MES is excited to share that we have an Aquaponics system in our Ponic's Lab as well! This is different than our aeroponics system because aquaponics uses fish to help produce a nutrient-rich environment. Thanks to Mrs. Barickman, a 6th grade teacher at MES, we have added Koi fish to our tank this school year! It has been an interesting experiment testing the water, balancing nutrients, and maintaining a healthy PH with enough nitrates to keep our plants happy.
Our system contains 2 media beds and a 125-gallon fish tank. Our bed is estimated to be able to produce up to 400 plants per year! Media beds are great for fruiting crops such as tomatoes and peppers. They are also great for growing leafy greens and herbs.
Currently, we have cherry and heirloom tomatoes , peas, cucumbers, carrots, broccoli, mint, flowering varieties, lettuce varieties, peppers, and sweet corn growing happily! Students in second grade have learned all about pollination and have helped to hand-pollinate our pepper plants that are now growing fruit!
Having this lab comes with a lot of challenges as we experiment and learn, but we persevere and continue to apply our "growth mindsets" to succeed. We have found that pickling cucumbers have been the trickiest to get to fruit because their flowers are so small and difficult to hand-pollinate. Also, this environment has caused our tomatoes to BURST to incredible heights, even with pruning, which makes it difficult to reach the fruit. We are able to shake the tomato plants to get them to self-pollinate even though they have reached over 5 feet in height!
It has been a fun adventure this school year and we look forward to the future of possibilities in our Ponics Lab!
References:
Aquaponics Systems. The Aquaponic Source. (n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2023, from
https://www.theaquaponicsource.com/product-category/ph-nutrient-balancing/