The tomato bushes have been really going like a boeing. The cultivar is called Ox heart, which grows tomatoes upto 1lb in size. This guy is already about the size of a tennis ball..
They are also apparently an indeterminate varierty, which means they do not grow into a fixed shape, which means they can grow very very long if you string them up. So I put up some 3.6m horizontal poles which I will use to string the tomato plants as far as I can. I am hoping for more than 10m. (will add more string-ups when it gets to the end of the 3.6m poles..) Also notice the welded mesh I installed to try and keep the tomato plants in check - they have been swamping the poor chilli plants..
Speaking of which. the chillies are all doing very well. One paprika in particular is looking very good...
In other news, I have moved the smallfry outside. I counted 140 of them! I now have all the fingerling females in one tank and all the males in another, and all the smallfry together in a 3rd tank.
Last but not least, I am trying another experiment. I like to call it "open loop aquaponics" In open loops, the water is fed to the plants but not circulated back. I connected a solenoid valve to the pipe coming from the pump, and fed a pipe all the way to a lemon tree that is planted in soil. The lemon tree has had a rough time from dry conditions. The solenoid valve is switched on twice a day for 20 minutes. The solenoid valve normally requires a high pressure to properly open.
I do not have much of a high pressure from the pump, so it only lets through a trickle. Which is exactly what I want. Twice a day, a very small amount of nutrient-rich water is dumped at the lemon tree, I would guess it to be less than 2 litres a day.