Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Is companion planting important in aquaponics?

For example will bush bean and peppers grow better together? Do they have to be in the same container, the same system, or simply in the same green house?

What about successive crop rotation. Can beans for example be planted in the same media year after year?

crop rotation in soil is used primarily to minimize nutrient deficiencies.. in ap the nutrients are basically "in solution" so are evenly spread throught the growbeds
that's not to say you won't find some plants or specific nutrients lacking, especially in a "new" system.. but if you provide a good feed for your fish (and don't over-stock/over-feed), a mature system will have fewer deficiencies, and any that may creep in can usually be treated with a fish safe method
i've not personally tried companion planting, with the exception of having marigolds around the outdoor garden (and in ap when it was outside) to attract good bugs

Greenharvest have a good bug mix.....just watch out for the "red clover" in it.

If I'm understanding correctly, crop rotation also tries to account for/mitigate the spread of soil borne diseases to next years crop. Firstly...those diseases have to be able to survive in water to be a prob in AP...secondly...you will pull your hair out over treating powdery mildew, aphids, caterpillars, and slugs, with "fish + human safe" products long before you start worrying about any diseases staying in the media.

I think I found an answer that is backed up by some actual research from http://www.simplyhydro.com/nutrient_problems.htm

Interesting

I think corn is the only veg I plant in companionship. Interesting article

On the gardenate website they have reccomendations on which plants are compatible to grow with, which one's to avoid and a rotation system.
Not sure how much can be used with aquaponics though.

I always plant marigolds with tomatoes, both in dirt and ap gardens. For the bee's mainly

nematodes can be controlled by sugar! A strong solution mixed with water, water in before you plant, once the nematodes eat the solution - they explode. Yes - its a fact, it kills them

I think the key thing to remember about the article.. was reference to soil on seedling plugs...as a method by which nematodes are introduced into hydroponics....

Most people wash off the soil from seedlings when planting into AP...

I've seen nematodes in hydroponics... but in almost every case/operation.... their bio-security was either haphazard... or completely non-existant...

I haven't seen anything I can attribute to nematodes in any aquaponic system...

If I've got the luxy of grow bed space... and time... I do tend to "turn over" the grow bed, removing most of the roots.... and leave the grow bed "fallow" for a period before replanting.. especially after large root ball crops like tomatoes...

Just my fourpennyworth. Rupe's sugeestion of "turning over the beds" seems to be sensible in that you would be able to check for ROOT infestation!! ie clogging up the various pipes etc.

This may sound silly, but are there any fish that eat the roots? Could you "remove" most of the media, throw in the correct type of fish, and allow them to clean? I know this is common practice in China when planting out the rice. The small fish are used for mosquito control rather than root control, but there are certain carp that are used to clean waterways. Could this be done in "miniature" in an AP setup. Yes, I know it is a lot of work but hmmm, worth thinking about?

Shouldnt the composting worms be taking care of old root bases?

If you are pulling out the media, the old roots will come with it anyway.

I'm pretty sure nematodes, and fungus would remain