A variety of greens grown between 30 and 60 days. The basil and kale are 25″ tall.
(left) A newly constructed Portable Farms® Aquaponics System prior to planting
or installing the fish in the fish tanks.
(right) 40 days after the seedlings were planted in the Grow Tables
and the fish were installed in the fish tanks.
FOUR FUN FACTS ABOUT GROWING FOOD IN AQUAPONICS
- Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems grow enough varieties of plants (greens and blooming plants), and protein (fish) to sustain human health to its optimum level.
- Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems can feed your family or your community all the table vegetables and protein necessary to sustain excellent health FOREVER. PLUS, the systems are easily operated by semi-skilled labor, seniors, those with ambulatory disabilities (the grow trays can be made wheel-chair accessible height) and even responsible 14-year old can operate Portable Farms®.
- There have been over 300 different varieties of seeds and plants that have been tested that can be grown in a Portable Farms® Aquaponics System.
- The major food groups that are not recommended for Portable Farms are root vegetables (carrots, potatoes, onions, etc.) and corn, wheat, soy or rice. Perennial plants (strawberries, blackberries, asparagus, etc.) are not recommended because the plants are dormant 9 months per year and do not produce harvestable food year-round.
Phyllis Davis harvesting Bok Choy from a Portable Farms® Aquaponics System. The average
weight of the gigantic bok choys in this photo is 12 pounds 5 ounces.
Phyllis Davis harvesting ONE SINGLE HEAD of India Mustard, an Asian Green.
- Read about the Yield and Return on Investment for planting, growing and selling tomatoes.
- Read about the Yield and Return on Investment for planting, growing and selling zucchini.
- Read about the Yield and Return on Investment for planting, growing and selling peppers.
- Read about the Yield and Return on Investment for planting, growing and selling cucumber.
SIX SEXY SECRETS For a Successful Aquaponics System
- ALWAYS BE PLANTING. Every time you harvest a plant from your grow table, plant a new one in it’s place. Plant, harvest, plant harvest, repeat.
- PRAY FOR POOP. The fish poop is the precious nutrient stream that delivers the plants their food to grow tall, healthy and green. If your fish are happy, you’ll grow beautiful food. We even sing to our fish when we feed them and they love it. They begin to frenzy when they hear our voices. In fact, they’ll eat fish food out of our hand. They also enjoy consistent water temperatures of 78 degrees F.
- GOOD DAY SUNSHINE. Your plants need a minimum of six hours of direct sunlight. In winter months, we use grow lights to extend the available sunlight for an additional four hours per day.
- NO SMOKING AND NO SMOKERS IN THE GREENHOUSE. All forms of tobacco, smoke, vaping or nicotine will cause Tobacco Mosaic Virus, Cucumber Mosaic Virus and other blooming plant viruses.
- BUGS BE GONE. Since you cannot use pesticides in your aquaponics system (they’ll kill the fish), it’s important to make sure no insects of any kind (including ants) come into the greenhouse.
- WEAR GLOVES when you’re working in the greenhouse. This protects your plants and fish from your germs, pathogens, hand lotion, perfume, etc.
Phyllis Davis, Co-Inventor, holding a bouquet of ‘greens’ grown in this Portable Farms Aquaponics System in only 43 DAYS!
Colle Davis, Inventor, Portable Farms, holding a 20.5 pound head of Bok Choy grown in 45 days. WOW, now that’s a RECORD WEIGHT for growing!
Phyllis Davis with several newly harvested plants of Japanese Mustard Spinach. It is a heat-tolerant plant that grows to harvest in about 32 days. It is used in salads and stir fry. It grows very large and lush in Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems. This plant’s leaves (in photo above) measure 23″ tall and 6″ wide.
Tomatoes, oh yum.
Phyllis Davis harvesting several kohlirabi. Kohlrabi is similar to the cabbage family with a taste much like a broccoli stem. Can be eaten raw or cooked.
(left and right image) Colle Davis and Lane McClelland posing with very large single heads of Swiss Chard grown in a Portable Farms Aquaponics System.
(left and right image) Colle and Phyllis Davis harvesting single heads of Komatsuna Summerfest, an Asian green we prefer over all other lettuces. It grows beautifully in Portable Farms.
Butter leaf lettuce ready to harvest that is 12″ in width.
Tender, delicious and rich in flavor.
Greenleaf lettuce, 9″ in width. Buttery, tender and delicious.
Phyllis Davis holding 8 heads of kale just harvested from a
Portable Farm. The average height of these kale is 47″. Monster kale!
Phyllis Davis harvesting basil that is 52 days old. We ‘cut back’ our basil once after harvest to regrow again before we remove from Grow Tray. This basil was grown in a solar-operated Portable Farm in an screened-in porch (lanai) in Southern Florida.
Plus, fish tank-raised fish are vital to aquaponics. We recommend Oreochromis Mossambicus Tilapia. It’s a mild white fish that we harvest in 7 to 9 months when they weigh 1.25 pounds and produce 2 four-ounce fillets.
Fresh Tilapia fillets. FISH: Tilapia is a low-fat, white-fleshed fish that is sweet, fine-textured and doesn’t taste fishy. Enjoy your Tilapia by baking, broiling, grilling or steaming it.
The history of Tilapia can be traced back over 4,500 years to Ancient Egypt with its origins in the Nile River. Tilapia has been called St. Peter’s Fish since early Biblical times because it is believed to be the fish that Jesus fed the multitudes in the biblical parable.
The fish used in your Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems are hybrid Tilapia or catfish, or perhaps several fish depending on availability and your State regulations. We recommend hybrid Tilapia. Please note: We don’t recommend growing trout, bass, salmon, and other fish because they prefer cold water. The plants in Portable Farms® prefer warm water so we supply our systems with a fresh water/warm water fish.
Cucumbers grow well in Portable Farms Aquaponics Systems.
Romaine lettuce growing in a Portable Farm in 44 days. Note the two plantings (look for two sticks in left foreground.) The magic words in aquaponics are ALWAYS BE PLANTING.
Harvest then plant. Harvest then plant. Repeat.
Peppers of all varieties grow well in our Portable Farms! Some like it HOT.
These six green bean plants that produce over 250 green beans. This variety blooms again after harvest and produces a generous second harvest within 2 weeks after the first harvest.
(right and left image) This is a hot and spicy lettuce we call Wasabi Lettuce. It’s actually called Green Wave Lettuce.
SIX SEXY SECRETS For a Successful Aquaponics System
- ALWAYS BE PLANTING. Every time you harvest a plant from your grow table, plant a new one in it’s place. Plant, harvest, plant harvest, repeat.
- PRAY FOR POOP. The fish poop is the precious nutrient stream that delivers the plants their food to grow tall, healthy and green. If your fish are happy, you’ll grow beautiful food. We even sing to our fish when we feed them and they love it. They begin to frenzy when they hear our voices. In fact, they’ll eat fish food out of our hand. They also enjoy consistent water temperatures of 78 degrees F.
- GOOD DAY SUNSHINE. Your plants need a minimum of six hours of direct sunlight. In winter months, we use grow lights to extend the available sunlight for an additional four hours per day.
- NO SMOKING AND NO SMOKERS IN THE GREENHOUSE. All forms of tobacco, smoke, vaping or nicotine will cause Tobacco Mosaic Virus, Cucumber Mosaic Virus and other blooming plant viruses.
- BUGS BE GONE. Since you cannot use pesticides in your aquaponics system (they’ll kill the fish), it’s important to make sure no insects of any kind (including ants) come into the greenhouse.
- WEAR GLOVES when you’re working in the greenhouse. This protects your plants and fish from your germs, pathogens, hand lotion, perfume, etc.
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