A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

Succes with corn grown aqua or hydroponically ??

Hi to all,

New to this forum and aquaponics. I live in the Republic of Panama close to the border with Costa Rica and with an elevation of only 50 meters our climate is hot.

My question is--"has anyone had success with growing corn using aqua or hydroponics"?

We tried growing the corn (peaches and cream or Seneca chief) the old fashioned way and I can tell you the ants loved it. It is impossible to keep up with the insects--especially ants-- without the use of tons of insecticide which is the norm here. Even tomatoes and other veggies just disappear over night if you don't use chemicals.

I have not set up our aquaponics as yet so I can make any changes that would be needed. The local corn is best for cattle feed--and even that is debatable --believe me!

Would aquaponics be a better choice for the corn or hydroponics. As I mentioned I am new to this process and have not set anything up as yet.

We have plenty of land (+/- 14 acres) and ample fresh water from our wells. The well water quality is drinkable without the need for ANY filtration or chemicals. We do however add 1/4 cup of household bleach once or twice per month to keep the pipes free of contamination. The water tests show that it is of excellent quality.

All we want is to grow our own veggies and possibly raise a few fish to add to our "menu".

I look forward to your input.

Cheers,

Jack

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Permalink Reply by Hank Paloci on August 29, 2013 at 8:36pm

I have read that it can be done to grow corn but it is really inefficient. You don't get much yield for the space used. Also, think about how much plant you grow and how little you eat.

Your climate is a lot like south Florida. If I were you I would check what people grow there in AP.

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Permalink Reply by Safwat Zaki on September 1, 2013 at 4:19pm

Aquaponics has it's own limitation, you can grow certain plants successfully but not all. corn plants needs lots of nitogen which the AP system can not provide continousely, this type of plant is heavy feeder, needs support and also needs lots of room to grow, so I don't recommend growing corn this way, on the other hand it may be successful growing corn hydroponically.