Ever wonder how easy it is to move plants around in an aquaponics grow bed? Ever wonder what the roots look like in plants that do not grow in dirt, but in rocks and water? This video shows the process of transplanting and moving plants around the aquaponics system and also what the roots look like with aquaponics plants.
I have had pretty good luck moving things around in the system thus far and have learned a few tricks to ensuring the plants survival when moving. The kale and celery plants have fairly small root systems and since the plants do not have to work very hard to find water or nutrients they do not normally grow extensive roots with most varieties. I have heard that mint however will quickly take over an entire grow bed with extensive root systems even in aquaponics.
I added the new grow media to our fourth grow bed and its now ready for plants, so I thought it would be the perfect time to show how easy it is to transplant them. Since it does take time for the rocks to build up the necessary nitrifying bacteria, I will be slowly changing out the rock in the other three grow beds over the next couple of months.
I have found that gently scooping as far under the plants as possible and slowly lifting up from underneath will preserve the most roots when moving the plants around. You are bound to break some of the finer roots especially with the larger river rock that I am dealing with. Once transplanted however they seem to recover fairly quickly with about a week of daze or stunted growth.
Thanks for watching and if you have any questions or comments please let me know!
This post has been shared at: The HomeAcre Hop, Simple Lives Thursday, The Backyard Farming Connection Hop, Simple Saturdays Blog Hop, Homestead Barn Hop, Natural Living Monday
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