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 relationship 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 will we be able to feed an already starving world?<br/>We have hypothesized that in both living and dead samples 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.<br/>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 in both living and non living samples. 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 cucumbers growing in them, and goldfish were used as a nutrient source. 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 cell wall samples for Percent methylation, uronic acid content, and xylose content. We used FTIR analysis as a second level of analysis for many of the cell wall components as well as a chemical analyzer to determine total content of different elements.

Aquaponics and the effect on the cell wall

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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