Originally Posted 17-June-2009

It's been a few weeks. Things are going well. We have been harvesting lettuce faster than we can eat it. The Sweet Basil in the floating raft is struggling, it seems to have powdery mildew and is only 2-3" high. Celery in the floating raft system is up 12-14" high and is beginning to fill out nicely.

I have had zero fish loss so far, the Bluegill are growing nicely. I've removed all the beans from the beds as they were taking over and attracting lots of bugs. Likewise the peas were out of control and blocking the sunlight, so they are all but gone. Roma Tomatoes, which are supposed to be determinate, are 5-6' long and still growing, with lots of fruit on. Powdery Mildew keeps attacking the cucumbers, but the fruit is generally one step ahead of it.

About every other week I will stir the gravel where the water flows in as I get some buildup of sediments. I've had no problems at all with the bell siphons or any other part of the system. Algae has also not been a problem. The Bluegill seem to eat it, it's not growing in the pipes, and I have a few goldfish in the sump tank that seem to keep it eaten down as well.

In the greenhouse: The aphids are completely under control, citrus scale went through a problem phase where it got bad, pruning back the infected leaves and stems and a healthy population of lady bugs seems to have that under control. Now it's gnats. I have yellow sticky paper to attract and trap them, along with beneficial nematodes in the soil, but they have still flourished. They don't seem to be hurting the plants, they are just annoying.

PH drifts up and weekly I add phosphoric acid to keep it down below 7.2.

My supplier for Hybrid Striped Bass tells me that at the end of the month I will be able to get 1-1 1/2" fingerlings. I'm going to put them in with the bluegill who are 2-4". Bluegill have small mouths and are not that aggressive so I'm hopeful they will leave the fingerlings alone. The bass are aggressive, but given that they are smaller, I'm hoping they will learn to co-exist and as they out grow the bluegill, I'll have already eaten the bluegill or they will stay friends.

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