Aquaponics is a system where you grow your plants without using soil. You use a medium such as Hydroton to hold your plants.
In an aquaponics system the plants will grow faster and will require less space. Because the roots won’t have to go search for water. The water is brought directly to them. And that’s why the roots will stay shorter than when they are planted in soil. The benefit of this is that you can grow more plants in less space.
The water that you use in your aquaponics system is fish water. The fish lives in the water and its poop becomes nutrients for the plants.
With the help of bacteria, Ammonia (comes from the poop) becomes Nitrite. And nitrite becomes Nitrate. The nitrate is what becomes the nutrients for the plants.
When the water goes through the hydroton and plant roots, it gets cleaned. So it works like a filter. A cleaner water will then go back to the fish tank.
But the fish can’t supply the plant with all the nutrients it needs. So that’s why you have to provide the plant with the nutrients it’s not getting from the fish.
This can be Worm Tea. It comes from a worm bin. The worms eat organic wastes and make it a compost for the plants. Which contains high level of nutrients that the plants love!
With the finished worm compost you can make your own worm tea. You place it in a sock or breathable bag and let it stay in water for 24 hours. All the nutrients from the worm compost will dissolve in the water.
This worm tea can be used as a nutrient for the plants. You just water them with it. You can also use it as a pesticide. I’ve used this on my pepper plant with white flies for 2 weeks. And then I didn’t have to use it again. All the white flies were gone and they never came back.
But you can also pour the worm tea in your aquaponics system to give the plants the nutrients they aren’t getting from the fish.
Pouring the worm tea when you just started your aquaponics system provides the plants with nutrients while the system is still cycling.
I’ve had great experience with pouring worm tea in aquaponics system.
I once had a few basil cuttings and I’ve put them in there to let them root. They had about 3 days in there. And they were dying. I could just take them out of there and throw them away. But I had some worm tea that I made myself. So I poured it in the system.
The next day, the plants were beautiful! It’s like they weren’t dying the day before. I couldn’t believe my eyes!
It also help the plants to grow faster. You can try this and see for yourself.
Your turn
What is your experience with worm tea? Share it with me in a comment below!
And feel free to ask me any question you have.
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