Liquid organic fertiliser with no animal products

In a coupled aquaponic system, the fish, the biofilter bacteria and the plants share the same water, and everything you pour into it passes through the gills before reaching the roots. Orgatrex is formulated for soil, where soil micro-organisms mineralise its nitrogen; in a pond, its organic matter, sugars included, would add to what the waste and feed already supply, and its decomposition would use up the oxygen the fish need. So do not pour it into your pond, or into the grow beds that receive the fish water. The article which fertiliser to use in aquaponics details what suits the system.

Orgatrex nevertheless has its place around an installation. The FAO guide advises raising plants in a nursery and transferring them to the grow beds only at least two weeks after the first true leaves appear: during this period, your tomato or courgette seedlings in pots of compost can receive Orgatrex like any vegetable garden plant. It also feeds the potted crops that often surround an aquaponic greenhouse. Finally, in a decoupled system, where the fish water flows in one direction only to an independent growing loop, the plants' nutrition is corrected without touching the pond; this loop nonetheless remains a soilless water circuit, better served by a soluble mineral fertiliser than by a formula designed for the life of the compost.

In water containing fish, the deficiencies that come up most often involve iron, potassium and calcium, and they can be corrected with compatible products. The New Mexico State University guide recommends adding 2 mg/L of DTPA chelated iron every 3 weeks, a role filled by 11% DTPA chelated iron, and raising the pH towards 7 by alternating calcium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide, which supplies both of these elements at the same time. An iron test tells you when to renew the dose rather than doing it blindly.

At the rate of one feeding watering a day on a few pots, the 1 litre bottle makes up 200 litres of solution, enough to see a balcony of tomatoes and herbs through a good part of the season. The 5 litre container, which makes up 1,000 litres, is better suited to a vegetable garden in containers, an unheated greenhouse or a bed of vegetables in open ground. Between seasons, store your concentrate in a cool, frost-free room with the cap tightly closed, and shake it thoroughly when you start again. If your plants spend a summer in pots on a hot terrace, do not hesitate to water more often with plain water between feedings: a compost kept moist keeps active the micro-organisms that release the nitrogen in Orgatrex.

Orgatrex can also be used on coco coir, a medium that holds almost no fertiliser reserve. For the first 10 days after planting, you water each pot with the same solution of 5 ml per litre, then carry on at the same dose at every watering. The compost or coir will first have received the Startrex organic soil improver, which establishes the microbial life responsible for releasing the nitrogen from Orgatrex.

Orgatrex also mixes with the bacteria and Trichoderma Bactrex from the same range. For one planting, dilute 20 ml of Orgatrex and 1 g of Bactrex in 500 ml of water, then pour the 500 ml at the base of a single plant, all at once. The fertiliser feeds the young plant while the micro-organisms colonise the rootball, and the solution should be used within 6 hours, while the bacteria are still active.