Grow your own

[oem]

Hi Guys and Gals,

Here is a mini tutorial on growing you own healthy nutritious veggies for our shrimp.  All of these plants were weeds before someone ate them and found out they were tasty.  So they will grow like weeds which is good for us. They can be grown in ground or just as easily in pots for people with limited space on a deck, porch, or even inside.

 

The seeds of these plants can be bought at most local garden centers, online, or found at local Libraries in their Seed Library for free.  Local garden clubs also have Swap Days of seed and plants.  Most of these seeds are very tiny and round which makes handling somewhat difficult.  The easiest way to plant is on a folded piece of paper and gently tap the top and let the seeds fall.

 

Start with a good potting soil mix either organic or with added fertilizers.  An inexpensive mix is Miracle Grow Natures Care Organic Mix.  About $7 for 32 quart bag.  It can be used to start and grow out the plant in a pot.  Please do not buy potting soil.  Terrible, God knows where it came from stuff.   Pots can be as simple or as fancy as you want.  You will need at least a 3g for one plant but a 5g will allow for better growth, several different plants, and less need to water.  Make sure there are several drain holes if growing in a 3g to 5g bucket.   If you plant in the ground just dig up a little section, break up big pieces and plant seed or plant seedlings which is my preference.

 

I start seedlings in something like a 16oz deli / sour cream container.  Put moistened potting mix in container about halfway up, sprinkle several seeds, and cover with one quarter inch of potting mix.  Lightly tamp down the mix to get good contact with the seeds.  No extra watering is necessary until the seeds sprout.  Too much water will smother the seeds.

 Put a clear plastic wrap over the container to hold in moisture.  At 70 degrees your seeds will sprout in 3-4 days. 

 

When you seeds sprout get them under a light as soon as you can. Any type of household bulb will work.  CFLs work great.  Keep the light within 3-4 inches of the plants for best growth.  Raise as they grow, keeping at the 3-4 inch height.  Keep the soil moist but not wet.  When the first true leaves show replant into the ground or pot.  Gently take the entire soil-root mass out of the container and break up leaving as much soil on each plant as possible.  Replant up to the rounded seed leaves, as new roots will form on the stem.  Space according to recommendations, usually 6-8 inches for Amaranth and 12-15 inches for Kale.  For those growing in pots that's 2-3 amaranth or 1 kale in a 5g pot.  Too many plants close together leads to decreased air flow and diseased, dead plants.  Believe me that 1-3 plants will produce plenty of leaves to serve fresh (for you shrimp and your salad bowl) and extra to dry.   Keep the plants well watered and in 6+ hours of sun.   When it gets 80 degrees or better I'll take a 1/2g -1g jug of water and invert it into the pot.  As the soil dries down water will be released as air replaces it in the jug.  When you see that the jug is empty refill.  Milk jugs and 2l bottles will collapse so I use heavy juice jugs.

 

Start harvesting leaves when the plants are about 1 foot tall for fresh and about 60 days for leaves to dry.  Start at the bottom and work your way up removing no more then 25% at any one time. Extra fertilizer should not be needed the first year with new soil or potting mix.  If you feel your plants aren't growing like weeds get a balanced fertilizer like 5-5-5 or 10-10-10 at your garden center.  These plants will produce seed the second year if they can be over wintered.  Pass those seeds on to someone else to enjoy.

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Soothing Shrimp]

Great write up!  Pics?

 

Oh, and what ratio plant to tanks?

[oem]

Thanks Soothing.  I'm seriously old school and my phone doesn't take pictures.  I'm going to try and get my daughter to take some pictures, and send to my e-mail so I can show everybody.  As to how many plants you would need for a given number of tanks I have no idea.  I grow plants for market and to eat myself.  Both Amaranth and Kale produce a lot of vegetation.  I can probably look at my notes and see how many pounds of greens I produced, but that would be hard to translate into amounts for feeding shrimp.  I can do a test plot and see what transpires when dried for storage.

[jem_xxiii]

Shout out to Library Seed Libraries! Kind of a newer trend in So. Cal right now, but libraries offer great resources that many people over look. Now back to our regularly scheduled program...

 

Great write up!

[oem]

Thanks Jem.  Our Food not Lawns group along with several other non profits,gets bulk seed free from many seed companies and repackages in small envelopes at Seed Parties for the Library.  Some are organic and some conventional but none are GE.  Two that I have dealt with and are the best are High mowing Seeds in VT. and Peaceful Valley Seeds in Ca. . Good service and reasonably priced for quality products

[35ppt]

a little gardening wisdom: plant twice as much as you think you will need

 

[Vpier]

19 hours ago, oem said:

Thanks Soothing.  I'm seriously old school and my phone doesn't take pictures.  I'm going to try and get my daughter to take some pictures, and send to my e-mail so I can show everybody.  As to how many plants you would need for a given number of tanks I have no idea.  I grow plants for market and to eat myself.  Both Amaranth and Kale produce a lot of vegetation.  I can probably look at my notes and see how many pounds of greens I produced, but that would be hard to translate into amounts for feeding shrimp.  I can do a test plot and see what transpires when dried for storage.

Any tips on drying  and preserving the leaves if you dont have a dehydrator?

[PlantDude]

44 minutes ago, Vpier said:

Any tips on drying  and preserving the leaves if you dont have a dehydrator?

 

What works for me is using the ovens lowest temp. For me it's 150 or I've used Broil with good results too.

[Vpier]

2 hours ago, PlantDude said:

 

What works for me is using the ovens lowest temp. For me it's 150 or I've used Broil with good results too.

How long or do you eyeball it?

[PlantDude]

4 minutes ago, Vpier said:

How long or do you eyeball it?

 

It depends. If I'm in a rush and do a whole head of kale that was dried for a few minutes, then I would say about hour and half with a lot of checking and mixing to ensure every piece was drying evenly. I can cut that time in half If I dry the kale properly. 

[Vpier]

3 minutes ago, PlantDude said:

 

It depends. If I'm in a rush and do a whole head of kale that was dried for a few minutes, then I would say about hour and half with a lot of checking and mixing to ensure every piece was drying evenly. I can cut that time in half If I dry the kale properly. 

Does this also apply to amaranth?

[oem]

3 hours ago, Vpier said:

Any tips on drying  and preserving the leaves if you dont have a dehydrator?

You can make a simple dehydrator out of a cardboard box, some screening (not galvanized), and a light bulb in a fixture. Even CFLs give off enough heat to dry.   Put several 1/2" holes in the bottom and the same amount of 3/4"to 1" in the top for natural convection to occur.  I was about 12 when I first made one of these.  You want to keep the temp. about 140-150 degrees to retain the most nutritional value.

[PlantDude]

6 minutes ago, Vpier said:

Does this also apply to amaranth?

I don't know actually. I've never tried doing amaranth. Maybe my next weekend experiment 

[oem]

Most everything can be dried.  The amount of moisture and thickness of the material dictate the amount of time involved.  A small fan will shorten the time involved.  I have a small dehydrator but only use my oven's pilot light to dry veggies and seeds to about 5% moisture.

[Soothing Shrimp]

On 4/26/2016 at 7:25 PM, oem said:

You can make a simple dehydrator out of a cardboard box, some screening (not galvanized), and a light bulb in a fixture. Even CFLs give off enough heat to dry.   Put several 1/2" holes in the bottom and the same amount of 3/4"to 1" in the top for natural convection to occur.  I was about 12 when I first made one of these.  You want to keep the temp. about 140-150 degrees to retain the most nutritional value.

 

Sounds like a nice thread for the DIY section.

[chad590]

If you guys live in an apartment or condo with limitied or no yard access -- you can do a simple DIY hydroponic or buy one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Deep-Water-Culture-DWC-Hydroponic/dp/B00CHEIO6Y

 

all it is: 5 gallon bucket with a lid. lid cut enough to hold a net pot. airstone and air pump.

[Vpier]

10 minutes ago, chad590 said:

If you guys live in an apartment or condo with limitied or no yard access -- you can do a simple DIY hydroponic or buy one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Deep-Water-Culture-DWC-Hydroponic/dp/B00CHEIO6Y

 

all it is: 5 gallon bucket with a lid. lid cut enough to hold a net pot. airstone and air pump.

That setup is very popular in Colorado for growing a certain type of plant (weed) if you know what I mean.

[oem]

I've done the hydro deal before growing veggies and herbs and still do it for fun occasionally.  I didn't seem to get any better yield, although growth was faster.  Mixed bat guano, seaweed and fish liquid, mycorrhizae starter, molasses, and air stone to be all organic.  Interesting and enjoyable project, but healthy soil for me is easier to manage. Like a shrimp tank you still need to check PH, EC, NPK, ect..

[oem]

Hi All,

  Did anybody have any issues with the seeds I sent not germinating or growing poorly?   West Coast has been crazy hot which will cause plants to go to seed but they should grow if kept watered.  As Vpier has mentioned hydroponics works good and homemade units are easy.  2 liter upright gardens are inexpensive,easy and being vertical take up no space.  Perlite and vermiculite are light weight, and hold water well.  Hydro stores carry inexpensive organic nutes, perlite and vermiculite.  Never been in a store where they don't like talking about their hobby.  YT- Simple DIY hydroponics 2 liter