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Comment by Sahib Punjabi on December 12, 2010 at 5:43am

Another interesting article on this subject.

 

Aberrant Agriculture takes a new approach to growing food in an urban setting:

http://www.ecofriend.org/entry/aberrant-agriculture-takes-a-new-app...

Comment by TCLynx on October 16, 2010 at 6:21pm

I simply planted the bananas in gravel beds
Banana in Aquaponics

Comment by Rob Torcellini on October 16, 2010 at 2:19pm

I made my own towers from 4" pvc sewer pipe. Probably the cheapest way to go vertical if you don't want to buy a commercial product. There are some details about them in my blog and youtube videos. http://web4deb.blogspot.com or http://www.youtube.com/web4deb

Comment by Kate Mink on October 16, 2010 at 2:12pm

Thanks guys, good info! In my flat beds, I can plant lettuce at 6" spacing both ways, beets or onions at 4" - 4 or more plants per sq ft. - but that doesn't count the fish tanks or walk-around space. Nor does it apply to big plants like basil, taro, and tomatoes. In my vertical system, the rack alone will have 48 small plants in 8 square feet, but the 100-gallon stock tank doubles that space, and then there's walkaround. I might be able to support higher density of plants in the rack, but I won't know until I've run it for a while.

Vertigros do look nice, but they're out of my price range. More specifically, my goal is to identify or develop, and test, systems that let people get into aquaponics with minimum investment. This lets them see if it works for them at low risk. It's also most suited for the many people we have here who have a tiny yard, already work 2 jobs, and really need the food. My goal is to build a vertical system for under $200 (using a stock tanl0 or even under 4100 (if you make the fish tank a lined hole in the ground.)

Comment by M Cosmo on October 16, 2010 at 12:25pm

Kate: I suggest you look at the Vertigro towers. They can be stacked 7 high and rotate. You only need to access one side. You can put two rows of stacks about two feet apart staggered. Each pot holds 4 plants. So you get 5-15 as many plants per square foot. Not just a little more. You also get the easy of planting and harvesting. There is a drain collection system. I just changed some of mine over to hanging which gives me a great flexibility in what where.

Comment by Ron Thompson on October 16, 2010 at 12:20pm

Kate,

Maybe we are looking at things differently but I have 28 plants in 1 square foot of growing space by going vertical. Altogether my total grow area is 70 sq feet (not including the fish tank which is another 50 sq ft) and I have a capacity of 284 plants in that area or four plants per sq ft.

I don't see how I could approach that capacity in a traditional system.

Comment by Kate Mink on October 16, 2010 at 11:40am

I've just begun, but have looked at a number of designs in the last couple of weeks, and it seems you can increase the desnity of what you produce per square foot a little bit by going vertical, but not a huge lot. You can only build so high, and you need to be able to walk around your stacks or racks. I'm not going to build above my fish tank, at least not to start with, because I want to be able to get to everything easily for fixes and tinkering.
I have had good success with growing beans (Thai winged) up trellises from floating rafts. 4 bean plants climbed up 7 feet and across another several feet, produced a LOT of beans for several weeks, and also provided shade for lettuce and beets growing in the raft below. You can also grow cucumbers that way, Maybe tomatoes; I find it a nuisance to keep tying them up so now I'n trying to grow them in tall towers made of old tires (free!), spilling out over the sides.
TCLynx, do you grow bananas aquaponically? How? I am most curious.

Comment by TCLynx on October 15, 2010 at 5:04pm

Lets face it, if I went all vertical on my systems, where would I grow the bananas?

Comment by TCLynx on October 15, 2010 at 5:03pm

Well one has to remember that there are more ways to use vertical space than towers or stacks. You can grow tall plants or vines to grow above the grow bed and shade the lettuce down below.

One must keep in mind though that even in a direct sun location, towers or stacks are going to block light below and behind them so you can only get so dense with vertical before the lower levels loose much of their value.

Comment by Margaret on October 15, 2010 at 10:17am

Looking to try strawberry towers. So far I am not really getting much done with the aquaponic system this past couple of weeks. Business has my attention.

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