Homegrown feed

[Dfarago]

Also wanted to show you my duckweed. It arrived on March 8th, wasn't much to look at...a wet paper towel with tiny green leaves on it in a ziplock bag. I wasn't expecting it until March 11, so I didn't have my pool ready with dechlorinated water. I dumped some bottled water in a small bowl and rinsed as many of the leaves off the paper towel as I could. I think I ended up with *maybe* half of them in the water. March 10 or 11, I put it in the 3' kiddie swimming pool. (I took the first picture on the 11th) Yesterday, I filled the second pool and let it sit overnight for the chlorine to evaporate, and then today, I scooped a small amount into it, too. Hubby wants more pools or a pond now, he's in shock at how fast it's multiplying. I've added duck poop for fertilizer.

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March 11
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March 12
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March 13
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March 17
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March 21 - started a second pool

When setting up for duckweed do you have to treat the water? You mentioned something about chlorine, should I buy a ph kit for this? My water is high In alkaline and it’s all from a well.

 

[CountryFried]

About the mangels, my plan was to plant them in various areas and once they were grown, move the pigs to those areas. In theory (one of the links I put shows this), they would eat the tops and then root up the bottoms. When the mangels were gone, I would move them to a new area. Unfortunately, I didn't get to test this plan, as my hubby decided not to retire then (2012) and we've spent the last six years moving around the country LOL. We're back on our homestead now and starting from scratch.

We have a well but I haven't had the water tested and I don't have a well spigot near my greenhouse, so I use city water, which is treated with chlorine. It's highly unlikely you have chlorine in your well unless you shock it, and if you do, you can just fill a container and let it sit for 24 hours and the chlorine will evaporate. This is my first experience with duckweed, so I don't know whether PH really affects it. From what I've read, it seems to grow anywhere in still water.

 

[Dfarago]

About the mangels, my plan was to plant them in various areas and once they were grown, move the pigs to those areas. In theory (one of the links I put shows this), they would eat the tops and then root up the bottoms. When the mangels were gone, I would move them to a new area. Unfortunately, I didn't get to test this plan, as my hubby decided not to retire then (2012) and we've spent the last six years moving around the country LOL. We're back on our homestead now and starting from scratch.

We have a well but I haven't had the water tested and I don't have a well spigot near my greenhouse, so I use city water, which is treated with chlorine. It's highly unlikely you have chlorine in your well unless you shock it, and if you do, you can just fill a container and let it sit for 24 hours and the chlorine will evaporate. This is my first experience with duckweed, so I don't know whether PH really affects it. From what I've read, it seems to grow anywhere in still water.

Thank you for taking the time to share this information and for replying/answering my questions. Good luck to you and your family on all your endeavors.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Now I know why my duck weed didn’t grow in my small pond I have a pump that moves the water plus gold fish that also probably help take care of any that tried to survive.