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Thread: Bioponics

  1. #1
    Moderator badflash's Avatar
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    Bioponics

    I've just coined the phrase, or so I think. Basically this is the umbrella name of any system that uses living things to produce nutrients that are delivered to plants in a liquid form. Aquaponics is one of the systems that would be included, but this forum is strictly for fish-less systems. I think this has some real potential for vegans and anyone not particularly interested in complications involving fish.

    Advantages are that higher nutrient levels can be obtained because fish do not need to live in the water.

    Two basics animals will be the trial balloon for my experiments. The red worm, and the black soldier fly. The worms will be more acceptable in a home environment, but the BSF has far more potential, especially used in conjunction with aquaponics.

    Here is how I imagine a basic system. A worm bin is set up elevated above a sump. The sump is tied to a conventional fill & drain gravel bed, Nutrient Film Technique (tubes with constant flow and no substrate), or even Deep Water Culture with proper dilution. Feed the worms (or BSF). The tea flows into the sump, and the sump provides nutrients to the plants. The pH of the sump can be adjusted to what ever the needs of the plants are.

    Worm or larva harvests can be sold or fed to the aquaponics system. This way your turn garbage into plants and high protein feed. I can envision a neighborhood coop system, sort of like community gardens where people can recycle their food waste and grow wonderful organic food.

    Jump in & lets talk about the pros and cons of this idea, and get a few going to see how they work.
    The best fertilizer is the farmer's shadow

  2. #2
    Moderator badflash's Avatar
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    Re: Bioponics

    After doing a little research I found this:
    Bioponics: Organic Hydroponic Gardening - Dr. Luther Thomas is an independent researcher and the owner of Earth and Sea Bioproducts, Salt Lake City, Utah
    So I have the definition write, but I didn't coin the phrase. Oh well...
    The best fertilizer is the farmer's shadow

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    Moderator jackalope's Avatar
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    Re: Bioponics

    Interesting thought, my question is whether the worms and the BSFL can produce enough "tea" to keep up with the aqua-system To produce that much "tea," I would think you would have to have acres and acres of BSFL and worm beds ....... of course, since I have raised neither, I wouldn't know .........
    I use the Linux Operating System ...... Free as in beer!
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  4. #4
    Moderator badflash's Avatar
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    Re: Bioponics

    You just need to size the beds to the amount of nutrients you have. The answer though is that you need less space for worms than for fish. You also need a lot less support for them. A 30 gallon rubbermaid tube can hold 15 pund of worms, and they can eat about 10 pounds of waste a week. BSF's can eat 10 times as much and produce much more "tea".

    Anyway, this is the early stages. We just need to give it a try. The numbers look very good to me though.
    The best fertilizer is the farmer's shadow

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    Re: Bioponics

    Great post I am subscribing to this thread because I have been messing with compost
    tea since day I built my first hydro. The problem I had was (and they told me this)
    I am trying to feed plants a tea that should be used with soil not water based system.

    Hydroponic based on water and nutrient solution
    Aquaponic based on soil (I believe is correct?)

    Now you are talking about a system needing the elements based on a soil grown
    produce (but I know it is not soil). Is that that correct? If so then why not use a F&D
    system using compost tea? Doesn't the bacteria still need ammonia?

    I was also told that compost tea is not able to sustain microbial life in water without
    a food source such as "molasses" and oxygen to keep them alive. I wanted to be able
    to grow food using my own tea that was what I was after anyway. I can make great tea
    right now with more than one brewer I built and we spray it or use it as soil drench.
    ""we are what we eat""

  6. #6
    Moderator badflash's Avatar
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    Re: Bioponics

    Forget everything when it comes to this. No animals in the process, so we don't need to care about biological conversions. Plant eat ammonia just fine. The water cycle is completely separated from the worms. One system is feeding another.
    The best fertilizer is the farmer's shadow

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    Re: Bioponics

    ok, I'm confused
    Guess I will have to sit and listen in on this one... sounds interesting
    Take care and stay safe

    Sheryl and Jake SD

  8. #8
    Moderator badflash's Avatar
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    Re: Bioponics

    Please explain your confusion. You may be over thinking this, it is really simple.

    Worm tea is well known as about the best fertilizer there is. They can produce a lot more of their fertilizer than fish grown in the same space. A worm bin can go through 10 pounds of food a week. That is a lot more than you'd feed fish, so you'll get a lot more nutrients. This is basically just hydroponics with worms as the nutrient source.
    The best fertilizer is the farmer's shadow

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    Re: Bioponics

    we need pictures
    Can you make a video explaining this?

    I love new ideas but sometimes I am a little slow to get it the first time
    Please be patient with us we are willing though
    ""we are what we eat""

  10. #10
    Moderator badflash's Avatar
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    Re: Bioponics

    Can't take a picture of something I haven't yet built

    Just think of a traditional hydropinics set up. Sump, pump, grow beds. Instead of chemicals we use worm tea. That is it in a nutshell. The worm bins don't need to drain directly into the hydroponics, it is just convienient to do it that way. You can always just drain the tea and carry it to where it is needed.
    The best fertilizer is the farmer's shadow

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