Aquaponics as Art

Posted by Ecofilms on Jun 10, 2012 in Aquaponics | 1 comment

Here’s an interesting art exhibition held last year using a variation of aquaponics or worm tea as the nutrient to feed the plants.  Some people call it Vermi-aquaponics and its a simpler way to feed your plants without fish.

The worms in a conventional compost heap create a worm tea, a type liquid nutrient concentrate that plants love.

Its a much easier method to grow your fresh lettuce and herbs without the problems of supplying enough oxygen and aeration to keep the fish happy.

This art piece created from a rainbow of plastic utensils and a bathtub by US artist Amy Youngs last year, certainly has a fresh imaginative look that demonstrates the fun of DIY aquaponics – or should that be called vermiponics?

The theme of the exhibition was called The New Agronomists:

“An art installation that transforms waste into a colorful indoor water feature that grows edible plants. Waste streams of uneaten food, old tea-bags, newspapers already read and throw-away plastic household objects are interrupted and turned into lettuce, basil, wheatgrass and herbs.”

“The plants live in plastic containers sourced from thrift stores and they are fed by nutrient-rich water recycling throughout the system. All nutrients come from food and paper waste that is transformed by composting worms within the system.”

You can view more photos from the exhibition here.

 

Another way to run this system is through Foliar feeding. It’s when you feed a plant through its leaves. If you could spray the worm tea automatically onto the leaves of the plant, the nutrients could be absorbed in a more direct way.

You could also use any excess compost worms as fish food.

H/T Milkwood Permaculture