Aquaponics

[rfetter]

Has anyone here tried this, it seems very interesting?

[Cole_Robbie]

I have dabbled a little. I can get lettuce and greens to grow, but my aquaponic tomatoes died a miserable death of I think phosphorous deficiency. Fish waste is almost entirely nitrogen. I have read that the NPK is about 5-.1-.1

[Fred Hempel]

I have not tried aquaponics myself, but we have a new collaboration with the largest commercial aquaponics grower in the US -- Viridis.

From what I gather so far, lettuce is easier to grow without additional inputs and pH management, and you can't simply go from fish/bacteria etc. tanks to tomato drip.

Now for the blatantly self-promoting part of my post:

If you are in Northern California and are interested in both aquaponics and tomatoes, we are holding a tour and workshop (lunch included) at Viridis on Wednesday May 7th.

We will provide a general tour of Viridis, that also includes a look at the 5,000 Artisan Seeds breeding plants that they are growing collaboratively with us. We will then provide some hands on activities related to both aquaponics and tomato breeding. $20 worth of produce and/or seedlings is included in the price of admission. There will also be additional seedlings and produce for sale. This is an all-day workshop and lunch is included.

Anyone considering aquaponics will find this workshop to be exceptional, as the Viridis owners (Jon and Drew) are at the forefront of their field.

[Worth1]

http://store.growartisan.com/product...eding-workshop

Sounds like a good deal I bet you get the 50 attendees.

Too bad I live so far away.

Worth

[Fred Hempel]

Had some aquaponically grown tomatoes this past week. They are tweaking the concentrations of salt in the tomato drip, but they already have had very good results with small-fruited tomatoes.

There are more issues to work out with the larger varieties... and my hunch is that the best aquaponic greenhouse tomatoes will always be smaller-fruited varieties.

[Labradors2]

This looks like an AMAZING workshop! Wish I was closer, but I sent the info to a friend who lives closer.

Linda

[Fred Hempel]

Hi Linda,

The workshop at Viridis will be amazing. They are state-of-the art, and true innovators in the relatively new field of Aquaponics. The lettuce and specialty greens they have growing are out-of-this-world.

Anyone attending our joint workshop with them will not be disappointed.

[Mantis]

Anyone wanting more information on Aquaponics try here http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/

I have been doing aquaponics for about 4.5years now and have 4 different systems and six varieties of edible fish.
I am a moderator on the above forum so can let you guys in
Aquaponics systems take at least a year to mature and you will have nutrient deficiencies/lockout in that time. Worms in the systems help to break down fish poop and mineralise it but again this takes time. I had tomatoes growing no problems in my systems last year and have still got capsicums/peppers going in my greenhouse system. Had the most massive crop of rockmelons one summer in the greenhouse system, and things like onions, silverbeet, celery,broad beans , green beans , beetroot and many others just boom
Anyhoo, rant over. Have a look at our forum if you are interested, as there is lots of free info on how to get started

[Tracydr]

I'm moving to North Carolina this week and we bought a 21 acre piece of mostly wooded lands, a 3 acre lake and a spring gushing a ton of water out of a 8-12" pipe. ( saw it from a distance because the brush is too thick to get to it). I'm looking at trying some sort of fish raising system, although I may have more than enough fish with that pond. I'd love to try shrimp or even crayfish.
I was just looking at aquaponics ideas last night.
I'd like to be able to do something with all that spring water. Right now, I'm not sure if it's filling the pond but it seems like thousands of gallons are just filling the creek without being used at all.
I also found a floating fish cage in the barn and I wonder if the old owners had farmed something in the cage.
Also need to figure out a sunny spot for the garden. I considered floating a dock with plants to make use of the sun on the lake. I'll probably just get a patch of woods cleared and make do with a part of the horse pasture for now since it's the only clear space.