Good idea, bad idea … who knows but it’s worth looking into!
When people think about aquaponics they generally think of it as soil free, because for the most part … it is. That being said, there are many crops that seem to simply prefer being in soil to produce the best colors and flavours they can. I remember watching a video where sweet potatoes were growing in both the aquaponic garden and the soil nearby (they had spread a little bit on their own). When these plants were harvested there was a noticeable difference in the color of the tubers and from what I understand there was a difference in the taste as well.
In my own experiences trying to grow carrots in the aquaponic garden I found a similar result. There was a distinct lack of richness to the color and the flavour was lacking somewhat as well. This struck me as quite odd, since the vast majority of what has been produced in my aquaponics has had better color and flavour than what one would normally find at market.
The goal of the experimental ‘Dirty Aquaponics’ garden is to test the controlled use of soil in my system and see if I can improve on those previous results. There are a great many root crops that I would like to be able to grow but until this, I had been unable to do so. As this ‘Dirty Aquaponics’ experiment continues I will try to grow a variety of things and see what comes of it! I have some golf ball sized carrots I’m quite interested to try growing and some beets that have been around for ages as well …
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