Plant Growth in Aquaponic System through Comparison of Different ...

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Experimental Design Many different types of plants can be grown in an aquaponic system. The crops chosen for this experiment needed to be suited for growing in the late summer/early fall. They also needed to grow quickly so that growth data could be collected. Lettuce and radishes were two crops that were suitable for this experiment. Lettuce is a suitable crop because it grows in short periods of time and produce few pest problems (Rakocy et al., 2006). Radishes germinate quickly and require low levels of nutrients. Lynchburg Grows provided the seeds for each plant. Lynchburg Grows could easily continue growing this crops in the aquaponic system and sell them for profit if we determine an aquaponic system that worked best. Lynchburg Grows provided all the seeds, pots, and media for the project. In the NFT, radish and lettuce were planted from seeds. For each crop, three seeds of one type of plant were planted in one pot and seven pots were completed for each of the three media, for a total of 21 seeds per medium per plant type. A thin layer of soil was placed only on the top of the gravel to act as a bed to hold the seed before it germinated. The pots were labeled and randomly arranged by a fellow student and I distributing them along the top trough. They were planted on September 12, 2011. (Variety of each plant, original source of seeds- where did LG get them) In the floating raft system, eight holes were cut in a styrofoam board where small pots were placed and the pots extended 2 inches into the water. This was done to four styrofoam boards. Radishes and lettuce seeds were planted in the soil, coconut fiber and gravel. There were a total pots, each with 2 seeds, for each treatment. The treatments were randomly arranged by numbering the empty pots, making a list of all the treatments, drawing numbers out of a pot, and going down the list assigning pot numbers to the treatments. All the treatments were listed, a
number that corresponded to a pot on the raft was drawn from a pot, and that number was assigned to the treatment next on the list. Two pots were left empty in order to have an equal number of pots per treatment. All plants were planted on October 3, 2011. (Pot size- internal volume- how much growing media was available to the plants) Two hundred channel catfish were added to the NFT and the same number to the floating raft system on October 26 (Figure 5). This date for stocking was after my planting date due to availability of fish. Channel catfish were obtained from a hatchery in eastern Virginia, were pellet trained and a good choice for this type of system (Shahady personal commentation). While the fish are an important component of an aquaponic system, this project was designed to study plants thus any discussion of fish in this system is a separate study. (where were the fish obtained from- what hatchery, age/size) (picture to come) Figure 5 – Channel Catfish stocked into the Aquaponic units. Type of system Construction of the system was based on similar units in use at Growing Power Inc. (where is it located) (Will Allen personal communication, 2010). The types of systems used were the nutrient film technique (NFT) and floating raft. In the NFT, a thin layer of constantly flowing water provides a continuous supply of water, nutrients, and oxygen. In the floating raft system, plants roots grow directly into a container of water. The rafts provide optimum root exposure to the nutrient water (Rakocy, 1988). The styrofoam boards also shield the water from direct sun light to help maintain lower water temperatures, which is beneficial for plant growth (Rakocy, 1988). (re-word)
Page 1 and 2: Plant Growth in Aquaponic System th
Page 3 and 4: minimizing nutrient inputs and the
Page 5 and 6: There are many different medias in
Page 7: Figure 4 - Lettuce plant grown in t
Page 11 and 12: of this time difference, because it
Page 13 and 14: height (cm) height (cm) 25 20 15 10
Page 15 and 16: Table 1- Average biomass for radish
Page 17 and 18: along with plants grown in gravel a
Page 19 and 20: soil and lettuce grown in coconut f
Page 21 and 22: into the water, providing the plant
Page 23: References Denckia, T.L.K. (2003).

Plant Growth in Aquaponic System through Comparison of Different ...

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