Growing orchids

[Tommy Dendy]

Hi everyone

I am new to this site and still learning about aquaponics.  My question is can orchids be grown by aquaponics?  Thanks

[Averan]

I think so, but only in a timed flood and drain system with long drain periods. I water all my orchids once a week with aquaponic water and they have been thriving for several years.

[Tommy Dendy]

thanks Averan

Averan said:

I think so, but only in a timed flood and drain system with long drain periods. I water all my orchids once a week with aquaponic water and they have been thriving for several years.

[Averan]

Orchids absolutely love the relatively mild yet complete blend of nutrients in aquaponic water! The trick is to keep their roots from rotting. If tied into an aquaponic system with no other plants involved, you will need to either stock very low amounts of fish, and/or create a dedicated bio-filter that can run constantly just to keep the water clean enough for the fish in between the infrequent watering of the orchids.

I'm growing all my orchids in pea-sized cinder/lava rock now and watering manually once a week. They could probably be watered twice a week without trouble and possible more often in a warmer/sunnier location (greenhouse).

I've thought about doing some orchids in NFT with a pump set on a timer to water once a day.