Renewed Energy!

I'm back!

Had been months since my last update. I didn't feel like updating my blog for so long because many of my plants were dying due to the lack of direct sunlight at the back of my house. My plants became sick and weak, and turned into easy targets for various bugs and fungi. The lack of plant growth leads to the accumulation of nitrates. To counter that, I reduced feeding rates of the fish to the point of stunting their growth. All these failures had drained my aquaponics motivation level so much that I had neglected my maintenance duties other than feeding the fish.

But then, good news came! Last week, after months of lodging complaints and sending letter to my residential management office, they finally decided to prune that big tree behind my house. Finally, my grow bed gets to be bathed by direct sunlight! The back looks brighter now; I was joyful and I smiled...

Here are some pics:

The tree after much of its major branches removed. I'm sorry tree, but you need to slim down.

Right grow bed: Mostly weeds, dead genovese basil, and dying okra.

Left grow bed: Hundreds of tree saplings, a chilli plant, kang kong, and one surviving japanese cucumber.

This is the one and only cucumber plant that survived. Unfortunately, the main stem at the bottom broke when a tree branch fell on my system while pruning the tree. It only bore one fruit.

To reach for more sunlight, this kangkong had turned viney. It is producing lots of seeds though.

Tilapia tank.

I tried to get a full view shot, but there's a wall behind me.

Chilli fruit.

My favourite harvest, the single cucumber fruit before the plant died.

With my spirits lifted, I proceeded to clear the right grow bed for new tenants. Here's a good chance to show you some of the red wrigglers that has been living in the beds for some time.

Cleaned grow bed.

Can you see them?

Here's another pic... See any worms?

I then bought a new batch of seeds. They are: Kai Lan, Aster Pink, Red Okra, Pak Choy, Coriander, and Tomato.

 Thanks for reading!
:-D