Floating Rafts

[aquahealth]

I plan on growing one plant of everything for starters, just to get the feel of aquaponics. So I need to know if floating rafts are an option, or are they necessary for some plants, and if so, which ones.

[bcotton]

floating rafts are not necessary for any plant to grow in aquaponics. Some plants specifically may not be great options for rafts. Specifically tall ones than need substrate for stability.


brian

[aquahealth]

brian, then why would anyone use rafts? And I don't get it, I thought you want the water to drain so the roots get air, so whats the advantage with rafts?


bill

[NeverResting]

Rafts are good for short leafy greens to my knowledge. Lettuce is popular in raft systems.

[bcotton]

aquahealth,

rafts are one of many ways to practice aquaponics. There's tradeoffs to them all and different people tend to prefer different styles.

To me, rafts are more of a commercial tool because of the cost of deep water raft systems compared to grow bed full of media and it's easy to manage large amounts of uniform crops. An acre of 2' deep gravel would be pretty cost prohibitive.

For backyard systems i prefer gravel (expanded shale) grow beds for the extra filtration and surface area. I dont use filtering systems because i am trying to reuse all of the waste and I care more about balance than the initial cost or return on investment. I do sometimes use raft grow beds, i just put them after the gravel grow beds. In gravel, I havent had good luck with root crops like carrots, or patatos. I havent tried them in raft systems.

yes, greens seem to do really good in rafts.


brian

[Island_Dan]

From my understanding, root crops only work well in Aeroponic setups since the root crops hang in air and are misted periodically with nute solution. The problem with root crops and hydroponics is that extended soaking in nute solution can cause crop rot even in highly oxygenated environments, Roots can survive that environment but storage roots will rot.

[davidstcldfl]

Hi Island_Dan, welcome to the forum... :)


I'm trying root crops in grow bags, in a wicking set up. The bags have potting mix, and they sit in troughs with AP water slowly flowing through. You can see some pictures here...
New work @ Sahib Aquaponics (http://www.diyaquaponics.com/forum/showthread.php?1333-New-work-Sahib-Aquaponics/page2)

This is the 1st we are trying them. I hope they store well.

[davidstcldfl]

brian, then why would anyone use rafts? And I don't get it, I thought you want the water to drain so the roots get air, so whats the advantage with rafts?
bill

Large raft systems have added air to the beds.
Friendlys in HI (commercial raft AP farm) have slowed the flow of water going through the troughs, and have added extra air. They claim they are using less electric doing this, and still getting good results.

[bsfman]

From my understanding, root crops only work well in Aeroponic setups since the root crops hang in air and are misted periodically with nute solution. The problem with root crops and hydroponics is that extended soaking in nute solution can cause crop rot even in highly oxygenated environments, Roots can survive that environment but storage roots will rot.

My experience with aquaponics is that root crops do just fine in flood and drain systems - though not with floating rafts. I have had success growing carrots and radishes (like this 3/4 pound one) in my flood and drain beds.

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk306/tarvus33991/aquaponics/radish2.jpg

(It might be the UGLIEST radish in the history of the universe, but I've never seen one bigger!)

[bcotton]

looks beautiful to me.


brian

[Bob Vento]

I use my raft system for crops like lettuce, spinach, kale, swiss chard ... you get the picture. As a matter of fact we ate the lettuce we grew for our Christmas Eve dinner with the family. We only grow for personal consumption but really enjoy the process.

It's nice to know where your food comes from. Raft growing is fairly easy, however aeration is the key to success. I use a small solar pump to circulate the water which is not necessary but I wanted to anyway. I also replenish my water from my tote system to make use of those rich nutrients in the water from my fish.

Regards,
Bob

[urbanfarmer]

Have you ever let your radish go until it produces and matures seeds? They get as big as your head!

[Alberta Aquaponics]

I am setting up a raft system this year (actually working on it today).
I am opting for the floating raft simply because of the speed in which you can grow leaf vegetables like lettuce, kale, spinach etc. The ability to have harvest after 21 - 30 days from seed has me sold on the process.

I am also interested in collecting the solids from my fish to sell to those dirt farmers in my area, so putting in the swirl filter for collection in the garden seems just kind of silly if I don't bother putting in a raft system to go with it.

I have some video of the build update from this weekend here: http://youtu.be/GsxnELGfH1s

[jackalope]

Nice Video Alberta Aquaponics. Please let us know how your raft system is working as/when you set it up, THX :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

[15mules]

I have read where some people are planting rooting crops in raft systems and are saying the root (potato, onion, turnip, etc.) actually forms on top of the raft, not under it as one would suspect. They are saying only the roots are growing out the bottom of the raft into the water. I am looking forward to experimenting with some of these to see for myself.