Update on my Azolla Main Tank

This are the pictures of my Azolla main tank from January 21 up to January 29.

Pictures one (1) to six (6) above are from January 21 to January 26.

Pictures one (1) to three (3) are from January 27 to January 29.

A few more days and this tank will be ready for harvest.

Last Sunday, January 22, I bought this green screen to cover my tank so that the leaves from the Ipil-Ipil trees would not fall in to my Azolla, but I need something with smaller holes, a mosquito net maybe.  The holes of this one is still big enough to let some of the leaves fall inside the tank.  Hopefully next post, I will have my net ready.

Again, if you can share something about Azolla, please do write in the comment area below.  Thank you.

Update on the Azolla Back-up

This is an update on my two Azolla container back-ups.

Container 1.

Picture one (1) was taken last Saturday, January 21, picture two (2) on January 22, three (3) and Four (4) on January 23 and 24 respectively.

The growth rate is extremely fast, in just three days, the entire container is almost covered by our Azolla already.

Pictures five (5) & six (6) were taken January 25 and 26 (Thursday).  As you can see, in just five (5) days, from January 21 to 26, we can already make a harvest.  And that is what I did that Thursday as seen on pictures seven (7) and eight (8).

Container 2.

The eight (8) pictures above were also taken from January 21 to January 26, and I also harvested more than half of the Azolla in this container.

The yield of the second container was greater than the first one.  Maybe because we started also with a higher number of Azolla in this one.

So five days is a good enough time for harvest in our little experiment.

I will show you next my main tank.

The Azolla Back-up

Having a back-up container for your Azolla is a great idea, and you really should have at least one.

This is my third post regarding the Azolla plant, and I really need to mention this.  For others like me who do not have different ponds to grow them, we really need to have a back-up container.

In my post last January 20, I have included soil in the usual water solution that I have been using.  And since I am not yet sure of the result of this, I created another back-up container for the Azzola (I already have one).  This is to ensure that I will still have some Azolla to propagate if something happened to the main tank.

In this back-up container, I have used the usual water solution that I have been using.

A bit of cow dung, and water.

Then I have put some Azolla.

So remember, especially if you are experimenting on the plant, have as many container as possible, even as small as this.
(all picture: January 21, 2017 - 1:43pm to 4:46pm)

How I Plant my Azolla

In my previous post regarding Azolla, I briefly mentioned how I was introduce to it and how I got my starter kit.

This post will tackle on how I am growing them.

But before that....  An additional info first....

Azolla are also called mosquito fern, according to my research  (ehehe, yes I did some reading) this is because Azolla can grow so thick that it would cover the entire surface area of the water, and because of that, mosquitoes would not be able to lay their eggs on the water.  Also, this plant grow so fast that any mosquito larvae already in the water would not be able to reach its surface to breathe, practically choking and killing them.

So, this plant is also good in controlling the propagation of mosquitoes, just put some in places where mosquitoes can lay their eggs ☺

Now to the planting part.

I’ve tried a couple of ways of growing the Azolla, we know that they floats on water, so I tried different types of water and tested which will be best to grow them.

I tried clean water directly from the faucet, the result was, they grew a little, then, they suddenly just dried out and died, I think two weeks was the lifespan for that experiment.

I also tried the water from my fish tank, this did a lot better, combined with a great deal of sunlight, they have grown pretty well.

But the best water that I have tried is the one that I have put some cow dung.  The color of the leaves became very green and the population became three times as many in just less than two weeks.

This is the growing media that I have been using ever since.

Another thing that I noticed is that the water also needs to be replaced once every month.  I did try to use the same water for a longer period but the production became slower.  So I think it best to replace it every month for a better yield.

This is my step by step process in growing the Azolla.  I have modified it again this time, because I saw a post from the FB page of Azolla Pilipinas that they have been adding soil in their tank, so let me also try that.

First is the tank. 

Picture taken Jan. 21, 2017 at 8:37 am

I am using an old refrigerator body as my tank.  My father welded and patches the holes so he can put water in it.  I think he was using this before as a container where his cows would drink from.

Wee need to remove all the Azolla first.

Then transfer them to a bucket.

We then need to clean the tank, remove the old water and any sediment that was left.  Just rinse the tank with some water.

There we go, now the tank is all clean, we are now ready to put the water mixture in.

This is the additional part that I have added to my process, I have included putting in soil to the tank.

Twelve shovels full!

We need to put our water now.  I have used two and a half bucket of water.  Unfortunately for me, at the time when I was cleaning the tank, I had to stop because we had a water interruption.  But since I could not wait for too long, I used the water from my fish tank.

I have used two full buckets of water from the fish tank and half a bucket of clean water.

Now, the cow dung.

This much is good enough.

Just stir a little to mix the solution ☺☺☺☺

There were some floating leaves and stems, so I took them out.

And there you have it, the soil dung solution.

The last step is to add the Azolla, maybe as many as could cover one third part of the water's surface.  We need to distribute the plant, do not let them bunch up in just one part of the tank.

(All pictures have been taken January 21, 2017, from 8:37 am to 11:38 am)

We will then just have to wait for about two weeks, and we can harvest half to two thirds of it.  Then we can wait for another two weeks and harvest half to two thirds of it again, and then, we need to replace the water and repeat the cleaning process.

I will take some pictures and show you the progress is a few days.

There you have it, this is the way I plant my Azolla.

If you have other information regarding this plant, please feel free to impart you knowledge, give comments or suggestion in the comment section below, thank you.

The Amazing Azolla

I learned of this plant when I was looking for some organic feeds for my Red Tilapia.  I’ve searched the net for some information, and I found many, regarding this plant.

So, the next thing is how to get me some of them.  I have joined some Facebook groups about  farming and gardening, and I was lucky enough that there was someone who is selling Azolla in one of this groups.  I have found other sellers, but their location is too far from our place.  The one that I got my Azolla from is Miss Juvy, her farm is also very far from my house, but she sends her Azolla via courier, and that made all the difference, I would finally have my own Azolla.  

This was the starter kit what I bought from her last June 21, 2016.

This is one kilo, and if I remember it correctly, I think the cost of shipping is higher than the actual cost of the package itself.

I still do not have any tank or container to put the plants on back then, so I put most of it in the 90 gal tank where I keep my Tilapia, and the others on the 20 gal tank.

One kilo is already a lot of Azolla, it covered the entire surface area of both the 90 gal and 20 gal tanks.  And I still have some to spare.

It has been more than six months, and I am still growing the Azolla.  I do not have a big enough tank or pond to grow larger quantity, but the ones that I have is good enough to supplement the feeds for my Red Tilapaia.

If I put azolla in my Tilapia tank, as many as in the first picture, the Tilapia would be able to eat all of it in about a week.  Currently, I am able to grow that much azolla every other week.  So, I am saving two week’s worth of feeds every month.

Next time I will show some pictures and tell some stories on how easy it is to grow them.

Harvesting Turmeric (again)…..

Two post ago…. That was more than a year ago…  I showed the first time I harvested my Turmeric’s.  back then, I planted the Turmeric and waited seven month, then I dug the plant to harvest the fruits (if there were any).  Unfortunately seven months was not enough for me to get a good harvest.  I replanted them last October 04, 2015, and thought of waiting for a longer time before harvesting them again.

Yesterday, I saw that some of the leaves were broken, and I thought that, more than a year had already passed since I planted them.  So, I decided to dig them and see if they have bear any fruits.

I cut all the leaves first, then I dug a little, and with just a little digging, I can already see that they have indeed yield some fruits. Yey…

I dug some more and look at what I got!  A lot of them!!!

There were two of this plants, and this were what I harvested from each plant.

Look at my harvest.  Last time, it was seven months, this time it was fifteen months, but the yield is definitely ten times as much.  I think in one year, you could already get a good harvest.

I have replanted them again and will make my next harvest on January, 2018.

I hope that my next post would not be of my Turmerics again, because that would mean one year from now ☺

WOW!!!! It's Been a Long Time

More than a year had passed since my last post.

Sorry about that...

Many things had happened since then, the fish are fully grown now, although only a dozen still remains (and the tank needs major cleaning).  Also, it might be that I am not taking good care of them, but no baby fishes had arrived yet, or probably all the tilapia are male.

For the basils, ahhhh....., they are all gone now (huhuhu).  I was unable to propagate new plans.  Also had not made time to buy some new ones, maybe soon (hopefully).

My wife still occasionally cooks some of the recipes that we had posted though.  Good for me 😁.

It's really weird how peoples interest change, people like me who wants to do a lot of things but ended up doing nothing.  

Thinking about it now, what have I really done for the past year.  The only thing that I am sure of is, I was able to watch a lot of those TV series, like the Flash, Arrow, Daredevil, Vikings and more...

I became an addict for those TV shows.

Well, I probably should do some reviews on them and include it on this site.

Another shift in interest for me, I want to do this again.  And hopefully, that interest would not so easily fade away this time.

Happy New Year to all......