Which Vegetables can have roots handle sunlight?

[zfarsh]

Hi everyone,

I have a clear plastic bin, 6inches in height, and instead of filling it up all with hydroton, i wanted to put many pots in it, and filled with water at around 4 inches from the maximum 6 inche depth. Alga would form, no problem, i would have put some alga eating shrimps in it and maybe fish too. New water would come from a 75 gallon aquarium, to a sump, pumped to this growbed, and drained back to sump, then back to both 75 gallon aquarium and the growbed. My hydroponics store let me know that the roots would rot due to sunlight / or light in general. I did not know that. That being said, are there vegetables where the roots can handle sunlight?

I guess another option would be to get pots that are longer in height, and simply put them at the bottom of the tank. I could drill a few holes in them for water to get in and out. May need an airstone inside for more oxygen (i dont know if i do or not). Would like to hear some thoughts. Doing it with pots in the growbed instead of filling the whole container with hydroton would give me more space to have more living organism space such as shrimps (and maybe alga eating fish and snails), whilst still allowing me to grow some vegetables.

thanks in advance

[Toga]

Hi zfarsh,

Welcome to APHQ.

Sounds like an interesting system you have setup there... feel free to add pics
A small floating raft setup might suit your clear bin.... perhaps a couple of shrimp in it as you say.

Cheers
Toga

[zfarsh]

thanks for the reply Toga. A question, wouldnt light be coming to the roots from the sides of the clear bin, and thus the roots would perish?

[neogenix]

Welcome aboard! and I'm new here too, I'd guess the response would be that you should probably paint the bin as you'd want to use the paint to assist with temperature spikes, and some of the algae growth, as well as making the container survive long term in the elements.

[zfarsh]

thanks. What do you guys think about putting taller black plastic pots (filled with hydroton) in the water bed of the transparent large bin, that way, the roots dying at the bottom wont matter as much. Also keeps things easier for cleaning / changing.

[GaryD]

Hi zfarsh,

I have a clear plastic bin, 6inches in height, and instead of filling it up all with hydroton, i wanted to put many pots in it, and filled with water at around 4 inches from the maximum 6 inche depth. Alga would form, no problem, i would have put some alga eating shrimps in it and maybe fish too. New water would come from a 75 gallon aquarium, to a sump, pumped to this growbed, and drained back to sump, then back to both 75 gallon aquarium and the growbed.

A clear grow tank would encourage algae development which would mess with your pH.....and clog up everything.

Roots that are exposed to sunlight would be pruned or rot.

I guess another option would be to get pots that are longer in height, and simply put them at the bottom of the tank. I could drill a few holes in them for water to get in and out. May need an airstone inside for more oxygen (i dont know if i do or not). Would like to hear some thoughts. Doing it with pots in the growbed instead of filling the whole container with hydroton would give me more space to have more living organism space such as shrimps (and maybe alga eating fish and snails), whilst still allowing me to grow some vegetables.

If you paint (or wrap) the grow tank, you could use your pot idea. I'd suggest a water plant like kangkong (water spinach) or similar.

Gary

[zfarsh]

thanks for all the response, i will know for next time. The plan was to have the algua feed my red cherry shrimps which i would put in the container, and maybe even algua eating fish, such as ottos. However, i scrapped the idea in the end to maximize the vegetable growth.

Curently, the container is filled with hydroton (~5.5" deep in 6" max), and i have put black tape on the side where the sun is hitting directly, but have kept the side which point to the room as transparent, so i can easily see the water level. After a few days, already some seeds have started to germinate, i think lettuce.

An un-expected occurance is hapening. The water levels are different in day time than late at night times till morning, and I am not talking about evaporation!!! Water comes by gravity to a sump tank, which is then pumped to both the grow tank and back to the aquarium via a spliter. To keep levels constant, ball valves are put in every line, and adjusted. There is a screen mesh at the suction of the aquarium, but i have not noted any blockage. What happens is that the water level in the aquarium rizes up, whilst the water level level in the sump goes very low and pump starts making noise. I simply re-adjust the valve settings in either the water coming from or going back to the aquarium manualy untill a stable level is achieved. Morning, water level is either the same, or changed a bit, depending how much time i spent re-adjusting it the night before, and may require a small re-adjustment during the morning. Once the morning adjustment is done, water stays constant across the board even when i come back home from work and through the evening, untill later at night again.... This even hapened once in my grow bed, but only once.

I know dont if the "little elves" are playing a trick on me, or is it the force of gravity that changes (is reduced in fact, which doesnt make sense), or something blocks the line bringing water from the aquarium to the sump which i cannot see or identify at this time, but it sure creates a mysteri for me, and thus obligates more time spent to keep things constant, and this may force me to close the flow during days i am completely away from home.

Anyone else experience this before? I know my system is different from others, but still...

[Caca]

i have experiment with roots expose to sunlight and roots was ok.
I try only with Estragon, Timian, Basil ( for now).
Direct light = algae grow , indirect light no (or very little) algae, but roots was ok.
So, it can be done.

Good luck
Caca