What You Can Grow

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

  1. Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems grow enough varieties of plants (greens and blooming plants), and protein (fish) to sustain human health to its optimum level.
  2. 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®.
  3. 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.
  4. 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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. WEAR GLOVES when you’re working in the greenhouse. This protects your plants and fish from your germs, pathogens, hand lotion, perfume, etc.

View Comments

  • I'm so happy I found your website. I've just been approved for financial assistance and I'm going to start my own business in Aquaponics. It quite some time to decide what type of business but through research and prayer this is what I believe I will be passionate about just as you are, you can see it in your faces and your big beautiful plants. God put this on my heart so I pray to be as successful as you are. Ya'll are such a joy. I'm in Houston Texas where the weather is a lot like Florida.
    Much success and happy harvesting
    Bobbie Benge

    • Bobbie,

      The best of luck to you in all of your endeavors. The company PFAS LLC is being sold and we no longer sell the Portable Farms systems.

  • How do you keep ALL insects out of the green house?
    Why are root vegies not recommended?

    We spray our plants with Worm Casting Tea (natural product) to increase the health of our plants. When we see an ant, we search outside the greenhouse to find the hill and we pour boiling water in the hole.

    We don't grow root vegetables because there is no soil in the farm. We grow in 3/4" granite gravel and the plants cannot emerge from the gravel. For example, carrots, potatoes, etc.

    Phyllis Davis

  • Can I use a shipping container to house the system? I am looking to set one up on a small Cay in the Abaco Islands, in Bahamas, and we have wind that will destroy a greenhouse.

    • Wayne - Thank you for your interest in Portable Farms.

      We don't recommend shipping containers in warm climates because the interior heat from the metal cooks the plants. Plus, you must use grow lights in the shipping container because there is no natural sunlight and the grow lights also create heat. Plus the grow lights must be turned on 18 hours per day and the electricity for 18 hours is very very high.

      Sorry not to offer you better news.
      Phyllis Davis
      President, PFAS LLC

  • is it suitable for cold weather countries like Norway? temperature in winter can reach minus 30 degree

    • Colle Davis replied to your question by email. Thanks for your interest in Portable Farms Aquaponics System.

    • TJ - We have not 'seen'farms growing cannabis and we've never grown it, but we believe many of our customers have done so. Cannabis likes growing in a a drier medium and we have made suggestions for modifying our systems to meet their growing needs. - Colle Davis, CEO, PFAS LLC

  • I am interested in purchasing your system, but would rather raise trout. Is this possible to change the "settings" to adapt to trout's needs? We are in Northwest Wyoming.

    • Anna: We are having a sale- August 2 – 6, 2021. Visit the link to learn more: https://portablefarms.com/2021/portable-farms-sale-august-2-6-2021

      Our NEWLY REVISED 2021 ONLINE self-paced aquaponics course contains all we’ve learned in our 49 years in the field of aquaponics and includes a Portable Farms® Kit containing the technology that is the ‘heartbeat of the system’ that allows our systems to grow such beautiful food and healthy fish.

      In celebration of Portable Farms® 13th Year Anniversary, we’re offering
      the sale of One Portable Farms® Course and Kit for $1,399.00.

      Buy one Portable Farms® Course and the Kit – $1,399.00
      or Buy Two Portable Farms® Courses and Kits – $1,999.00

      O’fish-ally Your Friends,
      Phyllis and Colle Davis

    • Anna,

      Yes, with the caveat the vegetables may not be as happy in cooler water. Most of the PFAS installations run temps in the 70's and 80's in the summer time and trout are not happy or healthy at those temps. It can be done, carefully.

      Best of luck to you.

      Colle

  • Hi,

    My wife and I are purchasing a home on 5 acres in a few months. I'd like to look into buying 2 of your kits to start, but would like to keep it the grid-energy consumption as low as possible. We plan to use geothermal energy to heat and cool the greenhouse. The desired spot for the greenhouse will be around 70 yards from the house, so I plan to run electricity to it for extra light, heat, and fans when we need it; we live in NE and have cold winters. I want to utilize clean energy as much as I can. Can you elaborate on your Solar Portable Farms?

    Thanks,
    Dan

    • Dan: We are having a sale- August 2 – 6, 2021. Visit the link to learn more: https://portablefarms.com/2021/portable-farms-sale-august-2-6-2021

      Our NEWLY REVISED 2021 ONLINE self-paced aquaponics course contains all we’ve learned in our 49 years in the field of aquaponics and includes a Portable Farms® Kit containing the technology that is the ‘heartbeat of the system’ that allows our systems to grow such beautiful food and healthy fish.

      In celebration of Portable Farms® 13th Year Anniversary, we’re offering
      the sale of One Portable Farms® Course and Kit for $1,399.00.

      Buy one Portable Farms® Course and the Kit – $1,399.00
      or Buy Two Portable Farms® Courses and Kits – $1,999.00

      O’fish-ally Your Friends,
      Phyllis and Colle Davis

    • Dan,
      The Solar Option contain the same equipment as the regular Portable Farms Kit with three exceptions; the timer is 12volt, there is an inverter 12vdc to 120vac to run the 120vac air pump for the CAD Pump and the smaller air pump is 12vdc. We ran our systems in Florida on a single 100w panel with grid current to run the fish tank heaters. You will need to heat the fish tank in some manner to keep it near 80F. When building the structure the more insulated the better. Insulate the north side and roof w/6 to 8" of insulation. Insulate the bottom half of the end wall up to 4 ft the same way.
      Keep us posted on your progress and we look forward to having you as students.

      Colle

      • Hi Cole,
        I intend to raise tilapia and cat fishes uaing your system.

        Can upumprovide an honest recommendation for the suitable system to purchase for usage?
        Hope to hear from you timely.
        Thank you

        • Olanrewaju: We are having a sale- August 2 – 6, 2021. Visit the link to learn more: https://portablefarms.com/2021/portable-farms-sale-august-2-6-2021

          Our NEWLY REVISED 2021 ONLINE self-paced aquaponics course contains all we’ve learned in our 49 years in the field of aquaponics and includes a Portable Farms® Kit containing the technology that is the ‘heartbeat of the system’ that allows our systems to grow such beautiful food and healthy fish.

          In celebration of Portable Farms® 13th Year Anniversary, we’re offering
          the sale of One Portable Farms® Course and Kit for $1,399.00.

          Buy one Portable Farms® Course and the Kit – $1,399.00
          or Buy Two Portable Farms® Courses and Kits – $1,999.00

          O’fish-ally Your Friends,
          Phyllis and Colle Davis

        • Olanrewaju,

          The Portable Farms Aquaponics System will do nicely. There is a sale going on now. Check the website and aquaponicsuniverity.com

          The Aquaponics University Course included the Portable Farms Kit to help get you started.

          Colle

          • I have extremely cold temperatures and a lot of snow. How does a greenhouse plans look?

          • The structure need to have R30 walls on the north side, the back half of the east and west wall, and any roof facing north. The higher the insulation R factor the better. The front (south facing) wall is best suited to be insulated up 4' also.

            The roof needs to be designed and build to carry the snow loads for you area.

            Taking all of these factors into consideration you can have a successful Portable Farms installation almost anywhere.

            You will also need grow lights to extend your daylight.

            We trust this help.

  • If I sign up for the course do you receive any components for the structure?

  • Hello

    Can one add commercial shrimp/prawn farming in your system? Would you recommend it? Looking forward to being your student soon.

    Thanks
    John

    • John,

      Yes. We do not have enough experience to say one way or the other.

      Colle

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