Briefly put, “aquaponics” is a mix of the word “aqua”, which means “water” in Latin, and “ponics” in “hydroPONICS”, which refers to a form of horticulture that grows crops without using soil, with the help of mineral solutions in aqueous solvents.
Aquaponics therefore refers to the process of using fish to grow crops and plants. When they eat and generate waste, fish work as ideal fertilizers that can help grow crops.
Let’s find out more about what is aquaponics and why it is a good idea to invest in aquaponics fish and grow an organic pond.
Aquaponics Mimic Natural Ecosystems
Aquaponics relies on the strong bond formed between bacteria, aquatic life, water, plants, and nutrients, all growing together in waterways across the planet. While paying attention to the balance found in nature, aquaponics effectively integrates these elements in an eco-friendly manner.
By exchanging waste by-products resulting from fish and using it as nutrients to feed off bacteria, the ecosystem manages to produce good fertilizers for the plants inside the water, returning the water to the fish in a clean and entirely safe manner.
Advantages Of Aquaponics
Aquaponics has a number of advantages when compared to regular soil structures that grow plants and crops. Here are a few of the most important of them:
Aquaponics eliminates soil challenges
While some soils do come with extremely fertile soil-web ecosystems, they usually contain large amounts of clay and these pose plenty of challenges when it comes to the use of water, along with the availability of nutrients and the needed soil texture that allows plant growing.
Plus, lots of areas do not allow easy access to the soil since they feature rock, asphalt, or concrete. Aquaponics comes to eliminate all of these problems, as it does not rely on soil to grow crops and it does not depend on the geographical location of soil or its fertility and components.
Aquaponics does not require harmful fertilizers
Because of certain factors such as soil, water runoff, or wind, the soil gradually loses its fertility with each new crop. This means that in order to keep growing plants in it, you will need to keep applying new compost and various fertilizers.
Fertilizer that contains with only Nitrogen, Potassium, and Phosphorus is absorbed in the growing plants, while depleting them of a series of micro-nutrients like iron, calcium, zinc, and others.
When too much manure that is not composted or synthetic fertilizers are used, they will trigger salinity problems. In turn, these will make the soil too hot for growing new crops. The fact that aquaponics solely relies on the nutrients produced by fish waste in the soil-less ecosystem means there is no need to use any type of fertilizer, thus eliminating lots of problems.
You can handle pests in a more natural way with aquaponics
Aquaponics significantly eliminates the matter of having to manage insects, weeds and various specific diseases. Diseases are a lot less common when it comes to aquaponics compared to a standard garden, for example.
When it comes to farming done at a larger scale, the use of herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers and GMOs are a serious concern when deciding which fruits, vegetables, or fruits or herbs to grow. Crops that are grown using organic procedures do not allow any GMOs, but they can use a wide array of pesticides.
When it comes to aquaponics, mustard, Garlic, Chilli, Chive, or Onions interplanted in the ecosystem should normally repel any pests and fungus. In case of aphid infestations, it is also possible to rely on the fruits to create a spray that can be used sparingly.
No need to worry about improperly watered soil or droughts
Aquaponics also eliminates the risk of improperly watering the soil used to grow your crops. Overwatering and common resulting issues such as evaporation, flooding, or soil compaction, and dyeing plants because of roots that have not been aired out will eventually kill the plants. When too little water is used, or when growing a crop in a climate that is hot and dry, plants will have a hard time growing at a normal pace and they are also likely to dye.
Say goodbye to straining and bad postures
If you love gardening, but you are having a hard time coping with all the physical activities, bending, digging, and manual labor this activity incurs, aquaponics will allow you to enjoy less hassle. Aquaponics allows you to grow a garden without having to worry about weeds, soil pests, or the need to cultivate your crops and plants, spread fertilizer or shred compost, or worry about irrigating and so on.
Aquaponics saves energy and grows crops 10x faster
Aquaponics helps you use up to 70 percent less energy, while growing up to 10 times more organic produce. The crops are expected to grow twice as fast and they require ten times less space compared to standard gardens. There are special step by step guides that can teach you how to successfully build your own aquaponics ecosystem and grow your favorite plants and crops in half the time you would spend with a regular garden. One fine example is this comprehensive guide you can take a look at here https://www.aquaponics4you.com/.
Aquaponics fish and the organic ponds they can be grown are a discovery of researchers at the University of the Virgin Islands, who have made this amazing break-through a few years ago.
The new method of growing plants in an organic manner, 50% up to 100% quicker and in up to ten times bigger amounts compared to traditional gardening were the strongest arguments that helped aquaponics evolve over the years. Feeding live and natural nutrients to the plants 24/7, all year long, could help you grow as much as a few thousands of pounds or organic vegetables every month, using one tenth of the space you would normally require for such a job.
You could be feeding your entire family with the crops you could grow with the help of aquaponics, and even consider starting your own local organic produce business you can sell to markets in the area. The fact that aquaponics is an almost entirely automated ecosystem means that you will not have to spend more than one hour a day doing some work.
Since there is no need to cultivate the soil or fertilize it, you will get to enjoy extra freedom and less hassle when growing your crops. All the necessary nutrients will be automatically delivered to the plants, and you will only need to use some elbow grease to set up the ecosystem, and prepare to see it run on auto-pilot afterwards. If you are interested in personally enjoying the many wonderful benefits of aquaponics, find a reliable, step by step guide and get started today!
