In this video we will see what are the best vegetables to start aquaponics.
Biodiversity
As you start aquaponics, you will go through a “cycling process”. During this period, the bacteria are colonizing your aquaponics grow-bed. At the beginning, the most adapted and competitive will grow. After a while, the diversity of bacteria will increase. The first 6 months of an aquaponics system allow the biodiversity to develop.
Nutrients
Also, from an organic matters perspective, the grow-bed will slowly load. The water pump present into the fish tank is raising fish waste into the grow-bed. Those fish waste are slowly loading the grow-bed. Yes, some insects, fungus and bacteria are breaking down those particles. They transform it into ammonia, nitrite and eventually nitrate. however, this action takes time and the grow-bed is acting as a reserve of organic matters.
Fish waste are not the only form of organic matters. Plant roots, leaves and dead bacteria/animals will also build up in the growbed. All those are sources of nutrients that will increase with time.
Aside from nitrate, a wider range of nutrients are necessary to the plants. phosphorus, potassium and many other essential minerals must be present for the plants. A young aquaponics system may not offer the largest diversity of nutrients. An older and established ecosystem is more likely to offer this blend of nutrients. This is thanks to the complexity of interactions between living creatures.
Hence, it is important to keep in mind that the ecosystem needs time to develop a wide biodiversity. Therefore, we must adapt the crop to the capacity of the system.
The best vegetables to start aquaponics
The possibilities in terms of vegetables are very wide. It may seem obvious for the confirmed gardeners but the crop must be adapted to the season. If you live away from a tropical zone, you will not grow tomatoes in winter. There are some basics to respect in terms of light and temperature as per any classic garden.
However, a decisive point is the plant needs in nutrients. Generally we can classify plants into 2 different categories:
Fruit plants
First we have the plants with high needs in nutrients diversity. In this category I would classify all the fruit plants such as: tomato, chili, eggplant, zucchini… As those plants form complex fruits. they require very specific nutrients. If those nutrients are not present in the correct concentration, the crop will not be good. Potassium plays a big role into fruit production.
Leafy plants
This second category is less demanding in terms of nutrient variety. In my humble opinion, this is perfect to start aquaponics. Leafy plants are all plants grown for the leaves such as: lettuce, cabbage, herbs, spinach… They are simple plants and consume mainly a large quantity of nitrate. This is what I recommend to grow when you start aquaponics.
Also, another advantage of growing those plants is that you don’t have to kill the plant when you harvest. If you start with a small aquaponics system, you can harvest some leaves every day from your setup to make a juice. Simply pick the external leaves and leave the small center leaves grow.
You will probably be interested to discover my six steps to build and manage an Aquaponics system. Click here to access for free! Thanks and good reading 🙂
