Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Have found a lot of good info. However I am very uncomfortable about how to best start new plants , get them going and then transplant them into a hydroponic growing home. Did I miss that somewhere along the line? Your suggestions for where I should do some more reading!

Get some seed starter mix from your garden supply shop or better still make your own compost and mix with good garden soil and grow your plants from seed.

If you grow all your own plants you will avoid bringing in pests and you will select varieties suited to your zone / climate

Start them in trays prick them out when plants are very small and transplant into bigger containers and grow plants to an advanced stage.

Carefully wash roots clean of all potting mix and plant into your gravel / raft pots

A big part of a successful aquaponic food production system is managing your plants , if you just plant seeds into your growbeds it might / will take 12 weeks for many plants to reach maturity , if you grow advanced seedlings and plant them into your gravel you should get two crops in the same time .

+1 Terra.

My preference too is for seedling mix in cell trays watered using microjets for 1 min 2 times per day.
Can easily grow 200-300 seedlings in a small plastic or glass covered mini hot-house.
(many trays are 8x8 = 64 cells so 3-4 trays = lot of seedlings)

also with a plastic cell tray you can sprout and grow lots more seedling than a grow bed can handle.
And in a cooler climate you can get your seedlings going weeks before outside/system temps are suitable.

Lots of options in threads around this forum.
you can reuse the mix and/or ultimately put it into other potted plants/wicking beds.


Having said that I find buying small punnets of seedlings very convenient and efficient when $2-$3 each.
Particularly where the seedlings have not been thinned and you get 2-3 in each cell.
But needs to be a reasonable grower and decent yielding variety.

ALWAYS BE SEEDING.

I seed in waves, same seeds weeks apart. This way I can increase odds of having plants for the AP and dirt gardens.

I have scoria media beds and just sprinkle the seeds on top according to the season. Thinking that if they develop roots where they are going to grow, it will be a better plant.

I have tried many methods. The key with seeds is to use a local variety as it will be more suited to your growing conditions. I have made a lot of friends from this forum and seed sharing with them is one way I have built up a wide variety of successful crops. Make sure you grow your plants to seed and collect your own and as said be constantly seeding.