The most important thing to know about introducing plants into an aquaponic system, is that there should be no soil. Introducing soil into an aquaponics system will dirty the water and possibly kill the fish. There’s basically three ways to introduce plants to your Window Aquatica system:
- By cuttings/cloning. (most popular method) This involves cutting a young stem from a plant, dipping the cut end in a root promoter, then sticking it in a soilless growing media cube (rockwool, coco coir, etc.), and giving it water and light for 2-4 weeks. The cut stem will grow roots and will create a whole new plant.
- From Seed. Simply place a couple seeds in a soilless growing media cube (rockwool, coco coir, etc.). Give them water water and light for 4-8 weeks.
- Transplant from soil. Pull the plant out of the soil. Wash all the soil out of the roots. Then prune back as much leaves as the roots that you lost in the transplant. (If you lost half of the roots, then you should remove half of the foliage)
When your plants are ready to be placed in Window Aquatica:
- Place aggressive plants with long root systems closer to the water exit of the Bamboo Growing Bed. This applies to basil and mint. This will make it harder for these plants to send roots down the Glass Water Lift tube, where they can eventually clog the flow of water.
- Place plants with shorter root systems on top of the the Glass Water Lift. This applies to chives and green onions. These roots will not travel down the Glass Water Lift tube. The roots can serve to soften the noise from the bubbling water.