Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all

this is my first posting and we are new to AP and still in the process of designing and setting up our greenhouse here in the Uk.

Here`s my question: Can anyone tell me the spacings for the various types of plants grown aquaponically ie. salads, tomatoes, strawberries, peppers, etc. or should I assume that it will be the same as if grown in soil?

This information is crucial to our planning so we know what size of greenhouse to build as we are fortunate and have approximately two acres to play with.

Thanks for your help

Dave

I work off the rule that if you can fit your Hans in to put a plant in a space, then there should damn well be a plant there

Plants need sunlight, some more than others.
I would plant taller plants furtherest (is that a word ?) away from sun direction, tapering to shortest in front
Plantings can be closer together than in the soil, my thinking is to group similar height plants together.

With things like lettuce, Its really only about leaving enough space to accommodate their final mature size. There's no competition for water or nutrient, so pack them in as close as you think you can get away with.

Save places like the corners of grow beds for pumpkins or vines that you can trail off away from the grow bed, or plant big plants like cabbages in corners and on edges to make use of the free space surrounding your grow beds.

If I was planning a glass house or a decent size system I'd allow a lot of space between grow beds for all this overflow.

+1 for planting by height as well. But I would give some thought to things that climb or can spill out to the ground.

So if your grow beds are in a glass house, with one edge against a wall, I'd grow climbers on the edge against the wall, then crawlers in the corners against the wall, the corn sized things down one side and strawberry sized things down the other, and everything else in between.

Then I'd fill up all the gaps with whatever else you can think of

If you look around on people's threads you sometimes see just one cucumber plant climbing all over a glasshouse and providing more cucumbers than any sane person would ever want to eat. And the entire plant is really only taking up a small corner of a growbed.

I hope he's not using stock tanks. if I tried planting in the corners on a rubbermaid stock tank I'd probably go bonkers .

This is very helpful. I am in the beginnings of planning and this was one of my questions. I'm glad I looked in this part of the forum instead of asking.