Vertical Growing

We have styrofoam covers floating on our troughs of water. The styrofoam  has holes in it
and a net pot with coconut fiber sits in each hole.  A plant grows in each net pot sending its roots
down into the nutrient rich water.  Each 4x8 trough has 130 holes growing vegetables.

If you want to grow BIG plants such as tomatoes , cucumbers, beans , peas, etc. you
have to put them along the edge of your trough and run a 4 or 5  foot high fence next to
the trough for them to climb on.

Because things grow about 30% faster in an aquaponic system I have had on the same fence this
year: peas, green beans , squash, tomatoes. After each round of plants maxes out I pull them and put in the
next round. It is now August and after doing all of the above I am doing another round of Tomatoes.
So wish me luck ! These are several unknown heirloom varieties. Experimenting is half the fun !

Bugs

Bugs ! They are every farmers problem this time of year, even in an aquaponic system . Bugs
are especially a problem in an aquaponic system since most things that get rid of bugs will also get rid of
your fish. You have to think creatively to beat the bugs. First  off plant lots of onions in your system. I like the white bunching green onions. They are easy to grow and the smell is not appealing to bugs.
French Marigolds also give off a smell that repels bugs . Not just any old marigold will work. The French marigold is especially stinky and is what you want.
Plant mint and basil also. If all of this still leaves you with bugs on your vegetables , toss the buggy veggies to the chickens . They will take care of the problem. Cabbage plants this time of year are a waste of time and space at lower warmer elevations. Your aquaponic system will grow lovely vegetables but like your garden vegetables the aquaponic vegetables react to the weather conditions. Green beans, cabbage, peas  all grow better in fall  when the weather has cooled off a little.

Size Matters

Kits we sell come in two sizes. An apartment or balcony size and  a backyard size.

The main requirement for your aquaponic location is sun.

If you have an area on your balcony, deck etc that has sun then you can easily grow enough produce for 1 person  with our small size kit.

If you have a family of 4 and eat lots of vegetables then our Micro System as described in the previous 

blog  is ideal.

Hurray

This site is finally up and running !

In my backyard is an aquaponic system that holds about 30 pounds of fish and 260
vegetable plants. All of this takes up about half the space of an average one car garage.

There are two 100 gallon fish tanks and two 4'x8' troughs of vegetables.  This system can easily
provide most of the vegetables a family of 3 or 4 people can consume. I grow beans, peas, herbs, celery. cucumbers, tomatoes , green onions, and a wide variety of greens such as water cress, swiss chard, kale  and more.

The water from the fish tanks is run through the troughs and roots of the vegetables
The vegetables 'clean' the water before it runs back into the fish tank.