Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello All,

I have recently joined this forum and have been researching aquaponics for quite some time on and off. That being said I know very little and i am also aware there is no specific perfect way tot do anyhtign and due to realtively recent technology and documentation a conclusive answer is rarely possible.

I would like to grow trees in a aquaponic setup for a few reasons. One of which is i dont eat many veggies and tomatoes and lettuce everywhere is not going to do me much good. I also like trying to new things. Apparently aquaponics is not "out there enough" for me for i thought trying to grow a nut tree would be interesting.

I currently have chinese chestnut saplings and collassal rigged up in a emabarrasing setup with no fish but i had to rig something up as i had trees coming before i was ready. Oops. I used a cooler and a simple plastic bin and used one small bag of poting soil in each just to provide some sort of nutrients from the get go. Actual dirt is likely 1/5 of the contents. the rest is a 50/50 mix of pea gravel and larger river rocks varying in size.

i simply hooked up a apump and a timer and cut a hole in each to let it drain after it is filled by pump. roughly. 6 cycles 15 minutes each.

First two weeks or so things went pretty good i believe. my leader grew proablyl roughly 8 inches up while others didnt show much growth but leafing out. I am now seeing leaves shrivel and turn brown.

To give you a example of how close these are they have roughly 2 - 3 inches from each plant on all sides. Root structure possible could be touching each other but would be close compared to how they looked when planted. roughly 10 inches deep

I am familiar with the different types of syphons and CF system but was simply in a hurry and imagine i woudl not have had it done instantly and ready to plant very quickly due to work schedule.


I also know Murray had some Paw Paw's but i have not seen nut trees.

I do not plan to grow 4 foot monster trees in this system it is more for rapid growth for a few years till i can transplant out in a field. a jump start if you will. Oh im also in Texas near Houston

I woudl apprecaite if i could get some advice on below

How fast do you think they could grow?

Should i increase my flood timing or rate?

if i added fish and just started circulating do you think there woudl be any major detriment or possibly just take a while for nutrients to balance out?

Tube Siphon, bell siphon or CF?

Do you think my media is horrible or a good mix for surface area and stability?

Im really just looking for any input on trees growth in general for aquaponics and theories or expectations and recommendations on a good setup for what im trying ot accomplish. I have never done anything like this and definately jumped in with living things before it was ready so had to be a little cheap.

In case all are not familiar with texas 100 degree heat is quite possible in summer and humidity and general high.

Dirt in the system is never a good idea. It doesn't allow water to flow through fast enough, and creates anerobic conditions. Then you'll run into other problems.

I tried fruit trees in my system, and apart from gum seedlings, I haven't had much luck with it. The problem is the nutrient profile in the water. It's great for fast growing plants, like tomatoes, lettuce, and other green veg, but trees are different.

When I put a blood orange in the system, it just wanted to flower the whole time, and not put on any leaves. Then eventually died, while the lettuce near it just went wild.

I'd recommend just dunking them in the well prepared ground, and irrigate with the AP water, and find something you actually eat, and put that in the system.

I think you'd find transplanting trees would be difficult in gravel as well. I put what I thought was a raspberry in my system, but it was something else (shrubby treeish plant, I've got a video of it), and it grew like crazy. When I went to take it out (it had maybe 4 months), the roots had bound all the gravel within 50cm, and I mean tightly bound it all up. It was way too heavy to pull out and shake off, I couldn't easily cut through it with a knife or clippers because of all the rocks, and I ended up tipping the whole thing out, letting the roots dry out, and then got most of the gravel off.

Trees are meant to be in the ground.

Thank you for the response.

I imagine the nutrient profile is way off as i am literally using nothing but water and some generic miracle grow in small dosage. I definately do not know what trees like over lettuce and so forth but i am sure there is some difference. can you briefly explain?

I didnt think about the gravel. Just to be clear although there is pea gravel the idea was to use larger stones which is roughly half of what is in there now. By larger i mean roughly a 1"X1/2"X 3/4" on average. Do you still think they will tangle these up much. If so would there be much harm planting the tree with the rocks tangled in the roots?

I would definately prefer to plant in the ground for the most part but my backyard is nearly non existent due to deck so im extremely space limited currently. The land will be coming later once i have saved enough for the downpayment.

I know Murray has had success with his trees so I am confused why this would not be feasible. Would there have to possibly be some additives. Probally but not sure what that would be. I understand this is possible not a optimal plant to grow in aquaponics but i have no other choice others then buy a large amoutn of trees that will cost me $50 each if i was to get from a nursery and I just dont have the money to do something like that.

I didnt think about the soil as it really is a small amount percentage wise but i do plan to get rid of shortly.

Any ideas on flow rate and duration or draining?

I do appreciate your input I just dont see any other way to do this in the ground with my limited space and i definately do not want roots spreading all over my small backyard which will also be a pain to move later.

What do you think could be possible as far as growth increase over soil if i coudl get the system functioning to a respectable level?

Am i holding on to a lost cause?

Fast growing plants like lettuce & tomatoes need a lot of nutrients and water to grow well, they grow fast, but usually don't last for more than a season. This is what Aquaponics does really well, trees don't require that sort of fast nutrients (I'm sure somebody else could explain this better), and not all trees are the same either. From memory, the sort that Murray was growing were more tropical/rainforest type trees, where they've got abundant water/nutrients naturally in the soil.

If you just want to raise up seedlings to plant into the ground at a later time, plant them into largish pots, with a good potting mix, and then put just the base of the pot so it just touches the top of the water. Then the water will wick up into the pot. The roots will stay in the potting mix (you might every now and again need to trim them from the base). You don't need to water them, and they'll grow. However, I should note this would also work with just tap water at the bottom of something that holds water, and it'll wick up. Have a look for Rob Bob on youtube, he's got wicking pouches that work very well for that.

Then try your hand at some tasty tomatoes.