Hello! I’m not sure if it’s the right place to ask this question but it’s better to try. I’m thinking of setting an aquaponic system in my garden. Will it work in accomplice with farm bot? I’m thinking mostly of growing vegetables there. I have bought few sets of packages on https://gardenseedsmarket.com/vegetables-en/ . However; I’m not sure if I’ll manage it. Do you have any tips?
No reason why you couldn’t use a Farmbot however without knowing what your aquaponics setup is it’s difficult to give you advice. You could even use the bot to feed the fish as well as sowing seeds and watering.
I run two separate labs in our school. One is a vertical hydroponics/aquaponics and the other is a raised soil bed cared for by the farmbot. We are heavy into the automation of our gardens and FarmBot gives us a nice soil analog to compare to while still maintaining the computer science end of things.
I’ve wondered what kind of pumps you would need to have in your aquaponics tank so that you are getting the pressure needed to engage the solenoid in the watering mechanism. Additionally, you would need to consider how you would recover the water added to your plant bed. Aquaponics is typically done with flood and drain or raft systems which keep it a closed system. Applying water with the watering tool would make this difficult and your reservoir would lose volume quickly. If you had it monitored with a float valve and a top off feed but then you would need to monitor and adjust your pH and EC. All of this could be really fun to automate (we have!!) but it all depends on your level of expertise.
You’d be able to seed, and test soil moisture without a problem. You could even use the bot to take pictures and tend to bed maintenance like weeding if this is going to be done outdoors. We have found weeds to be minimal in our indoor setup. Just food for thought. Good luck!
3 Likes
How is the lab going now? I am working on setting this up. I had been doing it at a high school, but teaching online these days. I want to continue learning here at home and am setting up a lab. Considering sandponics, but young planning stage.