Fruit?

[Diablo]

Is there any fruit that grows well aquaponically and in FL?

[Ron Thompson]

I'm having good luck with pineapples. The downside is they take around 18 months to produce a single fruit. Melons should grow well too.

Strawberries, of course.

Next year I hope to put in some Gran Nain Banana Plants (they top out at 6-8 feet, so can be kept in a grow house during the winter). I've also seen others have good results with Papaya. Those would be extremely easy in South Florida. If I was in the panhandle, I'd consider a dwarf peach tree.

There is no reason most fruits wouldn't grow well - if you have room for them and a way to plant them. I'll be using either 55 gallon barrels on end or more likely a 100-gallon rubbermaid stock tank.

[Doug Johnson]

We put in a small banana tree in 6 weeks ago and now their are 3! The first one has doubled in size.

Doug Johnson

 

[TCLynx]

Tomatoes, Peppers, Lufa, yardlong beans, barbados cherry, Rosell (though it is actually more a flower/calix and not "fruit".

Some people have done well with cucumbers and squash though not myself.

I've grown bananas in Aqupaonics but you need a big grow bed to keep up with their immense root mass.

And I've grown papaya as well.

[JRComito]

We have luck so far growing watermelon vines. No fruits yet, but they look promising.

[Don Stark]

I saw 2 grape vines in a system last week.  Using vertical tubes.

Plants were in greenhouse for 2 weeks and vines were already 6-8 feet long growth.  No fruit but very impressive.

[TCLynx]

I worry a bit about root clogging in such a set up.  Not sure they will be able to produce if they need their roots pruned four times a year to keep the water flowing in those pipes.

[Steve Bradbury]

I started fig cuttings in a flow thru trough in net pots filled with gravel........they did exceptionally well. transplanted them into a bathtub flood and drain, they outgrew the tub in about a month........transplanted them into 10 gallon dirt pots and they are fruiting right now ( year 2)  Travis Hughey has said he is growing full sized figs in aquaponic tubs, and they do really well. 

Also, mulberries start like mad in 'ponics, and seem to like the whole environment...they would outgrow a system pretty quickly tho I think. They may be able to be espaliered along a wall if one is available, as would most fruiting trees......

I have several strawberry plants in the gravel flood and drain to see how they would fare ( orphans from the wicking bed) so far, so good......no fruit , but they perked up nicely, and are putting on new foliar growth.

Had one thornless black berry ( Natchez) in the gravel bed, and it din't seem to care for the environment, so I popped it out and dirt potted it..its back in good form now, sprawling, and fruiting. 

My kiwi was in the aquaponics greenhouse in gravel all winter, and it did fine......I pulled it out of the gravel to put it in its permanent dirt home tho.

Like the other folk have said, bananas do insane good in 'ponics, they love being wet......we have one standard size that grew from about 1' when we bought it, to 6' in a gravel filled constant flow 5 gallon bucket in a couple of months.  The dwarf species we have have pupped out and made 4 plants out of 1, and put on a lot of stem growth in the same type situation.

Just a few things I've tried that worked, and didn't

Happy 'ponics

Steve