Photo credit: Cedar Sol Hydro Farm

In Northern Michigan, two former school teachers quit teaching school when their son was born six years ago and started a farm using vertically stacked hydroponic units to grow vegetables as Kristine Morris reports for Morning Star Publishing,

Sol Hydro offers sustainable farming in limited space on a clean and attractive plot of land about 10,000 feet square in size (about a quarter of an acre.) Michael and Nichole McHugh grow the equivalent of what conventional in-the-ground agriculture would need six to 10 acres to produce, and they do it using a lot less water and no toxic or synthetic chemicals.

Photo credit: Cedar Sol Hydro Farm

They don’t need large expensive equipment, and can work their farm most of the year without hiring help. There are no weeds, so they don’t need herbicides, and they cause very little strain of any sort on the land and eco-system as most of their land can be left in its natural state.
The couple does it by using a stacked hydroponic system, the Hydro-Stacker Vertical Hydroponic Growing System, invented by Chester Bullock, of Florida. Michael McHugh studied with Bullock and learned how clean, efficient, easy and – above all – sustainable farming could be with hydroponics.
“We were both school teachers before we went into farming,” said Michael. “I taught high school language arts, and Nikki taught fourth grade. But when our son Parker, now 6, was born, we wanted to do something that would allow us to work at home – some kind of family business. We had both worked in greenhouses while in college in Kalamazoo, and thought we would enjoy a greenhouse operation.”

Click to read the rest of the More With Less — Cedar Sol Hydro Farm story. Click to to to Cedar Sol Hydro Farm.

Usually ABC’s Nightline program would run a story about hydroponics that is all about growing marijuana. They deviated from their usual norm by running this story about a soon to open restaurant in New York City serving vegetables grown hydroponically on their roof, supplying their operation with much of their fresh produce. The video below tells the story…

Will Allen’s Growing Power in Milwaukee, Wisc. is the model for urban farming that many are duplicating. Now, in Cleveland, Ohio, Green Acres Plaza is a planned 60,000 sq. ft. agricultural structure designed for production, distribution, and the processing of locally and regionally grown foods. From Green Acres Plaza’s web site,

Green Acres Plaza will serve as the headquarters with links to Neighborhood “Victory” Gardens, public school initiatives, grocery stores, restaurants, hospitals, and food banks.
Green Acres Plaza will also serve as an economic development engine and training site for residents in the target area and surrounding communities. The location will be accessible from any direction within the Lee-Harvard area and will encourage socialization among residents while shopping, attending community room activities or enjoying a delicious drink made from fresh fruits and vegetables at the juice bar. Building a wholesale/retail foundation will create a positive economic impact in the community not only because of the jobs that will be created, but also because of the quality of food distribution that will be accessible at competitive prices.
Our sustainability program includes, establishing relationships with regional farmers, creating public-private partnerships and solidifying community support.
A fabrication facility will be positioned next to the Plaza and will be the site of training and job development opportunities in manufacturing and fabrication of future greenhouses. The results-oriented training will lead to years of employment for residents and individuals in surrounding communities.

Gulf fisherman turns to the Morningstar Fisherman organization for training in aquaponics. Photo credit: MyFoxTampaBay.com

Ken Haney didn’t want to give up fishing, but on Friday, he will put his boat up for sale.
“I don’t know what the seafood is going to be like next year,” Haney said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be safe, don’t know how long they’re going to be buying our seafood.”
According to Haney, the oil spill in the Gulf has so tarnished the reputation of seafood, it has become almost impossible to sell what he catches.
Haney’s wife, Jenn, held stacks of documents she said she filed with BP, but financial help has not been forthcoming.
“They wanted more paper work, we gave them what they wanted,” she said. “The taxes, our trip tickets showing what we caught, when we caught it for the last few years and they’re still denying us.”
A BP spokesman told Fox 13 he cannot comment on specific cases. He did, however, say the company has paid more than 4,000 claims to people in Florida’s fishing industry.
Haney isn’t waiting for his claim. He isn’t waiting for the fishing industry to rebound. Instead, he headed far inland to Dade City’s Morningstar Fishermen.

Click to read the rest of the Gulf Fisherman Turns To Aquaponics To Save His Business After BP Oil Disaster story.

Pak Choi in the Soil garden compared to a similar seedling in Aquaponics. Photo credit: EcoFilms.com.au

Aquaponics is the raising of fish in large (usually 500 gallons or more) containers and pumping the waste water to plants growing hydroponically nearby. The waste water is “polished” or cleaned of the fish waste and is recycled back to the fish tanks. A very vibrant bio/bacterial colony is created which helps in the digestion of the fish waste, making the fish waste available to the plants which then makes the water pure enough to return to the fish.
This comparison of vegetables grown aquaponically vs soil was done in Australia by one of the world’s leading Permaculture Educational Centers…

Although we do produce both Permaculture and Aquaponics videos we were asked recently to compare the two methods and which one we preferred using ourselves – in our garden? Notice the caveat – in our garden! Its a difficult question to answer as each method has its strengths and weaknesses. There are some things that grow best in soil like potatoes, pumpkin and other root vegetables like carrots that perform very well in a humus rich no dig well mulched and manured soil garden.
Then there are other things that are particularly well suited for aquaponics. Its just a matter of picking the right method that works best for you. We live close to the sea so our soil is mostly white silica sand. There is hardly any nutrients and whatever nutrients we do add tends to leach away very quickly. Imagine growing something on a sand dune? We do have a vegetable garden where we grow mainly root crops like potatoes in a no dig garden that has plenty of straw and horse manure applied. It works quite well until the chickens jump over the fence and start digging everything up. But watering it in the summer months is a nuisance as the warm winds tend to dry things out very quickly.

Click to read the rest of the Aquaponics vs Soil Grown Vegetables story.

This article continues a monthly series about aquaponics and all the components you need to build your own a thriving aquaponics system. This month we will talk about fish tanks and grow beds, and the optimal size ratio between the two.

Fish Tank

Sizing your fish tank defines the ultimate size and flexibility of your aquaponics system, so consider the size early in your design process. If you are building a small, desktop system using an aquarium, you will be restricted to aquarium fish that will live comfortably in the size aquarium you own. If you want to grow larger, edible fish, the most important rule-of-thumb when choosing a tank is to make sure it is made of sturdy, food grade or food safe materials. Next, make sure that the tank is at least 18” deep (457mm), and holds at least 50 gallons (189 Liters) of water. Tanks need to hold approximately 50 gallons (189 Liters) or more in order to grow “plate sized” fish (12” and 1 ½ lbs, 300mm and 680g).

Aquaponics fish tanks can be made from just about any structure that fits the right dimensions and is lined with EPDM pond liner. You can also use everything from recycled bathtubs, stock tanks, and IBC tanks, to recycled barrels. Our 60 gallon Aquabundance Fish Tank has been specifically designed for aquaponic fish growing, so you might want to check it out as well.

Since your fish tank will be difficult to move once filled, you should carefully consider where you place it. Ideally the fish tank should be located indoors or outdoors in the shade. Fish don’t require sunlight to thrive and the extra heat and algae growth from sunlight could become a problem. Also, be sure the tank is on a solid surface that can handle the weight of the tank when filled with water. At 8.3 pounds per gallon, you will very reach a weight that might exceed the structural limits of the surface you are planning to use.

Wherever you choose to set up your tank, you will be well served to at least partially cover it to help prevent debris, children, and pets from falling in. Covering it will also lower the amount of light reaching the tank. This will help you keep control of the tank’s temperature and reduce algae.

Grow Bed
Fish tank volume governs the maximize size of your grow bed. Here is why. The plants need the fish waste to thrive. The bigger the grow bed and thus the more plants, the more fish waste required. Simple – you need enough fish to support your plants. In general the recommended grow bed to fish tank ratio is approximately 1:1, i.e. the fish tank volume should be approximately equal to the volume of the grow bed. This ratio can also be thought of in gallons per cubic foot, striving for 6 gallons (22 liters) of fish tank to every cubic foot of grow bed. For example, a 50 gallon (189 liter) tank would be able to support 6 to 8 cubic feet of grow bed. You can extend this rule of thumb all the way to 2:1 (twice the fish tank volume to grow bed volume) but be sure to reduce the stocking density of your fish tank accordingly as this approach reduces your ability to filter the fish tank water with the grow bed plants.

Aquaponics grow beds should be about 12” deep (300 mm). 12” provides enough depth to support most plants and encourages the bacteria in the grow bed to fully establish themselves. A 12” deep bed never needs to be cleaned out because the robust eco-system enabled by a 12” deep grow bed takes care of this for you. Below is an excellent explanation by Murray Hallam of grow bed dynamics – reprinted with permission from his new Aquaponics Secrets video:

Graphic credit: Murray Hallam

Surface or dry zone (Zone 1) – The first 2” (50mm) is the light penetration and dry zone. Evaporation from the bed is minimized by the existence of a dry zone. This dry zone also protects the plant base against collar rot. Additionally, by ensuring that this zone is kept dry, algae is prevented from forming on the surface of the grow bed media and moisture related plant diseases such as powdery mildew are minimized.
Root zone (Zone 2) – Most root growth and plant activity will occur in the next zone of approximately 6” – 8” (150 – 200mm).  In this zone, during the drain part of the flood and drain cycle, the water drains away completely, allowing for excellent and very efficient delivery of oxygen rich air to the roots, beneficial bacteria, soil microbes, and the resident earth/composting worms.
During the flood part of the cycle, the incoming water distributes moisture, nutrients and incoming solid fish waste particles throughout the growing zone. The worm population does most of its very important work in this zone, breaking down and reducing solid matter and thereby releasing nutrients and minerals to the system. “Worm Tea”, as it is commonly known, will be evenly mixed and distributed during each flood and drain cycle. “Worm Tea” and the fish are entirely compatible.??Solid collection and Mineralization Zone (Zone 3) – This is the bottom 2” (50 mm) of the grow bed. In this zone fish waste solids and worm castings are finally collected.
The solid material has been reduced by up to 60% by volume, by the action of the resident garden/composting worms, and microbial action. During each flood and drain cycle, what is left of the solids percolates down into this zone further and final mineralization occurs in this area via bacterial and earth worm activity. Due to the excellent action of the flood and drain cycle, this bottom area is kept “fresh” and vital by the excellent delivery of oxygen rich water during the flood cycle.

Do not use metal containers, not even galvanized metal, for either the grow bed or the fish tank. Metals can quickly corrode, throwing your system off-balance by lowering your tank’s pH.  Metal containers may also leach undesirable chemicals into your system. Copper and zinc are particularly dangerous for fish.  An excellent choice is the AquaBundance Aquaponics Grow Bed, which is the only grow bed on the market today that has been designed with the aquaponic gardener in mind.

The remainder of the articles in this series will be centered on creating and successfully operating, a home media-based system.   The next article will be about plumbing and the water flow between the tank and the bed, followed by articles about fish and plants.  Please comment with your questions and thoughts!

I have a blog (aquaponicgardeningblog.com), a community site (aquaponicscommunity.com) and a company (theaquaponicsource.com) that brings aquaponics education, community and products together under one roof.  Follow me on Twitter @aquapon. My husband and I designed an aquaponics system that was just launched in June and we also produced a video titled Aquaponics Explained.  My goal is to evangelize aquaponics to any willing audience and to take it from an obscure technique that just a few of us are converted to into a world-wide movement.  Are you with me?

Photo credit: kkimpel Flickr Photostream

Hydroponics is defined by Merriam Webster Online Dictionary as: “the growing of plants in nutrient solutions with or without an inert medium (as soil) to provide mechanical support.”
Can hydroponic gardening qualify as organic hydroponic gardening? Some organic gardeners believe it cannot, since it uses no soil. Good soil is required, they believe, for truly organic gardening.

How do You Define Organic?

Most organic gardeners define organic as a type of gardening that allows no pesticides, herbicides, toxic sprays, chemical fertilizers, or other man-made materials.

Without Soil

Many people think organic hydroponic gardening would have to be done with plant roots suspended directly into water – nothing else. That may be the most common form of organic hydroponic gardening, but there are many other types. Organic hydroponic gardening is dirt-less organic gardening, but things (inert mediums) can be used in place of dirt. If a medium that is not man-made is used, we still fall within the common definition of organic.

Click to read the rest of the Is Organic Hydroponic Gardening Truly Organic? story.

More urban growing operations are using hydroponics to raise food. This is a floating raft system. Photo credit: BuildingGreen.com

Tremendous energy is expended transporting food from fields around to world to our tables. Large-scale, centralized food production is vulnerable to disease and other threats, and there are health benefits to more local food production. In this context, there is growing interest in producing food closer to home, even in urban areas.
There are two broad approaches to more localized food production. First, the vacant land around buildings—which comprises about 15% of urban land nationwide—can be turned into productive gardens and farmland. There are thousands of community gardens and hundreds agricultural enterprises (both nonprofit and for-profit) that are converting this unused, urban land into productive land for vegetables, fruits, and other crops. In some urban farms, isolation from contaminated soils is provided with a layer of clay.
Second, there is a tremendous amount of commercial roof area in urban and suburban locations, and some of this space is suitable for productive green roofs or rooftop greenhouses. With greenhouses, soil-based growing is practiced by some, but most growers have turned to lighter-weight hydroponics (growing in which nutrient solutions replace soil). The innovative field of aquaponics marries aquaculture (fish farming) with hydroponics to permit ecological systems in which fish waste provides the fertilizer for plant growth.
Both of these approaches offer challenges to architects and farmers alike. Finding plots on the ground that are uncontaminated and receive enough sun for vegetables can be difficult in dense urban centers, and rooftop systems can easily overload existing structural supports if not carefully planned.

Click to read the rest of the Growing Food Locally — Integrating Agriculture Into The Built Environment story.

Reinier Wolterbeek, project manager of the revolutionary Seawater Greenhouse on Spencer Gulf, holds some of the environmentally friendly produce of the future. Photo credit: AdelaideNow

The multi-million-dollar greenhouse in the South Australian desert will be run on desalinated water and is expected to create up to 100 jobs within two years.
A revolutionary seawater greenhouse project on the eastern shore of upper Spencer Gulf, 20km south of Port Augusta, is nearing completion in an ambitious approach to taming the harsh Australian outback.
Turning seawater into freshwater through new desalination technology has the potential to transform irrigated agriculture, while lessening reliance on Australia’s inland rivers.
The 2500sq m, environmentally friendly greenhouse will use solar energy to desalinate seawater pumped from a few hundred metres away to produce high-value crops.
The first batch of hydroponically grown tomatoes is expected to be harvested late this year.
Production is estimated to be worth about $250,000 to $300,000 a year, with a 2ha greenhouse producing goods worth $2.5 million to $3 million a year.

Click to read the rest of the Growing Vegetables In The Australian Desert, Thanks To Desalination Technology story.

This article begins a monthly series about aquaponics that will focus in detail on all the components of a thriving aquaponics system, from the fish, plants and bacteria to the grow beds, fish tanks and plumbing options.  We will also talk about worms as the secret weapon of media-based aquaponics as well as  the different fish feed options that are available.  Hopefully by the end of the series (and who knows when that will be) I will have convinced some of you that aquaponics should be at least a part of your growing repertoire.

It seems appropriate that we start our journey together by answering the question: What is aquaponics?  At its most basic level aquaponics is the marriage of aquaculture (raising fish) and hydroponics (growing plants in water and without soil) together in one integrated system. The fish waste provides organic food for the growing plants and the plants naturally filter the water in which the fish live.  The third and fourth critical, yet invisible actors in the play are the beneficial bacteria and composting red worms.  Think of them as the Conversion Team.  The beneficial bacteria exist on every moist surface of your aquaponic system. They convert the ammonia from the fish waste that is toxic to the fish and useless to the plants, first into nitrites and then into nitrates.  The nitrates are relatively harmless to the fish and most importantly, they are great plant food.  At the same time, the worms convert the solid waste and decaying plant matter in your aquaponic system into vermicompost.

Aquaponic Gardening enables home fish farming. You can now feel good about eating fish again.
Aquaponic Gardening uses 90% less water than soil-based gardening.
Aquaponic Gardening is four to six times as productive on a square foot basis as soil-based gardening.  This is because with aquaponic gardening, you can pack plants about twice as densely as you can in soil and the plants grow two to three times as fast as they do in soil.
Aquaponic Gardening is free from weeds, watering and fertilizing concerns, and because it is done at waist height there is no back strain.
Aquaponic Gardening is necessarily organic. Natural fish waste provides all the food the plants need. Pesticides would be harmful to the fish so they are never used. Hormones, antibiotics, and other fish additives would be harmful to the plants so they also are never used. And the result is every bit as flavorful as soil-based organic produce, with the added benefit of fresh fish for a safe, healthy source of protein.
And if you are already a hydroponic gardener switching over to Aquaponic Gardening you can enjoy the following advantages
EC (electrical conductivity) tracking is replaced by tracking of Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate.  Once your system is fully cycled you will only need to measure these about once a month vs. the much more frequent tracking of EC.
pH is much more stable, again once your system is fully cycled.
You never dump out your nutrient solution!  Rather than having problems with chemical imbalance that you regularly experience in hydroponics, in an aquaponic system you are achieving a natural nitrogen balance that is the hallmark of a balanced eco-system.  I view the water in my system as a critical component that I have nurtured into the near perfect balance at which it stays for as long as I choose to run  my system (in my case, already years).
Best of all, you can say goodbye to pythium forever.  It is non-existent in aquaponics.

Types of systems
Aquaponic systems can be created using a variety of hydroponic techniques, although systems that run-to-waste are not considered true aquaponics because they don’t close the loop by returning filtered water back to the fish tank.  The most prevalent aquaponic growing methods are Deep Water Culture or raft-based, and Flood and Drain, or media-based.  NFT and aeroponic techniques have also been used, but less widely and with limited success because solids from the fish waste – no matter how filtered – will eventually clog up the smaller tubing used by these system types.

Photo credit: University of the Virgin Islands

Aquaponic systems can be created using a variety of hydroponic techniques, although systems that run-to-waste are not considered true aquaponics because they don’t close the loop by returning filtered water back to the fish tank.  The most prevalent aquaponic growing methods are Deep Water Culture or raft-based, and Flood and Drain, or media-based.  NFT and aeroponic techniques have also been used, but less widely and with limited success because solids from the fish waste – no matter how filtered – will eventually clog up the smaller tubing used by these system types.
Deep Water Culture (DWC) is where most of the university research on aquaponics has focused.  This is especially true at the University of the Virgin Islands where Dr. James Rackocy has spent the past 30 years perfecting this growing technique.  In DWC the fish are held in tanks separate from the plants.  The solid fish waste is removed from the water using a settling tank and clarifying filters before it is sent on to the plant raceways.  This prevents the plant roots from becoming coated with solid matter and suffocating.  The fish water then circulates through a raceway that is covered with floating rafts.  These rafts have holes in them to accept planted net pots whose roots dangle directly into the water.  Newly planted rafts are dropped into the beginning of the raceway.  The rafts progress along the raceway with each newly planted raft pushing the older rafts to the end of the raceway where they are pulled from the water and harvested.  DWC is an excellent aquaponic growing technique for commercial growers because it is relatively easy to plant, tend, and

The AquaBundance System by The Aquaponic Source

harvest a large number of fast growing plants such as lettuces and some herbs.  DWC also provides very stable water temperatures and pH levels because of the high volume of water required.  The downsides of DWC are that in filtering the solids you lose many of the micro-organisms required to grow healthy, larger, fruiting plants.  Also, while it has been done, it is difficult to grow larger plants to full size because of the challenges of getting enough oxygen to the larger root zone of a plant that lives its entire life in the water.
Most aquaponic home gardeners are using media based, flood and drain systems.  A media based grow bed optimally has about 12” of either ½ – ¾” gravel (no limestone or granite!) or expanded clay (Hydroton).  The reason for these extra deep beds is to enable a multi-layered environment that supports enough beneficial bacteria and composting red-worms to maintain a very stable bio-filter for your fish.  It also gives you ultimate flexibility in what plant types you grow because you don’t ever have to think about the size of your root mass.  Some gardeners are even growing subterranean plants, such as potatoes and carrots.
Most media-based grow systems use a timer to turn the pump in the fish tank on and off (some use a system based on a siphon but how those work will have to wait for another article).  A typical timer cycle is 15 minutes on followed by 30 – 45 minutes off and then the cycle repeats.  When the pump starts, water from the fish tank is pumped into the grow bed.  The grow bed fills with water up to about 10” or so.  Obviously, this provides plenty of water and nutrients for the plants.  Hydroton or other media above this height are in the “dry zone” and stay dry all of the time.  When the water reaches about 10”, any additional water immediately returns to the fish tank through an “overflow” mechanism.  The returning water strikes the water surface in the fish tank; thereby creating turbulence which helps aerate the fish tank water.  When the timer turns off, the pump stops and the rest of the water in the grow bed returns to the fish tank.  This period of inactivity gives the roots a chance to dry out and “breath” the air – something they greatly appreciate.  Then, when the timer triggers the pump again the cycle repeats.
The remainder of the articles in this series will be centered on creating and successfully operating, a home media-based system.   I will be approaching this sequentially as if you were building your own system and needed to know what to do first, then second, etc. The next article will be about how to source a grow bed and fish tank, how to think about the ratio between the volume of these two pieces, what to consider in locating them, etc.  We will then discuss plumbing and the water flow between the tank and the bed, followed by an entire article about fish.  We have much to talk about!

I have a blog (aquaponicgardeningblog.com), a community site (aquaponicscommunity.com) and a company (theaquaponicsource.com) that brings aquaponics education, community and products together under one roof.  My husband and I designed an aquaponics system that was just launched last month and we also produced a video titled Aquaponics Explained.  My goal is to evangelize aquaponics to any willing audience and to take it from an obscure technique that just a few of us are converted to into a world-wide movement.  Are you with me?