not so similar
an aquaponics
gardener must strike a pH compromise to meet the somewhat differing needs of the plants, fish and bacteria.”
Bernstein 4.5 pages
7. plant diSeaSe
When I oversaw the plant grow lab at AeroGrow, we were constantly worried about disease. We sterilized anything that ever came into contact with the plants, their roots or the nutrient solution. The disease we feared the most was a fungus called pythium (or, root rot), which is widely considered the scourge of hydroponics. Fortunately, pythium is almost non-existent in aquaponics. Researchers in Australia are currently studying why this is so, but my money is on all the bacteria and other living organisms in an aquaponics system. Logically, they would help boost immunity, just as bacteria helps boost our own body’s immunity. Hydroponics is more of a “boy in the bubble” by comparison. In addition, the very high oxygen levels in an aquaponics system and the activity of the composting worms to clean up dead plant matter probably both help mitigate disease outbreaks.
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Maximum Yield USA | June 2013