Plants

This is where I'm going to let you know what plants I have in different parts of my system and how they do.

Elephant Ears (Taro)

My EE are in three locations around my home, but two plants are testing the waters of my pond. They are sitting in my waterfall. They weren't used to it, so the leaves that were on them at first died back, but new growth is great! This variety is called "Black Magic". The more sun they get, the darker the leaves get.

This is the parent plant to the two in my waterfall.

It sits in my front ornamental garden near my front door.

Lettuce

Trying a few different types of lettuce. So far, so good.

In my hydro-tub and have some floating in an aquaponics-type setup inside my pond.

Plan to have some in my full hydroponics setup in Spring.

March 2015: Two have survived the winter in the water. I'm guessing the water provided a bit of a temp bubble to keep them alive. Maybe if I get a heating source enough to keep the surface from freezing in Winter, they may all live next year.

Water Lettuce

In northern states, water lettuce may be concidered a nuisance, but from what I read, if cooked it can be eaten. You HAVE to cook it! Raw water lettuce has micro-needles that give it the velvety feel, but if you eat raw water lettuce, it will cut up your throat and stomach. Cooking it, softens the needles.

As of Mid-Jan. they had all died from the cold.

Carrots

In my hydro-tub.

Sept. 8, 2014 Three have sprouted not big enough to take a good picture. Will wait a few days for them and to see if any more come up.

Sept. 11, 2014 Tiny little carrots starting to show.

Jan. 8, 2015 Only one looks like it survived the last few cold spells, but it is still tiny. I doubt it will survive this current cold (got down to 13°F this morning).

As of Mid-Feb. one was still trying to survive the cold. Still very tiny too.

Artichokes

I've never tried growing artichokes before, so this is completely new for me... The garden section of my Home-Depot had them and I grabbed two pots to try (there were about three in each pot to start).

They are in my hydro-tub.

Update Jan. 8, 2015: Freezing out and have had short bursts of cold within the last couple months and they are still green and trying to go.

As of the begining of Feb., they were so far gone that they had disappeared.

Mushrooms

Blue Dove Oyster Mushroom
Reishi Mushroom Mycelium
Pearl Oyster Mushroom Mycelium
Phoenix Oyster Mushroom Mycelium
Chicken Of The Woods Mushroom Mycelium

I already put two plugs of each into a large log...

It can take up to a year to produce. Hopefully the soon to be wet Spring will trigger them early.

Berries

BLACKBERRIES

Arapaho

Chester

Prime Ark

BLUEBERRIES

Sharp Blue

Gulf Coast

Stevia

I had trouble with the first batch of these...
They came in great and looked happy, even started to grow. Then out of no-where, they started to wilt and die.

I asked the company for help as to how to save them... They sent a refund for me to get a new batch instead. Hopefully, this batch does better.