Wild Duckweed?

While walking outside my mother’s house in Pasig after work, I happen to chance by seeing some “green stuff” near the swampy grass. I thought it it was just algae or some green liquid stuff disposed by the house nearby. I kept ignoring it until one day my curiosity took over and I looked closer. And guess what’s I’ve found… duckweed!

I’ve been trying to grow them ever since somebody gave me a handful to multiply, but this was the first time that I saw them in the wild. First time I would ever see them grow in that small village in the last 22 years of living there. How they got there, I had no idea.

Some people who are not familiar with duckweed might ask, what’s the big deal about it? In some places they are considered a nuisance and often associated with poor water quality (they basically thrive if the water is rich with nutrients). While this is true, duckweed is considered by some as a plant who might play a major part in the future of food production. In spite of being the smallest aquatic plant, it can contain up to 45% protein and is rich in amino acids which is an ideal food for fish in ponds and aquaponic systems. They multiply rapidly given the proper conditions (conditions that I am yet to fully understand).

So what did I do when I confirmed that it’s duckweed that I saw lying on the murky water in our neighborhood? I ran back home, took some plastic container and my phone camera! Imagine this being done while getting this what-the-hell-is-this-guy-doing kind of look from our neighbors. When I came back with my container, some old guy even tied up his dog on a tree a few feet away from where I found the duckweed, probably thinking I was up to something not very good. But in spite of having to dodge this dog and with his annoying barking, I managed to scoop my duckweed away and walk home smiling.

 

Backyard Aquaponics – Beginning of a passion

A close-up look with the flower from the Onion plant. I never really expected it to survive after I planted it.

4th week of the growbed after the seeds were planted

After I started the first one 4 weeks ago, I am now setting up the 2nd and 3rd systems both at the same time. The 2nd one, made up of an old refrigerator and a 55-gallon plastic drum. The 3rd one cost me some money for we had to buy the new growbeds and the fish tank. For the stand, I just went to the construction site near or house and talked to one of the workers, and good thing they allowed me to buy their used coco-lumber for 8 pesos each. I opted to paint them black so they won’t look so old.

I should have planned what I wanted to grow. Now the leaves are all tangled.

I couldn’t wait to get home to finish the stand of the 3 new growbeds. I started slow with the carpentry but soon enough, I was working purely by instinct. I painted the wood black. When I thought I’ve done enough for the day, I punched in a hole for each of the growbed. And when I thought I was tired enough and needed rest, I made 3 stand pipes and 1 bell siphon. It really took a certain amount of self control to stop working with Aquaponics. I could go on and on non-stop. After 4 weeks in operation, I realized some of my mistakes with my first system:

1. Plants – I made this stupid thing by sprinkling seeds in the grow bed without considering how will they look like once they’ve grown. Now it’s a total chaos. I’ll make it a point to avoid this error with the 2 other systems.

2. Bell Siphon – If I invested more time and effort in creating a better bell siphon, I could have minimized the time spent worrying of the bedwil continue to flood and drain. But since I’m just in the experimenting stage, I guess it’s okay.

3. Transparent Growbed = Algae. Because of better exposure to sunlight, algae have been stealing nutrients that could have been for the plants. But I did this so I can observe what’s going on inside the bed and see the roots and water flow.

These experiences have made me more confident in continuing the goal of understanding Aquaponics better and create more successful systems. I hope to be able to use Aquaponics where it can be most beneficial. So here’s a quick update with the 1s mini system we started 4 weeks ago. Some changes have been made, such as the pipe running from the fish tank into the growbed and the tube used in the bell. I also made more reading about Aquaponics and reviewed other videos to better equip me with more knowledge with this passion.

This is the same Okra plant after 4 weeks. It has dominated the growbed ith it’s rapid growth. It has been the most aggressive of all the plants.

This is the same little corn seedling 4 weeks ago. Now, I'm not really sure how this one will go...

My playground. This is where I can be found most time of the day.

My work area from a different angle

This is the 3rd system that is still under construction. Can’t wait to start this one.

 

My first attempt to start a mini Aquaponic system at home

It all started with me wanting to learn how to breed Tilapia in our backyard. After spending hours reading about how to grow the fish and how can i make them multiply in our small vacant lot, I remember in one website, somebody asked about Aquaponics. I’ve never heard the word before. Curious as always, I feverishly Googled for answers. The idea of growing plants without soil was intriguing. The thought of growing fish and plants together was even more exciting! So how does it work? In Aquaculture, you grow fish, feed them, the fish produce waste, you get rid of the waste by discarding the water or using a filter. In Hydroponics, you grow plants without soil. The plants are placed in other growing media such as rockwool, clay pellets, foam, recycled foam, gravel, peat, sawdust, or coconut fibres, then fed a nutrient solution to make them grow. However, water is also discarded. In Aquaponics which is the combination of Hydroponics and Aquaculture, instead of discarding the water from the fish, you give it to the plants, they like it because of the nutrients abundant in fish waste. The beneficial bacteria on the grow bed of the plants basically cleans the water for the fish to use again. Saves a lot of water, time, space and let me also add that almost everything is self-sufficient and natural (almost – because you still need to provide food for your fish).

Just like a lot of people who get enthusiastic about Aquaponics, I’ve always wanted to build my own system, and just like most people who like Aquaponics, I just can’t seem to find the time.

I continued to read and read and read. I watched countless videos, experimented with auto-siphons and talked about Aquaponics to almost every person I meet. I was lucky that my ever-supportive girlfriend encouraged me to “just do it” one day, otherwise, I would just still be talking about it. Living here in the Philippines, I do have some advantages. Being in the tropics, temperature for the fish won’t be a problem and I can easily acquire fish and seeds for the plants.

Finding materials for our very first Aquaponic system was no easy task. It’s very easy to feel like giving up since some materials used in the systems I’ve seen are very hard to find here ( fiberglass fish tanks and grow beds, expanded clay pellets, etc.) It’s nice that in other countries, they do sell kits. After scouring to different hardware and DIY shops, I was ready to build using local materials. I decided to try using Shubunkin Goldfish (Php 10.00 each) for the fishtank as they’re hardy and easy to care for. For the plants, I tried directly planting seeds of corn, mustard, pechay (chinese chard), okra (lady’s fingers) in the grow bed. I also added 2 young basil plants. Seeds started to germinate after 3 days. I planted the same type and number of seeds in the soil for me to be able to compare the rate of their growth.

Shubunkin Goldfish

seeds germinating after 3-4 days

after 2 weeks

It has been 2 weeks now since the first Aquaponic system went operational. So far, I’m very happy with the progress. I spend at least 15 minutes a day checking it, some minor tweaking and making sure that the grow bed floods and drains correctly. My girlfriend also took the liberty of adding some more fish and one day caught her “playing” with them(with that guilty smile on her face, saying “I’m just feeding them”). Water is crystal clear, which is a good sign. It will take several more days or weeks for the plants to mature, but I am already thinking of building another one with a bigger FT and bigger grow bed so I can plant more edible vegetables and grow edible fish.

Okra after 2 weeks

Corn after a week

Happy planting!