Growing Massive Fruit Trees in Aquaponics
We’ve all heard of growing vegetables in Aquaponics but what about Fruit Trees? How well will they grow?
Murray Hallam with his Red Papaya Tree grown in Aquaponics
The evidence seems to be – exceptionally well! The main criteria as Murray Hallam from Practical Aquaponics suggests that you grow them in deep grow bed troughs at least one foot deep. Even deeper containers will work well. Mature systems of at least two to three years of age seem to work best. It may be because of the miniature eco-system that needs time to develop. It may very well be the assorted constellation of bacteria and micro-organisms that expand in complexity as the system ages. What ever the answer – the choice of gravel media is very important too. Sand or pea gravel just will not work. It will clog the system – ending in rapid failure.
Small Papaya Seedling
Murray Hallam recommends 20mm gravel or three quarter inch stones as the ideal medium. The larger the better. The crevices are important for a number of reasons. The reason is root support. Round smooth clay pebbles or Hydroton will not support the plants root system. Those smooth round red clay balls look and feel great to work with but they tend to roll around in the grow beds like marbles. Even corn will lean over in a slight breeze.
The interlocking structure of irregular stones offers better plant support and additional crevices for the compost worms to have access to the plant root system.
Composting worms will thrive in a well oxygenated system that is flood and drained continuously. Here at Ecofilms we often refer the the flood and drain cycle as the lungs of the system and success in growing massive fruit trees is possible if fresh oxygen is “pulled” down to the root system as water drains out through the siphons and back to the fish tank.
The worms love the fish waste. Their interactions and ability to thrive in gravel systems means they grow quite fast and are able to navigate through the gravel quite speedily should you disturb them.
Murray describes them as his Secret Weapon. He talks about his fruit trees and demonstrates the success he’s had with his two enormous Papaya Trees that were purchased as seedlings and grew and grew beyond all expectations. Experienced growers told him that his Papaya will not grow because they don’t like “wet feet.”
Papaya being weighed
Well Murray was waiting to be proven wrong. But somehow no one told his plants. They were thriving in a Aquaponics System. They just kept growing up into the sky towering under the canopy of his shade house! It was tough business for Murray. He had to resort to using a step ladder to reach into his enormous trees and harvest massive fruit reaching well over 2 to 3 kg in weight.
Red pawpaw tastes delicious
The plant was growing beyond the capacity of his 1 foot deep grow bed. Murray had to use timber support beams to keep the tree upright. There must be a reason for such spectacular growth? Murray thinks it may be the age of his system. Well over three years – and never been cleaned! Many other Aquaponicists were dismissive of his results.
The consensus was that Aquaponics Grow beds will eventually “clog up.” Murray waited for the system to fail. But it never did.
Murray insists that the solution is well aged grow beds.
“My Papaya were grown in 4 year old 300mm deep grow beds filled with 20mm drainage gravel and being powered by a 2300 litre fish tank populated with 100 plus Jade Perch (plate size) and some others namely, cat fish, barramundi, yellobelly, bass.” he said.
Maybe the mixture of fish species had something to do with the nutrients produced?
“Nutrient and mineral release by beneficial bacteria and a few thousand compost worms.” he smiled.
Eventually Murray says he harvested well over 70 Kilos of fruit off the one papaya tree. Eventually the weight of the hanging fruit tore down the branches. The plant itself could not support the weight of the fruit. Murray was devastated.
Broken tree branch
“I think I would rather have lost 50 fish than lose my red pawpaw tree.” he said. “It was really upsetting because I had been working in the garden pulling out tomato bushes and generally cleaning up in preparation for the winter plantings. I noticed a couple of times what I thought was an increasing bend in the tree trunk, but put it down to my imagination. By the time I realized it was actually getting worse by the minute, I rushed off, got some rope from the shed, found the step ladder and had just climbed the ladder to put a rope around when – crack – the tree broke right in front of me.”
Murray cleaned up the broken branches and collected the fruit. He had 43 Kilos of fruit. No wonder the branch broke.
Encourage by these results Murray Hallam is now researching other fruit trees like Orange and Citrus. If the trials conducted prove to be a success then Aquaponics may have a future beyond salads and vegetables. Murray’s Papaya tree and other fruit tree secrets is revealed in his latest DVD “Aquaponics Secrets” which is available from this website.
Enjoyed this article so much Have included a link in my Blog
http://aquaponics-digest.blogspot.com/
Hey this is cool…
Love the aquaponics concept..
I live in sub tropicla queensland and love fish and Red Payaya
Ant hints?
Please stay in touch
Gareth, Noosa heads, Qld
I have good plans for a aquaponics system but unfortunately live in scotland which i think is sub temprate and our winters can go as low as -15 in some parts meaning i would need some serious heating during the coldist of winter days what fish would you recomend? trout and artic char are 2 fresh water fish native to the reigon are there any others that would sut my climate
Trout would be ideal in a cold climate. Make sure you give them lots of air. Trout can be grown out to maturity before the hot summer arrives here in Australia. They will grow well in Scotland. A greenhouse will be essential in Scotland. You will have to be careful what plants you choose.
Whaaaaaa…..!!! I was just telling a friend today, I don’t think you can grow fruits in aquaponic systems. I was definitely wrong!
I am very impressed!
Hello, I used to own a fruit and vegetables business since I was 14 years old and planted fruit trees too, so my comment carries the weight of research, knowledge and experience- not to mention my taste buds. The picture that you showed here for paw paw is that of a papaya. There is a misconception that the two fruits are one and the same when not even the trees look alike or grow in the same planting zones. I am familiar with both trees (technically, the papaya tree is not a tree but a plant- the paw paw is a tree). The two fruits are not even related and when you cut both in half, the papaya flesh is orange with small and round seeds (like 3/16″), while the paw paw has white flesh with big, long black seeds. The papaya fruit grows ONLY from the trunk, while the paw paw grows from the branches. The leaves of the paw paw are poisonous unlike those of the papaya. You can see the papaya in this website: http://dailyfitnessmagz.com/2011/11/papaya-health-benefit/ and the paw paw in this other: http://www.tcpermaculture.com/2011/08/permaculture-plants-pawpaw.html. Could you please make the correction so school children doing research do no get the wrong information?
Thank you for that info Martin. I believe the plant Murray Hallam used in the article was marketed in Australia and is commonly referred to as a “Paw Paw” even on the manufacturers product label. Thanks for clarifying the error. Papaya it is.
When I was a kid I lived in Guyana in South America. We had a papaya field accross the street, so I know them well. In Guyana the names pawpaw and papaya are used interchangably. Perhaps there is a difference from a biological point of view, and perhaps in some cultures, but I can see what leads Murray to calling these fruits pawpaws. Millions of other people do the same.