Hydroponic and Aquaponic

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BK How
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Hydroponic and Aquaponic

Post by BK How »

What do you guys think about Hydroponic and Aquaponic? See the links below:

1.
2. http://panasonic.net/es/solution-works/gra/

As I know Hydroponic is no good for health as it is using chemical fertilizers, but Aquaponic is more natural.

Are these new type of farming will replace the conventional farming in the near future?

Let me know what you guys think.

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Zasso Nouka
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Re: Hydroponic and Aquaponic

Post by Zasso Nouka »

Hmmmm, interesting question BK How.

Personally I think if the nutrient levels are monitored carefully then hydroponic growing can be perfectly fine. There were a lot of hydroponic systems on display at the Agri Expo at Makuhari Messe last year and many big companies seem to be getting into it so it probably is the next wave. Eric posted about the Granpa system that grows either lettuce or herbs and that seemed quite neat. Easy to work and well thought out.

I do quite like aquaponics systems as they seem more natural but haven't ever tried them myself. I do remember reading somewhere that aquaponic systems require more cleaning than regular hydroponic systems but that's not necessarily a downside and you do get a crop of fish at the same time as harvesting vegetables.

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Re: Hydroponic and Aquaponic

Post by paradoxbox »

Hydroponics done well is probably the most efficient method of farming possible right now. Properly done hydroponics results in nearly no excess nutrients being wasted in the water, and very strong growth with minimal need for pesticides (Since most hydroponics is done indoors). I know this will sound funny, but the people growing that magical green herb famous in Amsterdam have hydroponics down to a very exacting science. The principles apply just as well to vegetable crops and for some reason there seems to be far more high quality information on youtube on that subject than there is for growing regular vegetables hydroponically...! Doubly so if you are growing with controlled lighting conditions.

Downsides are the initial expense of building the system and sensitivity to damage. You need to have all kinds of pumps, possibly water heaters, water testing equipment etc. If you screw up with the chemicals your whole crop may die instantly, depending on what kind of medium you choose to grow in. Some are more forgiving..


Aquaponics is a fantastic system but it is still in its infancy. I have not seen many people make it work commercially, and I think that its commercial success may be limited to warm areas of the planet, unless somebody can find a cold water fish that grows rapidly and can be held in large numbers in small containers. Most people doing it commercially and profitably are using eco-tourism to make most of the profit. This is not bad, but if the tourism dries up so does your money. That seems risky.

One of the big problems of aquaponics seems to be the necessity of parts which, if they fail, result in the destruction of BOTH the fish crop and the vegetable crop within 24 hours. This is something I have been watching for around 10 years now - nobody seems to have found a perfect solution to this. There's also another problem in Japan with earthquakes, since aquaponic setups usually rely on the vegetable grow tanks being perfectly level, if a quake even slightly unbalances the tank supports it could cause the tank flood-drain cycle to fail until the tank is perfectly rebalanced (Hard to do when it's full of water). This might sound extreme but as the 2011 quake and others have demonstrated, soil liquefaction that might otherwise just do minor or no damage will end up wrecking your entire crop.

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Eric in Japan
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Re: Hydroponic and Aquaponic

Post by Eric in Japan »

I have tried both, but not on a commercial scale.
Hydro benefits- big plants, fast. Makes fruits and flowers well.
Hydro problems- unsustainable, electrical (usually). Delicately balanced. If a component breaks, you can lose everything. In the summer, perhaps within hours. As Paradoxbox said, it can be expensive to set up a very efficient system.
Hydro solutions- if you are not a commercial grower, passive Kratky systems, or simple "Water running downhill in tubes" systems work.
http://japanhomestead.blogspot.jp/2013/ ... rries.html

Aquaponics benefits- Pretty fish, vegetables, fewer synthetic chemicals.
Aquaponics problems- slower growth, needs more cleaning, feedstock may be unsustainable harvested ocean fish. Expensive to set up. Uses electricity.
Aquaponics solutions- Raise Koi or goldfish because their food is vegetarian, make sure your fishtank is the lowest part of the system, since the fish are more important than the vegetable crop, follow the KISS principle (Keep It So Simple!) of engineering, and do your homework. Image
(I actually made the system above even simpler by removing the diverter valve.) In hindsight, I should have put the pump on a one inch pedestal to create an emergency reserve to keep my goldfish alive.

If you have any questions about hydro or aquaponics, I will do my best to answer them. I am far from an expert however.
"... so, the cucumbers said to the cabbage, `Lettuce Go.`"

BK How
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Re: Hydroponic and Aquaponic

Post by BK How »

Thanks guys for giving such a detail opinions.

The reason I asked for your opinion is because I am intended to be a farmer but I am worry about the commercial Aquaponic and Hydroponic is going to wipe out the convention farming. There are big companies like Panasonic, Toshiba and Fujitsu have started to plant vegetables with Aquaponic system and their business is growing rapidly. So I am wondering if I have to go with this trends otherwise I will be left behind sooner or later. Imagine when those big companies supply all the their green veges to all the supermarkets in every cities and towns in Japan, nobody need a convention farmer like us anymore :( .

One important point by Parodoxbox is the earthquake problem in Japan, I think those big companies must have put a lot of efforts and monies to make a earthquake-proof system, but for a starter like me could a problem if I really want to go for it. But convention farming will also need to deal with not only the earthquake but also the typhoons and volcanoes, and the temperature changes with the four seasons :eek: .

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Re: Hydroponic and Aquaponic

Post by Zasso Nouka »

I honestly don't think you have anything to worry about BK How,

For a start there are so many vegetables that can't be grown hydroponically and even many of the ones that can be do so much better when grown at the right time of year in soil, just compare a hydroponic supermarket tomato to one grown during the right time of the year in soil. The difference in flavour are worlds apart.

Don't try and compete with large scale commoditiezed (sp ?) farming, you should be identifying niches that large scale farming can't compete in. Aim to use cultivars that have superior qualities like flavour or are hard to grow, identify markets that aren't served by bulk supply, look out for customers who value a higher quality product than available elsewhere. Don't try and compete with the big farms but look to areas where you can supply a premium product that customers are willing to pay more for.

If you choose to go down the hydroponic route there are many different systems and I'm sure a few would prove to be quake resistant, look at nutrient film technique or flood and drain tables or growing in rock wool or coir. Those systems shouldn't suffer greatly in an earthquake.

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Re: Hydroponic and Aquaponic

Post by BK How »

Good point, Zasso. Hydro and Aquaponic can't grow everything, and the crops taste different from the convention farming. :D

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Re: Hydroponic and Aquaponic

Post by Flockaducks »

Aeroponics is also an interesting system, i have been working on marrying the aquaponics with aeroponics, essentially is is creating a fin mist of water carrying nutrients (approx 5 - 50 micron droplets) into a tank with suspended roots, the size of the droplets are ideal for the pores on the root surface.
the problem i have is filtration.

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Zasso Nouka
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Re: Hydroponic and Aquaponic

Post by Zasso Nouka »

That would be a really nice project if you could solve the filtering problems.

I've never seen them available in Japan but in Europe now there are several manufacturers of organic hydroponic nutrients and you can even get Trichoderma species and endo symbionts (such as Tricorr and Bactorr amongst others) specifically developed for hydro.

There's an interesting article on organic hydro here at Maximum Yield (Yes, yes, I know it's aimed at the indoor 'closet' grower but the principles are still relevant to growing veggies :D )

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Re: Hydroponic and Aquaponic

Post by Flockaducks »

hahaha what you do in your spare time is up to you ;)

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