uses seed which they produce themselves. In this way they can control consistency as well as quality.
They have committed themselves to making their product as safe as possible through the following practices:
Clearly this outfit has its act together.
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