non food plants in ap systems

[bushboy]

I have another new system cycling and already have enough vegies growing (along with our soil beds as well)

I am looking for some ideas on plants that will suck up nitrate well - maybe provide some nice flowers.

there are 2 x 250l beds available

any suggestions appreciated

[GaryD]

Hi Tom,

Here are few possibilities:

duckweed
marigolds - some species are good for deterring insects
fodder plants for chickens.....amaranth, chou moellier, etc.
loofah - great for defoliating dry skin - may even be useful as a filter media
many species of flowers.Gary

[bushboy]

thanks Gary

I am thinking of trying some native desert flowers - desert rose/desert pea etc

the reasoning being that they come up after a wet season in the desert
and gravel growbeds are perfectly drained.

I have some seed packets from our trip last August

they'll either grow or rot! I have no idea how much nitrate they will use
up though

I'll let you know in a few months time

[Jason Palenske]

I have a Red hesitant, a Begonia (Sp) and a Philodendron that are very happy right now.

[Outbackozzie]

Sunflower :)

[bunya boy]

Tom,
After a recent visit to Tassie, I was very intererted in their production of this plant near Forth: they now are the second largest producers in the world. It would be a great non-food crop and may assist in your other areas.

Pyrethrum dasies could be an AP goer? Have a look at this site; http://www.botanicalra.com.au/
Cheers IanK

[GaryD]

Hi Ian,


Pyrethrum dasies could be an AP goer?

Not if the active agent in the daisies is able to leak out of them somehow.

Gary

[Dufflight]

I've got amaranth seeds but have never had a lot of luck growing them. Mainly forgeting to water them.:D Will have to try them in AP. Hope they don't end up being the weed that I get in the back yard. It kind of looks like amaranth but not having grown it long enough I can't tell.

[bunya boy]

Hi Gary,
Yeah, I thought about that too, especially in a closed loop system.
But the active ingredients break down so quickly in sunlight that they wouldn't pose a threat, even though fish aren't really a warm blooded animal. When I saw them growing, I was fly fishing a section of a river that went through the middle of acres of the daisies and I know that it didn't affect the trout. The active ingredients are also non-accumulative and environmentally friendly. Apparently it takes a reasonably complex process to extract them out of the flowers as an oil, so I don't think they would be available as "free" agents in any sufficient quantity to be active.
Anyway, it was just a thought and at least you would have plenty Chrysanthemums for Mother's Day . . . ;)!

Cheers IanK.

[ElfNori]

This is going to be just a bit out there . . .

There's this guy in France (Patrick Blanc) who creates whole walls of hydroponically grown plants . . . and many of the base systems are aquaponic.

Here's a few of my favorite links of his stuff:

Article on what he does (http://www.stylemag-online.net/2008/10/10/green-fingers-and-glitter-patrick-blanc/)

Video interview prior to his Melbourne project (http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/video/video_index_2008_August2008.htm) (video link is down the page just a bit)

Article about the Melbourne project (http://www.thedesignfiles.net/2008/07/patrick-blanc-in-melbourne.html)

If you do a google on him you will find the systems he's done which involve fish. One of the video interviews I watched shows a couple of his fish systems.

Nori

[GaryD]

Hi Ian,



.....so I don't think they would be available as "free" agents in any sufficient quantity to be active.


Thanks for that......I didn't know what the effect of growing pyrethrum daisies might be. I know the final product will kill fish.

Gary