Aquaponics/Hydroponics

How many on here are using aquaponics or hydroponics to grow food? What do your set ups look like?

Comments

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin

    I was fascinated by the idea until I thought about all the plastics involved that will get into the water, fish, and the chemical components of the plastics that are possibly taken up by the plant roots.

    Now IF there was a way to do this with fully safe products no plastics), I would be more on board. The other problem is where & how to dispose of the plastics when they have outlived their purpose. Recycling doesn't remove it from being present.

    I do wonder as well what the plants may be missing as a result of not using soil. We don't know everything about that as soil composition is very diverse. It is kind of like using juice instead of the whole food. Sometimes our bodies convert the whole food better & they benefit more by consuming the whole over the part.

    Just my thoughts.

  • @gardneto76 I am not actually using aquaponics but am utterly fascinated by the possibilities. thinking about installing one setup in the basement. I can understand the issues @Laurie has with plastics and am not yet sure how to tackle this. the pipes can be used copper pipes for example but the actual grow beds and the fish tank I am not sure about. You maybe could repurpose used/old bathtubes from the dumpster for this but as I said not sure about it. If you use coldwater fish species there should be at least no high energy input for the heating be needed.

    Jens

  • Leslie Carl
    Leslie Carl Posts: 255 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November 2019

    We looked into hydroponics years ago but were not happy with the use of chemicals to feed the plants and you have to flush the system regularly, which uses a lot of water. We wanted a sustainable system and hydroponics didn't fit the bill.

    Then, about 3 1/2 years ago we came across aquaponics. We learned that it's a closed system so there is very little evaporation and it uses 3-5% as much water as you would growing in the ground. Plastics that are used are food grade, the nutrients come from the natural fertilizer provided by the fish, you can grow the plants closer together saving space and producing more (up to 4 times as much as in ground gardening), the plants grow faster, bigger, and healthier, have better flavor and stay fresh longer after harvesting, you don't use any chemicals and it's a very sustainable system. This was exactly what we were looking for.

    So, we found an aquaponics course that was being taught by some people that had been doing it for 10 years, and were the first to sell aquaponic, organically certified produce commercially and make a profit doing it. The next year, we started looking for a location to start our aquaponics greenhouse and that brought us to North Carolina, where we have started building our greenhouse. Haven't started growing anything yet because we are still in the building process, but anxious to get to that point!

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin

    @Leslie Carl If I did aquaponics (I agree that that is a better choice), I would still want an alternative to even the food grade plastics. Even those leech bad chemicals. This is evident in any foods that are left in them for any length of time.

    I talked to someone about the idea of using silicone instead, but who would be manufacturing anything like that and my other question would be the cost if such a thing existed.

    I would consider pursuing this if I could find something suitable, but I am not aware of alternatives.

  • gardneto76
    gardneto76 Posts: 528 ✭✭✭✭

    I understand the worry of chemicals in the plastics. I have not been able to find any solution to that yet. We built our system ourselves 5 years ago after much research. We went with food grade plastics as well. Many are using glass aquariums to house their fish, but the connections are all plastic or rubber.

    @Leslie Carl I agree we use so much less water in our aquaponics than we do with any of our in ground plants! I do use the water that I take out of the bottom of the filter and water my in ground plants. I have a hose just for this job to help make it a little easier.

  • Leslie Carl
    Leslie Carl Posts: 255 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November 2019

    @Laurie and @gardneto76 it is my understanding, from my study and research, that there are different qualities of food grade plastic. Some are not as resistant to acids in foods and those are the ones that leech when in contact with acidic foods. It's the acids in the food that do the leeching, not the plastics themselves. There is a food grade plastic made to be resistant to the acids. It's high density polyethylene or HDPE and this is the type that is used in aquaponics (unless of course you choose to use something else). All of the tubing and connectors are food grade as well. Additionally, there are no acids in an aquaponic system that would cause any leeching. So, if you use the right materials, you should not be afraid to grow food with aquaponics. 🙂