Case Study: Alaska Aquaponics

[Jeremiah Robinson]

Hi all,

I posted this on the blog, but I thought I'd do it here too.

Here is a video of a CWA member named Sonja who’s growing using aquaponics in Alaska. Her system has some great features, and there are always things that can be improved upon. Can you identify some of the features that make her system work well, and some that could be improved upon?

Alaska Aquaponics

[Max Gfx]

I lived in Juneau for a while and I know what the sunlight & darkness is like up there. I'm having a hard time getting my head around the plant light control up there. For example, the official first day of summer, even in the southeast islands, the sun just circled the horizon, there was no darkness. Then by Halloween, it was completely backwards...Sun didn't come up until 9:30 or 10:00 in the morning and it was gone by 2:30 or 3:00 in the afternoon. That's why I'm a bit baffled about how the greenhouse is going to be the best choice for growing up there. If I was doing it in Alaska, I'd be using a well insulated building with reflective walls and grow lights on motorized tracks. I'd think that would cost far less to build and operate in a place like Alaska.

[Sonja Martin Young]

Hi Max, I did put a lot of thought into growing in a greenhouse instead of a warehouse type setting. What I decided is that I have 6 months of never having to heat or light (or cool) the greenhouse and I would have to do that year round if I had an indoor system. Even a bit of natural light is better than all artificial light and this winter I could turn my lights off for about 4 hours a day even on the shortest day so that is a savings. I could certainly save some in heating if I had a well insulated building but the initial cost would be higher. So far I am Really happy that I chose the greenhouse. The other huge benefit for me is that it is a truly amazing place to hang out in the winter when it is cold and grey outside.