Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I've gotten on a bit of a health kick lately. Started working out, eating better, etc. Eating chia seeds (of the Salba variety) is a bit of a fad here in the US. They have a high concentration of omega-3 oils and are high in protein. They are used in shakes and eaten raw... I was thinking of maybe growing my own. I have a river gravel grow bed under fluorescent lights. I figure the light is enough, since I've grown more intensive plants like peppers. But has anyone tried growing chia in an AP environment? Not sure if they'll do well if I seed into the bed, since the seeds get a gelatinous coating when wet... anyway, just wanted to know if anyone has tried?

I set up a system once for a guy who threw a packet of chia seeds into all his growbeds. Was pretty hilarious, all his growbeds ended up full of fence height chia plants.....

"They have a high concentration of omega-3 oils "

Just grow Jade Perch - highest omega 3 of any fish..

Tried it once and it grows like a weed

I discovered there is a BIG difference in getting chia to grow and having chia seeds which contain all the benefits they are supposed to. To get the maximal nutrition out of the seed, you need the right amount of water at the right times and the right amount of sunlight; marginally too much or too little of either has a dramatic impact on the nutritional performance of the harvested seed.

I grow my chia in sandy soil and very rarely water after they have sprouted. I get the seeds from my health food store (much cheaper than buying the seed from a garden shop, $16 per kg vs $8 per packet of 1000 seeds). If the plants get too much water they will grow like a weed and put all their energy into growing the green leaves but the nutritional quality of the seeds suffer (btw: the leaves are useful as a tea to prevent/treat all sorts of ailments, so a good crop of leaves is essential as well as a good crop of seeds)

I wouldn't grow chia in an AP system myself, but it's really easy to grow, even in pots where the amount of water and sunlight can be easily managed. There is heaps of information found on the Web on what requirements chia has around the world.

P.S. Check a few different species too. In Australia we primarily get salvia hispanica, but in the US you can also get salvia tiliifolia (Tarahumara chia, like mentioned a lot in "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall) and salvia columbariae (Golden chia) which is more of a desert-dwelling plant and only grows to about half the height of the others.

Yes, huge potential! Tends to grow less stems and leaves, goes to seed faster and more seed heads.check out my video "aquaponic chia" on you tube.

123aquaponics. I was interested in seeing your video, but I cannot find it on youtube. Can you post a link please?

123aquaponics hasn't been on here since last year, but I think this is his video:




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Sam