Today we are always looking for the next best way to boost our crop growth and yields, and aquaponics is just one approach that has showed a lot of promise. Creating a symbiotic relationships between organisms and different environments to allow for increased plant growth could lead to higher yields and more successful growth of many different types of plants. As the world continues to grow, without learning to use these new techniques, how we will be able to feed an already starving world? We hypothesized that plants that are grown within the aquaponics system will have higher chlorophyll concentration, larger leaf surface, and will result in healthier plant, comparative to plants grown in soil. Our null hypothesis is that the aquaponics system will have no effect on the growth rates or chlorophyll content on the plants, relative to soil grown plants. Utilizing the aquaponics systems that were made, we quantified the efficiency of the aquaponics system components compared to standard soil growth. The four aquaponics systems had duckweed, algae and Italian beans growing. By monitoring water nutrient load coupled with recorded plant growth compared to the soil control, the efficiency of the aquaponics components were recorded. Water was tested for nitrogen and phosphorus content, leaves were measured for surface area, chlorophyll A and B ratio was tested for, and total chlorophyll content of the leaves were determined. We also tested isolated cell walls for percent methylation, uronic acid, and xylose content.

Examining aquaponics components

251st National Meeting (2016)

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