Duckweed Aquaculture

[Ichthius]

A great duckweed reference.
http://www.p2pays.org/ref/09/08875.htm

They are growing it in Amsterdam as a salad crop they grow it the greenhouses between tomato and pepper crops.

One researcher has added human insulin gene to it as a simple and effective way of producing insulin for diabetics.

[bodyboarder]

Well good info for my own little Duckweed growing tanks i feed my goldfish on it as a treat they eat it all up in a matter of hours! and the sprout big green poop LOL:lol:

[flaringshutter]

Wow David, that's fascinating! I had no idea about the insulin production.
The article is a really great reference. Bookmarking it!

[Ichthius]

http://www.wrq.eawag.ch/organisation/abteilungen/sandec/publikationen/publications_wra/downloads_wra/duckweed.pdf

Have yet to digest this but it looks to be a wealth of knowledge:

Pee in your duckweed:
"Owing to their comparatively high N, P, K, and Ca contents, human
faecal matter and, particularly, urine seem a most suitable
nutrient source for duckweed cultivation (Tab. 11). Rashid (1993)
showed that for cultivation of duckweed in a 1000 m2 shallow
pond, human faecal matter and urine from 29-50 people are
sufficient to sustain a high duckweed production rate."

[harzan]

Wow....anyone here tried this? I guess we would not have to go very far the feed the duckweed huh???? :)

I might try the urine part.

[Ichthius]

I fertilize my tubs all the time. Just don't over do it.

Urine is also the best fertilizer for greenwater. Daphnia and Moina production was much better with human urine than just about anything else.

If you have a large tub with some organics in it you can pee in it and not notice any odor if the ecosystem is up and running.

Heck in a 100 gallon tub with new water, a beer or twos worth of urine and duck weed I doubt there's going to be a huge odor.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VFB-41GNM4D-4&_user=2148430&_coverDate=11%2F30%2F2000&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1288587106&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000056308&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=2148430&md5=acbda5b532dbdc8002c39549c76ca455

http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070625/full/news070625-13.html

It's free, cheap and easy and half the human population comes equipped with the perfect applicator! :coffee: