Our aquaponic system was getting a lot of black volcano dust
on the vegetables. Spots were also appearing on the lettuce.
Some friends suggested the spots could be from the acid rain
we often receive as a result of living so close to an active volcano.
After a lot of investigation and thought we decided to
semi cover the plant part of the system with
greenhouse quality plastic.
We made hoops about 7 feet tall from PVC pipe and put them over the plant troughs. Then we ran the plastic over the hoops but not all the way down to the ground. We brought the plastic down to within 18 inches of the plant troughs so
air can flow across the plants and they do not overheat
in Hawaii's tropical sun. The ends of the hoops are
also open for air flow .
A month later and it is obvious this was a good idea.
The plants are cleaner and growing faster. The
spots on the lettuce have disappeared.
All is once again green and clean in the garden.
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