YEAR ROUND Ideal Growing Conditions for Aquaponics

YEAR ROUND Ideal Growing Conditions for Aquaponics
– by Colle and Phyllis Davis 

indiamustard3

One single head of India Mustard (tastes like a spicy lettuce) that was harvested from a Portable Farms® Aquaponics System.

 

 Question: 

 “How is it possible that Portable Farms Aquaponics Systems can grow such DELICIOUS and nutrient rich food year round?”

Answers:

  • In sunlight, plans use photosynthesis to turn CO2 and water into oxygen and sugar.
  • In the dark, plants switch to the same system animals use to stay alive, the building and repair of the organism itself. 
  • Added to this phenomena of growth, is the fact that as the temperature increases, chemical activity speeds up.

greenbean aquaponicsThe closer to the ‘ideal’ temperature the better for the plants to grow. The ideal temperature for plant growth is, interestingly, 73° F at the leaf surface or about the same temperature as humans enjoy.

In a climatically adapted greenhouse, temperatures are regulated so the maximum temperature the plants can comfortably tolerate is never reached and the lowest temperature that the particular plant can grow at, produce the best possible conditions for growth.

To have a warm garden in the winter time takes some planning but once it is in place, it will produce prodigious amounts of happy food. For a plant to have all of the nutrients and water it can possibly use delivered to its roots before it even needs them means the plant can grow a quickly as possible because there are no limiting factors.

  • All of the food (nutrients) for the plants arrives before the plants need it, or want it.
  • The water is always available and it is refreshed a couple of times a day
  • The light levels are always perfect in the structure
  • The air circulates in a gentle fashion to help with pollination and to help avoid dampness in the structure
  • The temperature is pleasant and varies a bit so as not to be monotonous
  • There are no bugs or weeds or poisons or harsh chemicals used to contend with, ever.
  • The water in the Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems turns over ENTIRELY twice a day. Plus, all of the heavy fish poop has been removed and rerouted so it never flows into the Grow Tray or has contact with the plants.

As a result of an ideal environment:

  • The plants grow faster than the seed packets say they will
  • Food grown in an aquaponics system is much healthier than ‘regularly’ grown plants, and as a result, they are healthier for you, they TASTE BETTER and are higher in nutrition.
  • The food in an aquaponics system is grown without any chemicals (think about it; if chemicals were used, it would kill the fish). The growing food is more beautiful with each passing day
  • The plants mature in less time and require 90 to 95% less water than their dirt-grown friends
  • The plants stay clean and dry at all times
  • They are harvested when they are at their peak of ripeness and maturation which means their flavor and nutritional content are always at optimal levels
  • They are simply the best vegetables on the planet.

One of the (many) key reasons plants in Portable Farms® grow so quickly and so LARGE is because the plants roots are bathed in warm water that is loaded with nutrients and are supported by warm gravel in a warm building. What more could they possibly want or need? Portable Farms® spoil the plants and and cater to their every need for comfort.

Interior of a Portable Farms Aquaponics System. Photo taken January 3, 2012.

Interior of a Portable Farms Aquaponics System. 

 

To provide the absolute ideal conditions for growth and health to any living being, gives them everything they need to be their best. This is true of plants in a Portable Farms® Aquaponics System, raising animals and even raising children. The raising children thing is much harder actually. At least we don’t have to eat them. 🙂

 

 

Start the process of having your warm garden by taking the Aquaponics University Aquaponics Online Course today and have warm healthy and delicious plants in only a few weeks.

 

Want to Make a Chef Weak and Breathless?

Want to Make a Chef Weak and Breathless?
– Colle and Phyllis Davis

Do you want to know how to make an Executive Chef weak at the knees and breathless? Offer them a farm that grows an unlimited supply of fresh pesticide-free food and home-grown fish that’s near their kitchen. Then, after they wipe tears of joy from their eyes, tell them that the farm pays for itself and after that, the money they had been spending on food from their suppliers can now be spent on increased salaries and kitchen improvements. Since they’ll be speechless, expect a hug.

Today, Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems offer fresh food and home-grown fish in an easy to operate system that pays for itself. What could be easier? This really is 21st Century Agriculture.

If a chef has been ordering 2 cartons of lettuce per week (24 heads per carton) from the food supplier who delivers his produce, now he only needs to plant 48 seeds in ‘grow medium’ into his Portable Farms®  Aquaponics System. By planting every week, he never needs to order lettuce again. It only takes 35 to 40 days to grow a head of lettuce. Plus, the produce won’t need to travel from local or long distance farms or endure packing and refrigeration so the food retains all of its flavor and high nutritional value. The chef can always harvest their vegetables at their ‘peak’ of perfection instead of receiving vegetables that were harvested and shipped too early. These systems are a perfect example of a Carbon Negative footprint, especially when compared to in-ground growing and current agricultural practices.

The Portable Farms®  Aquaponics Systems can be sized to meet the food requirements of a restaurant. A 20 x 30′ system can be placed in the parking lot behind a restaurant and will grow 3,600 vegetables and 1,400 pounds of fish per year. This size farm won’t grow enough food for the needs of even a small restaurant with a regular customer base. However, it is large enough to supplement their food supply from existing suppliers and adds ‘bragging rights’ to customers and the local media to increase their customer base because they’ll be able to tell the public they ‘raise a portion of their own organic vegetables behind the restaurant and it also provides some of their own fresh, home-grown fish.’ They can also offer their customers a tour of their farm creating an even deeper customer loyalty. A positive dining experience and a greenhouse tour will spread the excitement around town, within days.

chef proud 2A larger restaurant who wants to reduce food costs, should consider a 90 x 120′ (1/4 acre) Portable Farms®  Aquaponics Systems near the restaurant.  This size Portable Farms® grows 60,000 to 70,000 vegetables and around 21,000 pounds of fish per year, depending on the crop choice and the market values for those crops, the ROI for this sized unit is between three and five years. The ROI is much faster for commercial sized systems because they have far more growing space for vegetables and tank space for fish.

What is a Portable Farms®  Aquaponics System?

The Portable Farms®  Aquaponics System is a closed loop, water-based fish and organic vegetable production system. It utilizes insulated and heated fish tanks to grow Tilapia, and then runs the warm water from the fish tank (rich with warm, nutrient-rich fish waste) through a clarifying system with special pumps, and then the water flows through  gravel-filled Grow Trays to feed and water the growing plants. The entire system is built in modules; each module (shown below) contains one fish tank, one settling tank, and of course, the food growing space. These modules are enclosed in a climatically adapted growing structure, usually a greenhouse. The structure keeps out pests and helps maintain a perfect growing temperature. A commercial sized system contains between 28 and 32 modules.

The Portable Farms®  Aquaponics Systems are specifically designed to utilize currently unused urban or near-urban space to grow food as close to the end consumer as possible. It is not designed to replace regular land-based agriculture. The main function of the Portable Farms® Aquaponics System is to produce nutritious food, on site, using a minimum of space, electricity, water and labor.

Restaurants generally purchase food from local and national suppliers who arrange with providers for vegetables, dairy, bakeries, meat and fish to be delivered to their restaurants. These suppliers sell chefs what’s available on the market at that time, and then make regular deliveries to their kitchens. It sounds simple, but it is not. Thousands of people are involved in the process of growing food, shipping it, selling it in the marketplace, and then distributing the food to restaurants for preparation by chefs to serve to their dining customers. And, in the process of bringing food from farm to table, the costs rise to pay everyone along the line.

Owning a Portable Farms®  Aquaponics System takes all the ‘middle men/women’ out of the equation. In fact, one full-time, semi-skilled worker can operate and maintain over 1/4 of an acre of Portable Farms®  Aquaponics System. It’s not quite ‘a drive through farm,’ but it’s close.

Make YOUR chef happy today. A happy chef creates a happy and prosperous restaurant with loyal customers who tell all their friends about their dining experience. It’s the best investment you can make in today’s competitive environment. LEARN FROM US: CLICK HERE.

Portable Farms® – Go Solar and OFF GRID. So, Sexy.

Portable Farms® – Go Solar and OFF GRID. So, Sexy.
– By Colle and Phyllis Davis

PFAS LL offers Portable Farms® Kits designed for SOLAR installations.  

The PFAS LLC Research Center installation at our headquarters in Southern Florida has operated on solar power since last August and has not missed a beat. The system is 100% solar powered and you too can have a system solar powered Portable Farms® with 12v air compressors and timers.

Full disclosure: We use a slightly modified solar electric system with a 12VDC to 110v AC converter for the large air pump because of the noise factor. We have on hand and have used a 12v air compressor for the CAD Pump and it works just fine but is much noisier than the 110VAC compressor. You have been forewarned. 🙂

Solar Aquaponics GOLD

Let us show you HOW, WHY, WHAT, WHERE and HOW MUCH it costs to install your own solar powered system for YOUR aquaponics system.

The PFAS LLC Florida solar electrical system:

solar panel

  A single 100 watt panel installed next to a Portable Farms® Aquaponics System        

The increasing demand from our students in areas of the world where electrical power is erratic or non-existent has prompted us to offer the Portable Farms® Kit that is part of the Aquaponics University Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems Course© with a 12 volt DC OPTION. The price is exactly the same as the regular 110 AC system, but we need to know when you order the AU Course or additional Portable Farms® Kits that you want the 12volt option.


With the price of solar panels continuing to drop, the price/value proposition has swung over to favor the solar installations EVEN IF YOU HAVE GRID POWER. For example, the system in use –shown above – is a 100watt panel, MPPT controller, a 12v constantly on air pump for the air stones, a 12v timer, (here is where the difference in our system lies) a 700watt converter 12/110 to run a 110 VAC 65lmp air pump to run the CAD Pump and one deep cycle marine battery. That’s it. The system is bullet proof with all the controls on a panel under the Grow Table.

 

What will ‘going solar’ do for you?

  • Reduce the worry of a power failure that could impact your fish.
  • Reduce the cost of electrical power from your house. Our system will take about 2 year to pay for itself because so little power is needed for the Portable Farms®.
  • Increasing the solar installation size to run Grow Lights for winter growing will quadruple the size/cost and will take about 3.5 years to pay off depending on the size of the installation.
  • Give you incredibly huge bragging rights.
  • Reduce your carbon footprint.

There you have it, PFAS LLC has made solar power components an option with their Portable Farms® Kits. If you are planning a commercial installation the needs of a 10,000 sq ft (1,000m2) climatically adapted building on solar is about the same as a small 2 bedroom house. The main difference is that the Portable Farms® uses the most electricity when the sun is shining so the battery bank can be much smaller than for a house.

To insure you receive the correct power components for your Portable Farms® Kit(s) you must notify us when you receive your Congratulations on Graduating Letter (or before) so we send you the right Portable Farms® Kit.

Begin reducing your carbon footprint and enroll in the Aquaponics University Portable Farms Aquaponics Systems Course© today and let us know when you start, that you are joining the solar revolution and want the 12volt Portable Farms® Kit for your installation.

Growing Marijuana in Aquaponics – Part 1

Marijuana Growing in Aquaponics – Part 1

By Colle and Phyllis Davis 

Read our Three-Part Series on Marijuana Growing in Aquaponics

Marijuana Growing in Aquaponics – Part 1

Marijuana Growing in Aquaponics – Part 2

Marijuana Growing in Aquaponics – Part 3

 

One of the most frequently asked questions we receive is, “Can I grow marijuana in my Portable Farm?”

There are  many variables to this question but,  “Yes,  you can grow marijuana in aquaponics.”

In this series, we discuss the different ways to grow medical herbs in aquaponics, the necessary modifications to produce the best results, and the pitfalls of single cropping and mixing herbs with other plants in the grow table.

  • In our first year of offering the Portable Farms Aquaponics Systems training in 2008, the most common general question we received was, “How does that thing work?” meaning aquaponics.
  • The next question was, “Can I grow marijuana in aquaponics?”

Step back for a moment. When we launched Portable Farms in 2008, marijuana was illegal in most places in the US, including California, where we lived at the time. Supporting an illegal activity with the use of our technology gave us pause and our lawyers warned us against pursuing anything related to marijuana. We would not be doing anything illegal by selling our systems for the purpose of growing marijuana by our customers, but we were advised to avoid anything that could draw negative attention to our young and thriving company. We took their advice.

About that time, a competitor of ours in the aquaponics business decided to grow marijuana and they both went to jail. We wanted to avoid any implications or suspicions that could create legal problems.

Now, 13 years later, the laws have changed in many US states (list below) regarding the laws for owning or growing marijuana. Small amounts (generally 2 to 6 plants at a time determined by State Law) of marijuana for personal use. Check with the laws in your state for laws related to using or growing marijuana.  We do NOT grow marijuana. FULL STOP.  We accept no responsibility regarding legal advice or updated rulings or information. The suggestions contained in this series or articles are based on our vast experience in growing a wide variety of kitchen herbs that require similar growing conditions including water needs, sun requirements, spacing, fertilizing, and other aspects. 

Information for Growing Herbs in Aquaponics

One module of a Portable Farms Aquaponics System

Growing herbs requires research for each plant to determine their watering needs. Many herbs require less water than the vegetables or greens that are grown in Portable Farms. In fact, many plants prefer loose sandy soil over aquaponics growing for that very reason.

All Portable Farms® Kits are commercial kits designed to support Grow Tables up to and larger than 200 sq ft (18m2) and work even for the smallest Grow Table installations. The difference is the timing of the water flow.

Aquaponics is best known for growing greens. The image above is a tray of Romaine Lettuce.

If you want to grow a few ‘herbs’ in your regular Portable Farms® Module, plant a few seeds and see how they mature. You may find they require one water cycle and not two cycles per day.

Changing the timing on the water pump to once a day with a longer cycle still gives you great vegetables, and your herbs will be happier. If you are only growing greens, changing to once-a-day timing will slow their growth a bit because they love water. Herbs, not so much.

Fish joke: We do not yet have data on whether the fish get the munchies from the new plants, but when someone has good data, we will see if we can share it with you.

Mixing plants and herbs in a single Grow Table means compromising on production because of the plants different moisture needs. Tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, and peppers dislike wet roots but enjoy daily watering. They need plenty of water in the morning, but not in the afternoon.

For example, lettuce, Swiss chard, bok choy, kale, mustard greens, and collards enjoy two water cycles a day. This water need is why raft culture works well for them; their roots are in water all the time. Herbs prefer a much dryer root zone and become waterlogged and unhappy when overwatered.

Next, in this series on growing marijuana in Portable Farms Aquaponics Systems, we will cover modifications to the basic Module layout to produce a more abundant crop. You can still use some of the Grow Table for regular vegetables, so you can grow your herbs and vegetables at the same time.

The following list by Disa.com provides information regarding growing cannabis in all US States.

Last Updated: June 2021

Note: State status reflects current laws at time of update, not pending legislation or future dates upon which marijuana becomes available medicinally or recreationally.
* Enactment is pending until future date.

State

Legal Status

Medicinal

Decriminalized

State Laws

Alabama

Mixed

Yes

No

View State Laws

Alaska

Fully Legal

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

Arizona

Fully Legal

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

Arkansas

Mixed

Yes

No

View State Laws

California

Fully Legal

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

Colorado

Fully Legal

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

Connecticut

Mixed

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

Delaware

Mixed

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

District of Columbia

Fully Legal

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

Florida

Mixed

Yes

No

View State Laws

Georgia

Mixed

CBD Oil Only

No

View State Laws

Hawaii

Mixed

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

Idaho

Fully Illegal

No

No

View State Laws

Illinois

Fully Legal

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

Indiana

Mixed

CBD Oil Only

No

View State Laws

Iowa

Mixed

CBD Oil Only

No

View State Laws

Kansas

Fully Illegal

No

No

View State Laws

Kentucky

Mixed

CBD Oil Only

No

View State Laws

Louisiana

Mixed

Yes

No

View State Laws

Maine

Fully Legal

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

Maryland

Mixed

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

Massachusetts

Fully Legal

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

Michigan

Fully Legal

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

Minnesota

Mixed

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

Mississippi

Mixed

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

Missouri

Mixed

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

Montana

Fully Legal*

Yes

Yes*

View State Laws

Nebraska

Fully Illegal

No

Yes

View State Laws

Nevada

Fully Legal

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

New Hampshire

Mixed

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

New Jersey

Fully Legal

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

New Mexico

Mixed

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

New York

Fully Legal

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

North Carolina

Fully Illegal

No

Yes

View State Laws

North Dakota

Mixed

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

Ohio

Mixed

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

Oklahoma

Mixed

Yes

No

View State Laws

Oregon

Fully Legal

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

Pennsylvania

Mixed

Yes

No

View State Laws

Rhode Island

Mixed

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

South Carolina

Fully Illegal

No

No

View State Laws

South Dakota

Fully Legal*

Yes*

Yes*

View State Laws

Tennessee

Fully Illegal

No

No

View State Laws

Texas

Mixed

CBD Oil Only

No

View State Laws

Utah

Mixed

Yes

No

View State Laws

Vermont

Fully Legal

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

Virginia

Fully Legal*

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

Washington

Fully Legal

Yes

Yes

View State Laws

West Virginia

Mixed

Yes

No

View State Laws

Wisconsin

Mixed

CBD Oil Only

No

View State Laws

Wyoming

Fully Illegal

No

No

View State Laws

 

Worm Casting for Aquaponics

FF Portable Farms® Worm Casting Tea – The Quick and Easy Method  
Brought to you by PFAS LLC, Inventors of Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems
https://portablefarms.com 804-367-3752    pdavis@portablefarms.com

 CLICK HERE to learn about Mineral Rock Dust.  Both Worm Castings or Mineral Rock Dust have been shipped to Portable Farms® customers in ALL 50 US STATES!  

Find the Order Form at Bottom of this Page.

We suggest you purchase a simple sprayer to apply your worm castings tea to your plants and spray the plants in your aquaponics system once a week with Worm Casting Tea to create healthier plants. There are tremendous benefits from the foliar application of Worm Casting Tea in your aquaponics system:

 

 

  • Safe for your fish (a very big advantage).
  • Our FF (Fish Friendly) Organic Worm Castings are pure organic worm castings and not vermi-compost.
  • This worm casting tea is non-toxic to plants, fish, pets, or people.
  • By spraying the worm tea on your plants (under the leaves as well as on top) and over your seed trays (seed nursery), you are adding nutrients directly to your growing plants and making them healthier and minimizing any potential problems.
  • Since you are spraying the leaves and fruit/vegetables, pathogens are less likely to attack your plants because you are adding beneficial microbes (very important to healthy plant growth) to the surface of the plants.
  • Worm casting tea is beneficial and controls many fugal problems like black spot, black mildew, and tomato blight, to mention a few.
  • Testing proves that there are microorganism properties in the worm casting tea that act as an insect repellent for many insects such as aphids, white fly, spider mites, and other small bugs that eat plant juices. This is due to enzyme released in the worm tea called chitinase which will dissolve chitin which is the exoskeleton of an insect.

 

The FF (Fish Friendly) Worm Casting Tea method works much faster than standard methods and produces tea of equal or better quality. You can make your Worm-Castings Tea in as little as 4 hours and 98% of that time is allowing the tea to brew or sit and brew prior to application in your aquaponics system. Easy to make. Easy to spray. Great for your aquaponics system.

For an aquaponic system with 200 sq. ft. of grow space, use one cup of FF Worm Casting Tea. You only need 10 cups of fish-friendly water from fish tank or aquarium to make the tea and apply it on the same day. 

Adjust amounts for your grow tray size. The Portable Farms® Worm Casting Tea Method makes two assumptions:

  1. You have an aquarium or fish tank water or water that has been in an open container for overnight.
  2. Here is a quick and complete way to remove chlorine from water – Vitamin C (only plain water-soluble ascorbic acid with no fancy additives such as Citrus Bioflavonoids or Rose Hips, etc.) at the rate of 1 mg per gallon of water. We picked up this trick for curing water from our work in Portable Farms®.

 

Ingredients and equipment:

  • 1 cup FF Worm Castings which is 100% organic and supplies a natural source of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and iron for your plants.
  • 10 cups of water from your aquarium or your fish tank. Use tap water only when it has been treated with Vitamin C to remove the chlorine.
  • A bucket that holds 14 cups of water (make sure the bucket has had no chemicals in it in prior usages).
  • Let a kitchen blender to do the work to mix and aerate the worm casting tea.
  • Use a wire mesh strainer (mesh strainer works better than a spaghetti colander) or a cloth (cheese cloth or old hosiery) to line the strainer (the tea must pass through your sprayers nozzle so make sure the filter is smaller than the particles in the brewed tea, so strain well). If the worm casting tea is not well strained, it will clog up your sprayer

 

Process:

  1. Pour four to five cups of water which has been taken from your total of 10 cups into a kitchen blender (this process is tough on blenders, so it is best to buy a cheap one to use only for this type of work) and put the lid on before you blend.
  2. Turn on the blender and let it run for about a minute at a relatively high speed to entrain air into the water oxygenating it.
  3. Remove the lid and then carefully add the one cup of FF Portable Farms® Worm Castings.
  4. Put back the lid back on the blender and run it at full speed for one to two minutes, turn off and then let the mixture sit for 2-4 hours in the blender.
  5. Set up the strainer with the cloth liner to drain into the large bucket with the rest of the water.
  6. Very slowly and carefully pour the mixture through the strainer/cloth into the bucket with the remaining water. The drainage gets slower and slower so you may want to stop and change filters to speed up the process.
  7. Stop pouring when the heavier remains start to flow out of the blender.
  8. Stir the worm casting tea thoroughly.
  9. Pour the resulting liquid into sprayer. Note, the color of the Worm Casting Tea can be VERY black.
  10. Now you can spray your plants on the top and underside of leaves.
  11. Use all the mixture within a day. It may start to ferment if you leave it in the sprayer longer than one day.
  12. BIG BENEFIT: FF Worm Casting Tea can be made in HOURS not days!

Note: Use the remaining casting residue left in the strainer cloth and blender on your indoor or outdoor plants, or your yard, at the base of a plant or tree. DO NOT PUT LEFT-OVER WORM CASTING RESIDUE INTO IN YOUR AQUAPONICS GROW TRAY.

Very Beneficial Additional Ingredients:You can add The FF Portable Farms® Mineral Rock Dust at the rate of one teaspoon per batch at the time you add the Worm Castings, now you have a great Mineralized Worm Casting Tea.  This FF Portable Farms® mineralized Worm Castings Tea is quick, elegant, the perfect nutrient foliar spray, and a strong insect spray for the plants. It is fast and easy to make and is applied the same day.

This is one more product and service from Portable Farms® to encourage successful growing in the field of aquaponics.

Code

Product Name

Size

Price
FF – Worm Casting 105 FF Worm Casting 5 lbs
$16.50 plus $14.25 Shipping and Handling = $30.75. 
FF – Worm Casting 110 </td FF Worm Casting 10 lbs $26.22 plus $17.00 shipping and handling = $40.32.




FF – Worm Casting 140 FF Worm Casting 40 lbs

$39.50 Please email us your zip code to determine shipping charges to your location from Southern California.
FF – Worm Casting 2000 FF Worm Casting

Export Minimum Order outside US is 2200 lb./1000kg  –  tote

 Please email us your zip code to determine shipping charges to your location from Southern California.

The Real Cost of INDOOR Aquaponics

The Real Cost of INDOOR Aquaponics

–by Colle Davis

 

Aquaponics is a pesticide-free and chemical-free way to grow food. More and more people require food grown under these conditions.

Building a garden at your home gives you the advantage of controlling what you and your family eat.

The plants growing in the aquaponics’ grow tables are filled with crushed gravel. The plants receive their nutrients from the fish effluent (tilapia or catfish). Because of the ideal growing condition, the food is vulnerable to insects (ants, aphids, and mold), and the use of insecticides will kill the fish.

Aquaponics’ grow tables typically are installed in insulated greenhouses that receive a minimum of six hours of direct sunlight per day and protect from wind, rain, birds, rodents, and insects. Aquaponics systems may also be installed in well-ventilated warehouses with the addition of LED grow lights in place of direct sunshine.

Aquaponics uses air pumps, and we don’t recommend installing the systems in an empty room in a house. This caveat relates to the air pumps’ sound, along with the slight smell emitted from the fish tanks can be distracting.

However, we do recommend installing an indoor aquaponics system to grow fresh table vegetables and tank-grown fish. You can easily convert space in your basement, garage, workshop, or enclosed porch. If you have available space, you can install a grow table and fish tank to grow food and have fun.

When people contact us, they always ask, “What will it cost me to get started?”

Here is the answer:

  1. The Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems Course© includes the Portable Farms® Kit containing the Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems’ technology. Our online course teaches you to how to build and operate your aquaponics’ system. To learn the cost of our online course, please visit our website (right panel signup).

  1. The cost of the materials to build one module to feed eight people up to 200 sq ft [18.6m²] of grow space is approximately US$700 anywhere in the world.

  2. Full-spectrum grows lights ensure growth for the plants (both green and blooming plants), and the cost is about US$400 (price does not include the electricity required for the grow lights).

  • This total of $3,500 plus some labor includes cost variances and is in the US$4,000 range. This cost excludes anything related to a greenhouse. This quote/information specifies costs to install a Portable Farms® Aquaponics System in an indoor growing space.

Outdoor Portable Farms® Aquaponics Grow Tables  

Caveats to be aware of in this conversion process: 

  1. The numbers above apply to spaces up to 450 sq ft (42m²). Above 450 sq. ft. (42m²), you will need two grow tables, and the cost will go up, but not much on a per sq. ft. basis.

  1. Any space you utilize will require excellent ventilation to reduce the humidity. Having an indoor garden means you will be venting some oxygen and humidity into your very dry space or outside your home in most cold climates.

  2. We recommend you clean and paint the space before using it. The area needs to be clean of dirt, dust, and mold.

  3. The grow tables are heavy, so the floor underneath them must safely support 30 lbs. per sq foot (4.8k per m²) of dead load.

  1. Water gets spilled, and the floor space must be easy to clean up (preferably with a hose).

  1. Square spaces are much harder to plan and build in than rectangular areas.

The total cost to convert an enclosed space of 12ft x 25ft (3.7m x 7.6m) or a similar size is close to that described above. The cost per square foot will be in the range of US$12+ per sq. ft (4.8k per m²) approximately.

Diagram of One Module of a Portable Farms Aquaponics System

Here are the necessary parameters to determine how to utilize the space:

  1. Grow Tables usually are 5ft or 6ft (1.5m or 1.8) wide and up to 40ft (12.1m) long. The most effective way to utilize space is to subtract 4ft (1.2m) from the area’s length to see how long a grow table will fit and how many grow tables and aisles you can do in the space.

  1. A module (grow table and fish tank) is 7.5ft or 8.5ft (2.25m or 2.6m) wide. The width of the grow table plus a 2.5ft (0.76m) aisle on each side.

  1. Use the formula to find the number of modules to fit into your space. The floor space width minus 2.5ft (0.76m) divided by 7.5ft or 8.5ft (2.25m or 2.6m) equals the number of modules that will fit in the area you have available.

Fill & Drain vs. Raft Aquaponics

Fill & Drain vs. Raft Aquaponics
– by Colle and Phyllis Davis

portable-farms-commercial-greenhouse-growing

The Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems are ideally designed for community aquaponics growing. 

One acre of land can accommodate 120 Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems’ modules installed in four separate greenhouses housing 30 modules each to grow 320,000 vegetables and 92,000 pounds of fish which will feed 960 people all the food they need to be healthy FOREVER. Plus, it only takes 12 people to operate a full acre.

Many large aquaponics installations are designed on the ‘Virgin Island model.’ They are a raft system using a single large fish tank, heavy-duty pumps and filters, and long-shallow grow tanks where the rafts are gradually pushed from one end to the other as the plants mature. By moving the plants several times as they mature, the actual yield-per-square-foot of surface area is very high.

Let’s look at how the raft systems are designed: 

  • The fish tank(s) is very large, often thousands of gallons and the water is moved constantly by a single heavy duty pump from the fish tank to some sort of bio filter or filtration system.
  • The water often goes through an aeration system because the water flowing to the plants growing in the rafts need to have a very high oxygen content in the water for their roots or they will die.
  • The water is then returned to the fish tank with the nutrients stripped out and depleted in oxygen.

The weak points of this type of system are as follows:

  • There is a single large pump the controls the water flow out of the fish tank and if it fails, the fish die.
  • The water at the end of the grow tanks needs to be lifted back up into the fish tank, this involves more pumping and the pumps can fail.
  • The bio filter must be cleaned daily, or the waste will overwhelm the system and poison the plants.
  • The plants are handled several times, first planted in some type of pot or medium, transplanted to a wider spacing, transplanted at least once more to their final raft and finally harvested.
  • The system requires a very large amount of water to start and consumes large amounts of water because the fish tank is open on top and evaporation is taking place.
  • The filtration system has also exposed the water to the air and evaporation takes place.
  • Only small leafy vegetables can be raised in this system (mostly lettuce and basil).
  • The raft system works, and it works very well. It requires more water, more power and more labor to operate than the medium-based systems (gravel grow beds).

Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems use a fill and drain, medium based system. Here is how this system works:

grow tray 2013aEach module is a standalone system with the fish tank, clarifier and grow tray working together.

  • There is no limit to the number of modules in an installation (example, 30 modules fit into a 10,000 sq foot greenhouse).

  • The maximum amount of water in each tank is 400 gallons.

  • The maximum number of fish in each tank is 400.

  • The ‘bio filter’ is in two parts, the clarifier and the huge gravel bed. The clarifier only needs to be cleaned every two to four months and the gravel NEVER needs to be cleaned.

  • The water is lifted one time (requiring electricity) using a small pump and the rest of the time it is flowing downhill back to the fish tank (gravity and flow).

  • The plants are handled three times. For greens, the seeds are planted into inert cubes, the seedlings/cubes are planted into the gravel and then at harvest time the entire plant is removed.

  • Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, green beans, peas and other flowering plants can be grow in great quantities and harvested over time.

  • Two full time employees are required for each 10,000 sq ft installation and most of their time is taken up with harvesting and planting, not moving and transplanting seedlings.

  • IF the electrical power fails to the entire system, it is designed so well that the fish will survive 12 full hours without aeration and the plants can go a full 24 hours on the residual water in the gravel. That is a HUGE safety factor.

  • If an individual pump fails it has no effect on the rest of the installation, only that particular module.

  • Not transplanting is required.

The differences are also reflected in the water and electrical usage:

  • A raft system uses over 15 times as much water initially, and requires four-to-ten-times as much makeup water as the PFAS commercial installation.
  • The raft system has more than one single point of failure and the PFAS has no single point of failure for an installation only in each module.
  • The electrical power requirements are four to six times higher in the raft system compared to the fill and drain medium based systems.

Bottom line: Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems are ideally designed for community aquaponics growing. One acre of land can accommodate four Portable Farms® that grow 320,000 vegetables and 92,000 pounds of fish which will feed 960 people all the food they need to be healthy FOREVER. Plus, it only takes 8 people to operate a full acre. For more information on the Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems contact us today.

Community Aquaponics is the HOT NEW TREND

Community Aquaponics is the HOT NEW TREND
– by Colle and Phyllis Davis

The impact of a single community aquaponics system is much larger than the excellent ROI (Return on Investment) and high monthly income. The impact of multiple units has a profound effect on virtually every aspect of a community.

botswana10,000 Sq ft Portable Farms Aquaponics System Commercial Farm Installed in Botswana, Africa

 

Commercial and community aquaponics systems have now proven themselves over the last two decades and are becoming more effective and efficient as the technology improves. Many people are contributing to the movement and it now appears that community aquaponics has finally arrived as a viable alternative to the easily disrupted food supply and the huge increase in the demand for locally grown, pesticide free food.

For investors looking for an ROI in the two to four year range, a construction company looking for a new arena to expand into over the next decade or two or even a Ministry of Agriculture or an NGO wanting to improve the lives of local people, community aquaponics is a viable option to address their desired outcomes to provide food and work for local people.

The large community installations employ local people on both a temporary (building the systems) and permanent basis (operating, harvesting and planting) and contribute to the local economy. The initial markets are necessarily local markets; resort hotels, high-end restaurants, foodies and specialty markets catering to the wealthy. Within the next few years, community aquaponics systems will contribute to local food supplies on a much broader scale (supermarkets and institutional growing for schools and prisons), but initially they may only contribute to the local economy through job creation.

For instance: An investor group planning to install a commercial (10,000 sq ft – 1/4 acre, 1,000m2) Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems next to a restaurant in a major US city. Here is what they are planning to accomplish with their very first installation:

  1. Showcase the use of aquaponics as a LOCAL FOOD SOURCE

  2. Deliver locally grown, pesticide free vegetables to their customers not treated with chemicals

  3. Place locally grown fresh-water healthy fish on the menu that were not treated with chemicals or any kind

  4. Reduce transportation costs for most vegetables to ZERO

  5. Serve food that was harvested on the DAY it was meant to be harvested which enhances both the flavor and the nutritional content of the food

  6. Dramatically reduces their carbon footprint

  7. Reduces storage costs because the food is harvested as needed

  8. Reduces prep time because the crops are harvested only as needed

  9. Supply their patrons with the excess production at regular store prices.

Plus the investor group will also reap these benefits:

  1. Realize an ROI of two to four years

  2. Net-net income for 1/4 acre is approximately US$100,000 or more depending on restaurant margins and the selection of crops you grow and sell to them

  3. Become their own supplier for many of the vegetables they now purchase through wholesalers

  4. Have the marketing lead to themselves in their niche for at least two years

  5. Become local spokespersons for using local suppliers and growers

  6. Offers owners ‘bragging rights’ to attract news coverage in the media. Also offers a ‘hook’ for advertising and articles about their aquaponics system to talk about on their website to boast the use of locally grown organic food that was planted, raised and harvested onsite or locally. This alone is worth its price of investment. Word travels fast and people will drive for miles to experience an innovative approach in dining and shopping.

 

To have the opportunity to invest in anything that has an ROI of less than five years is very tempting and when the investment comes with all of the above benefits, the long term impact for both the investor and the community continues to grow.

Multiple installations add several more benefits to the equation.

  1. The impact on local employment grows in direct proportion to each new installation

  2. The ancillary services to support the aquaponics installations creates jobs and even new businesses

  3. Tax revenue increases to better serve the community’s needs

  4. A stabilized workforce is more resilient to economic disruptions

  5. The less a community depends on imported energy and food, the more stable the community

  6. Eventually, a surplus may be developed and shipping to other areas

  7. The area could even become a net exporter of food.

The question now is, “How can an individual or group step into the community aquaponics business?”

The answer is, “Be prepared to spend some money to determine the feasibility of your chosen location and to work with engineers and experts to establish the cost and benefits for your project.”

Aquaponics for Beginners

Aquaponics for Beginners
– By Colle and Phyllis Davis

There are literally millions of pages on the Internet about the topic of aquaponics.

JOIN THE PORTABLE FARMS FAMILY.

PFAS LLC’s website has been visited several million times over the last 12 months, and we are only one of the many other sites available. To start the journey of having a working aquaponics system, the best place to start is to begin to search the Internet and devote several hours of time to do the research and then assemble your own unique aquaponics system.

Begin with one beta fish or gold fish in a bowl to support one lettuce plant. Grow your interest to feed your family and then if the stars align, install a community garden. BEGIN SMALL and grow from there.

If you’re interested in owning your own aquaponics system, your first goal is to select the size aquaponics system you’d like to operate for your own unique purposes. We always suggest to our customers that they learn how to successfully operate an aquaponics system and if it fits their needs THEN expand to multiple aquaponics modules (the sky’s the limit).

There are literally thousands of websites that can show you how to set up a small workable open-source backyard hobby-aquaponics systems without paying for the information. For those who are not able to purchase our systems, we suggest you START TODAY by working with online/open source information so you can learn about aquaponics and build your own farm. We also suggest you visit online aquaponics forums so you can ask questions you may have from other aquaponics enthusiasts. 

Please do all the research you need to feel comfortable moving forward with your aquaponics project. Some quick numbers that will be helpful:

  • IF you place your small system inside, as in garage or basement, be prepared to spend a few hundred dollars on the very smallest system that will be a joy to show off to your friends and enjoy a few vegetables each year. Indoors, if you build a larger system (4 x 8’ grow tray size) be prepared to spend a little over $1,000 and that will help feed one and a third people. More fun and more bragging.
  • If you go absolutely crazy and put up a greenhouse or ‘big’ installation to feed 4 to 8 people then you are looking at an investment in the US$3,500 to US$8,000 range (depending on your choice of greenhouse).

farm 8 18 2012 aquaponicsWe call this process of starting small and expanding the size of your aquaponics system ‘getting your hands wet’ because even if one possesses all the knowledge in the world about a topic (in this case aquaponics), it will not feed a single person; only ACTION GROWS FOOD and in this case several steps are required before it creates food that nourishes someone and that action has an impact.  Start with research, build a small aquarium and dish pan system, move up to garbage cans or IBC totes, go crazy and build a ‘real’ system so you can kill fish and plants. Oh, sorry, you may not want to hear that, but that is what will happen. That is how one learns, by making mistakes.

aquaponics back yard farmIn the world of makers and successful businesses there is a motto: Fail fast and fail often. This means you will try things and if they work, keep them, if they fail, try something else. Side note here: we have killed thousands of fish in our 45 years in the field of aquaponics. Some we ate, some were our own dumb mistakes coming to bite us and some were out of unintended consequences.

Back to getting a running start in aquaponics. Start somewhere, at some level, now. Modern aquaponics is a brand new field because it encompasses recent technology and innovation along with successful techniques from the past. Aquaponics is evolving rapidly and slowly becoming main stream. The commercial side of aquaponics may take another ten or twenty years to accept on par with hydroponics, but it will happen.

It is the hobbyist, gardener, cook and home owner who are leading the charge on this ‘new’ technology, not the big companies, governments or NGO’s. Aquaponics is up close and personal as only eating can be and it is the opportunity to eat the best food on earth, every day, for a long as you live.

The important part is to get started NOW. Have fun, make mistakes and eat great food.

Make Money with Your Own Aquaponics’ Business

Make Money with Your Own Aquaponics’ Business
– by Colle and Phyllis Davis

Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems

Aquaponics is easier and more productive than organic gardening or traditional agriculture and uses 95% less water. Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems also use less electricity and less labor than any other aquaponics system in the world.

Start somewhere, at some level, now. Modern aquaponics is a brand new field because it encompasses recent technology and innovation along with successful techniques from the past. Aquaponics is evolving rapidly and slowly becoming main stream. The commercial side of aquaponics may take another ten or twenty years to accept on par with hydroponics, but it will happen.

It is the hobbyist, gardener, cook and home owner who are leading the charge on this ‘new’ technology, not the big companies, governments or NGO’s. Aquaponics is up close and personal as only eating can be and it is the opportunity to eat the best food on earth, every day, for a long as you live.

The important part is to get started NOW. Have fun, make mistakes and eat great food.

Another benefit of the Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems is their wide range of temperature tolerance. Space at the Grow Table level needs to stay in the range of 45 to 104° F (6 to 40° C). The Fish Tank is heated to a constant temperature and helps maintain the temperature inside through the timing of the water cycles. ­

Heating the space can be as simple as adding a small space heater that is placed on the floor. It can be electrical, propane, city gas or even fuel oil powered. Exhaust from combustion needs to be vented as in living space. There are installations measuring 20’ x 36’ (6 x 11m) in Minnesota that only require a small thermostatically controlled electrical heater to keep the space above 45 degrees. There are larger installations in Wisconsin, Oregon and New York heated with wood-burning stoves. These stoves are a lot more work, but work they do in producing great vegetables.

Aquaponics is an ideal business opportunity for young adults, men, women, those currently employed full time or part time, older adults, retired people, and those with disabilities. This is NOT a get-rich-scheme; it requires dedication, start-up capital and a sense of humor to grow any entrepreneurial venture to success. 

Portable Farms® customers say to us almost every day, “I want to start small with a backyard farm and then grow into a larger system, maybe even to a larger size commercial aquaponics operation fairly quickly. Can I do this using your system?”

QUESTION: Can a person or family or small group start really small (for example, one single Portable Farms Module in a greenhouse) and then grow into a commercial success in a reasonable amount of time?

ANSWER: ABSOLUTELY, YES! Let us teach you what we know.

Launching your own aquaponics business involves leveraging the most efficient aquaponics system in the world into a money-making business plan for personal wealth and security. PLEASE NOTE: aquaponics is NOT a get-rich-quick plan for creating wealth. In fact, it requires a capital outlay and the return on investment is dependent on your ability to grow, market and SELL the food you raise. Growing vegetables and fish is the easy part.
 
There are several distinct steps for making a nice living with aquaponics and maybe even becoming wealthy after a few years of focus and hard work. The best part is that the Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems installations are doing most of the work with the owner planting, harvesting and selling their healthy food to eager markets.

Launching your own aquaponics business involves leveraging the most efficient aquaponics system in the world into a money-making  business plan for personal wealth and security.

There are several distinct steps for making a nice living with aquaponics and maybe even becoming wealthy after a few years of focus and hard work. The best part is that the Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems installations are doing most of the work with the owner planting, harvesting and selling their healthy food to eager markets.