Author: Aqua Gardening

What Do I Need To Add To My Aquaponic System To Keep My Plants Happy?

Video Transcript:

Hi, I’m Shiran from Aqua Gardening.

Every living thing needs nutrition to grow and thrive. When it comes to Aquaponics, we know we need to feed our fish to make them grow, and then the fish poo fertilises the plants. But what we find is that the plants need a few extra things in addition to this great fertiliser.

Why? Because the ingredients in the fish food are formulated for fish – and don’t necessarily contain all of the minerals that the plants need. And from these ingredients, the best minerals are retained by the fish for them to grow and be healthy – which in turn provides us great flavour when they arrive on our plate!

So what do the plants need in addition to poo? Like humans, plants depend heavily on iron to grow and keep them healthy. When iron levels are low, plants tell us straight away with dull coloured or yellowing leaves – similar to how we feel tired or a shade whiter when our own iron levels are low. The good news is iron can easily be added back into your aquaponics system.

The other most important element is potassium. You know how good it feels to eat a banana! They are loaded with potassium, and you can also boost your plants by adding some potassium to your system too. Potassium prevents leaf deformities, boosts growth, and develops flowers, fruit, and flavour in plants like tomatoes. In fact, it is an essential additive for every system which contains tomatoes – the plant simply won’t flower and produce, if there is not enough potassium.

Next, trace minerals are the most important additives in aquaponics. Often they are added in the form of a liquid or powder. They include micro elements such as molybdenum and boron, which in small amounts are surprisingly important for plant development.

At Aqua Gardening, we have created a range of products that are specially designed for aquaponics. You can customise the plant food yourself with individual products, or use our all in one sachets you can add to the system every week

And of course you will need fish food. Dry fish food is also commonly available for native fish, and is the safest product to feed edible fish and use in aquaponics systems.

You can purchase all these products directly from our website using the links below.

I’m Shiran from Aqua Gardening, for safe healthy food which grows itself!