permaculture

["Charlie Shultz" <aquaponics@hotmail.com>]

Greetings from Sunny St. Croix,

First an introduction:  I am Charlie Shultz and I currently reside in St. 
Croix, USVI, located SE of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean.  I work for an 
Agricultural Experiment Station on "Aquaponics".  Aquaponics is the 
combination of fish farming, "Aquaculture", and Hydroponic plant production 
with the fish effluent.  The two terms put together derives, "Aquaponics".  
Also referred to as BioPonics.  For more information you can see our website 
at:

rps.uvi.edu/AES/Aquaculture/aqua.html

> From there you will also find a link to our annual summer workshop on 
Aquaponics and Tilapia Aquaculture.  Please email me personally with any 
questions or comments.

Our experience with coir has been wonderful.  We used to use a peat media 
mix to start seedlings in our greenhouse.  When the seedlings were 
transferred to the outdoor hydroponic systems, especially in the hot summer 
months, we would see an outbreak of the fungus Phythium which turns the 
plant roots to mush.  Soon the plant withers and dies.  We were told that a 
peat medium can harbor the phythium fungus.  This is the same fungus that 
causes damping off in young seedlings.  Currently we have switched to a mix 
of coir (Coconut fiber) and vermiculite.  This mix provides a great deal of 
oxygen for the seedlings while holding an approprite amount of moisture.  
While peat will replenish itself after thousands of years, the quantities 
harvested globally will not sustain the demand.  Looking at alternatives, 
especially ones coming as a byproduct of another industry, will lighten the 
load on the peat harvesting.

Another media I am currently testing is locally washed up sea grass.  I have 
always mulched with this seaweed, but now I am trying it as a media in a 
drip-irrigated system for sweet pepper plants.  I rinse once, fill the bags, 
and then start the drippers.  While sodium may become an issue, I am 
"rooting" for the substrate to provide many micronutrients besides sodium.

After a long hiatus from this list, I finally resubscribed and have enjoyed 
the dialog so far.  Hope I can provide some valuable information for some of 
you.

Yours,
Charlie Shultz
UVI, St. Croix




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