Noobie question aquaponics what you can grow

[Alan E Bouska jr]

I am starting to put together my greenhouse for my setup. Was wandering what will and what will not grow in a aquaponic setup?

[TCLynx]

Most things that you provide a big enough container for will grow in aquaponics.  Even root crops can grow and I've grown bananas and many people have grown small trees.

I have not yet tried peanuts though, they might need a soft media to peg the flowers down into to form the peanuts.

Some types of plants will grow better in some methods than others.  For instance big heavy plants might not work so well in raft aquaponics or NFT without lots of supplemental support.  Media beds work well for most plants but they require lots of media (but that isn't necessarily a bad thing since they also serve as the solids filtration, bio filtration and worm habitat while also providing planting space and the root support for those plants.)

[Jonathan Kadish NYC AA Chair]

Blueberries & grapes like a more acidic environment than is typically found in aquaponics. If someone has done it I haven't seen it yet.

[Alan E Bouska jr]

Thank you.

TCLynx said:

Most things that you provide a big enough container for will grow in aquaponics.  Even root crops can grow and I've grown bananas and many people have grown small trees.

I have not yet tried peanuts though, they might need a soft media to peg the flowers down into to form the peanuts.

Some types of plants will grow better in some methods than others.  For instance big heavy plants might not work so well in raft aquaponics or NFT without lots of supplemental support.  Media beds work well for most plants but they require lots of media (but that isn't necessarily a bad thing since they also serve as the solids filtration, bio filtration and worm habitat while also providing planting space and the root support for those plants.)

[Larry]

I agree most anyting will grow but i have been told DO NOT grow mint. I grows TOO well and the roots take over the system and plug up your drainage, you can grow it but will save you alot on repair time by not growing mint.

[Brent Shetley]

When we first started, I kept reading (mostly from academic types) that fruiting plants didn't grow well, root crops didn't grow well and legumes wouldn't grow well.....Maybe it was dumb luck or maybe those dudes need to do a little more research, because there isn't too many things we found that won't grow in the system.  Tomatoes and Peppers are wonderful, the onions in Aquaponics are awesome, bush beans and peas grow just fine and of course, all the greens grow successfully in Aquaponics as well.  We have only done greenhouse systems, and we found timing to be the most important factor, along with picking the correct varieties of vegatables.  We have been doing AP for quite a while and I still try to plant by the outdoor calendar!lol.

[TCLynx]

LOL, remember that most of the "academics" in aquaponics were doing RAFT or DWC type aquaponics and removing all the solids so they were not getting the more complex mineralization of the stuff needed for fruiting plants and for the most part they were trying to grow enough fish to "keep up" with RAS "recirculating aquaculture systems" so often they HAD to remove solids.  I believe some experiments were done with media beds but the numbers they were running they actually ran into solids clogging issues in the beds (which I don't think were flood and drain and I think they may have been shallow and probably didn't have worms.)  So what the Academics have tried probably didn't work well with many crops but we have found with flood and drain media beds and lower stocking densities and keeping the solids in the system and letting worms help that most things can grow well if you can find them a situation appropriate to them.

[Brent Shetley]

TC,

Another thing the academic community was probably doing was running the system over a 6 or 9 month period and trying to make conclusions of Aquaponics based on that time period.  Anyone who has run a system over a year knows that your bacteria are more developed in your grow beds, and thus, your results and vegatable productivity is much better year 2 and beyond.

 

[TCLynx]

Perhaps, though UVI has been running aquaponics for decades.