Fancy turning my fingers green

[craig_uk]

Afternoon all.

We'll its that time again. Summer is upon merry old england, and ive got the hankering to do some gardening.

Only problem is, ive torn up my garden for a complete re-vamp, which brings me here.

Ive got a spare 40 uk Gal with 100 Watts of light (just the arcadia plant growth and red light jobs), mineral heavy substrate (think it was eco complete) a spare spot in the room, and pay day rounding the corner.

Time for some indoor gardening!

Either way

Am i correct in thinking that at low light its best to avoid CO2 but use fertilizers? (to be honest, i'd rather avoid the hassle of CO2 at min, but im in two minds whether i need it or not)

was planing for a nice over grown, natural look.

Some big vals, amazon swords, java ferns, few grasses (ideally both dwarf and long) things along those lines

Is there anything that will catch my eye, but is best to avoid whilst im still learning?

Let us know any tips and tricks you gents have to share.

Should hopefully be setting up sometime towards the end of the month.
Cheers
Craig

 

[schaadrak]

You should try the Walstad method, also known as the "El Natural" approach. It's about as low tech a tank as you can get. Substrate is a 2.5cm layer of ordinary soil (unfertilized) capped with a 2cm layer of gravel. Lights generally stay at 2wpg and the use of sunlight as a supplement is encouraged. All ferts (CO2 included) are taken care of by the soil initially, and then by the breakdown of fish waste and slightly overfeeding your fish. I'm working on one right now, should have it going within a month or two once we sell our house and move.

 

[craig_uk]

mmhmm, sounds an interesting one.

So all the crap that would accumulate under normal circumstnaces is simply sucked up back plants.

Might actually give that one a go.

Cheers
Craggy