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Question: What can I grow?
Answer: In the larger units, 20 'x 30' or the 90' x 120' Portable Farms™
Aquaponics System, you have all the room you need to grow all the
vegetables, flowering plants and herbs you want plus, you have the
sunlight and the space to grow a wider variety of vine vegetables such
as many types of beans and peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, squashes and zucchini. You also have room to grow papaya, figs, passion fruit,
pomegranates, bananas, and even small tropical fruit trees planted in
the ground and watered with the fish water.
In the smaller 6' x 8' Portable Farms™ Aquaponics System, you can grow
nearly any vegetable that produces greens. This includes lettuce, kale,
basil, onions, mustard greens, parsley, cilantro, many varieties of
peppers, chamomile, chives, mint (of all kinds), sage, catnip, lavender,
marjoram, oregano, thyme, lemon balm, etc.
In a 10' x 20' Portable Farm™ Aquaponics System, you have more growing
space, and you can grow far more varieties of vegetables such as squash,
peas, cabbages, eggplants, zucchini, kale, Brussels sprouts, all
varieties of peppers, broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, Swiss chard, and
bush beans. You can also grow a large variety
of flowering plants such as tomatoes, all types of berries and any herb
you enjoy eating.
We have not experimented much with growing root vegetables such as
carrots, turnips, potatoes, or field crops such as corn, soybeans, dry
beans, or wheat in Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems. We’ll keep you
posted as to our successes.
You can also grow flowers to create colorful bouquets of flowers for the
house and patio.
The fish used in your Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems are hybrid
Tilapia. Check with your local Fish and Game Department regarding
restrictions (if any) on Tilapia. The system will work using nearly any
fresh, warm-water fish that can be raised in captivity.
Are you a vegetarian? Use koi or goldfish in your Portable Farms™
Aquaponics Systems and keep your fish as pets.
Question: How long does it take for a fish to grow before I harvest it?
Answer: It takes between 6 and 7 months from fingerling size to harvest which is 1 1/4 pounds and around 11 inches in length.
Question: What IS a Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems?
Answer: A Portable Farms™ Aquaponics System is a proprietary combination of hydroponics and aquaculture that can be fully automated and, can be solar powered. Water is re-circulated through gravel-filled vegetable growing trays and fish tanks, inside of a climate-appropriate greenhouse or enclosure. The system requires very little space, minimal water replenishment, no soil, no fertilizers, no herbicides, no pesticides, and very little upkeep. It can feed a family, a neighborhood or a village with fresh produce and a nutritious mild fish. The Portable Farms™ Aquaponics System is fabricated on your site by one of our certified installers. If you move, you can take the Portable Farms™ Aquaponics System with you and leave behind the gravel and water (the heavy stuff).
Question: Can I put a Portable Farms™ Aquaponics System in the garage or in my basement?
Answer: Yes. You'll need to provide Grow Lights for 14 hours per day instead since you don't have sunlight. And, since you won't have a greenhouse structure, the heaters in the fish tanks will run more often because there is no heat gain from the sun. On the other hand, if you live in a very cold climate, your basement will provide more protection from the cold than an exterior building will provide.
Question: As an inventor, you've been refining your Portable Farms™ Aquaponics System for 37 years without bringing it to the marketplace. What changed in the design that made you decide to sell the Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems to the public?
Answer: Every pump or pumping system I've used over the years either burned out, wore out or pumped my fish tank dry. Even adding elaborate float switches, I still had the burnout problem and periodically, I would kill all my fish by inadvertently draining all the water out of the fish tank. Once I created a new pumping system, it solved ALL the pump problems simultaneously, I knew Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems would work for anyone, and I could safely sell them to others without fear they would kill their fish through no fault of their own. The pumping system is vital to the success of the Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems because it removes all the solid waste from the fish tanks to keep the fish healthy.
Question: How can our congregation help feed the poor in our area using a Portable Farms™ Aquaponics System?
Answer: If you have the space for a Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems (even a parking lot or side yard) you can have a Portable Farms™ Aquaponics System installed by one of our certified installers in a few days. A 600 square foot Portable Farm™ can grow in excess of 3,600 plants and 1,400 pounds of fish per year. This size farm can give you a year round supply of food to offer to your congregants, or the needy in your area. Food banks around the United States are low on food because of the recent demands and are begging gardeners and farmers to donate to help with the shortages. The maintenance and upkeep on a Portable Farm™ this size requires about 20 minutes a day upkeep, and even a responsible 14-year old can oversee the work.
Question: How can a medium-security prison facility with 3,600 inmates, in a remote location, utilize Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems?
Answer: There are two ways Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems can serve your prison:
1) With 3,600 inmates in your correctional facility, we assume that you are serving 10,800 meals every day, or nearly 4,000,000 meals a year. Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems can have a major impact on your institution’s food budget: A 90' x 120', 10,800 square foot (930m) Portable Farms™ Aquaponics System, provides 60,000 heads of lettuce per year or other vegetables, (5,000 heads per month or 166 heads per day) on a year round basis, and 23,000 pounds (10,400 kg) of fish per year. Other vegetables can be grown depending on your needs.
2) If the inmates in your medium-security prison work on the Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems, they will also be learning valuable vocational skills.
Question: Where do come up with your one of your company’s logos, "Fish Don’t Fart"?
Answer: The word fart is certainly an attention grabber, isn’t it? With over a billion people in the world today starving from protein-energy malnutrition (PEM), we thought the word 'fart' was at least an attention grabber so people would give us a moment of time and let us explain our simple solution to the problems of poverty and starvation in the world. PEM is the most lethal form of malnutrition and hunger. It is basically a lack of calories and protein because protein is necessary for key body functions including provision of essential amino acids and development and maintenance of muscles.
Just to make sure we could even use the word 'fart', we visited the U.S. Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) web site to make certain that the word 'fart' didn't overtly violate any of the FCC rulings regarding,"Obscenity, Indecency & Profanity" policies.
Question: What is the cost of energy be to run a Portable Farms™ Aquaponics System?
Answer: For a 10' x 20' unit, using electrical grid power to run your Portable Farm™ Aquaponics System, the unit's requirements are based on one 12-watt air pump, one small electrical pump, one timer, two 150 watt heaters and an exhaust fan for 5.2 kw of electricity in 24 hours (this is a summer usage rate). The cost is $1.53 per day for electricity, or $45.90 per month or $550.00 per year (based on rates from our local provider in San Diego, California).
If you choose to use solar power, you will need to size your solar panels to 180 watts and have two 12-volt storage batteries, plus an inverter to run pumps, timer and heaters.
Question: I like the idea of Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems, but I'm a vegetarian and I don't eat fish. Can I have Portable Farms™ Aquaponics System without fish?
Answer: No, to work correctly, Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems requires fish of some type in the system to provide the essential nutrients for your plants. If you do not want to eat your fish, you can give them to friends who do eat fish, sell them, or simply enjoy them. Some species and individual fish live for years. You can also put goldfish or koi in your Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems. We suggest naming them and keeping them as pets! :) Then consider selling the koi when they've reached a large size.
Question: Can I set up and run Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems by myself?
Answer: No, your Certified Representative handles all aspects of the setup and installation of your Portable Farms™ Aquaponics System.
You can operate the farm after it's been installed by our Certified Representative. The Certified Representative will give you the Operations and Maintenance Guide to teach you how to properly run and care for your unit. The settling tank needs to be drained and cleaned approximately once a month and requires about twenty minutes of time. This nutrient-laden water can be applied directly to trees, shrubs, flowing plants, or your lawn. This liquid is the best fertilizer they’ve ever had. You can also use the waste water from your settling tank for your duckweed pond.
Question: What do I feed the fish?
Answer: The fingerlings (baby fish) are started on flake food, like goldfish food, and then graduated to mini pellets. We supply the flakes and the first bag of mini pellets.
When the fingerlings reach about two inches, you can feed them regular Tilapia/Catfish chow you can purchase from a feed store, or it can be ordered at a pet store. We also feed our Tilapia duckweed which we grow in shallow trays or in 8' swimming pools to feed all the Tilapia on our three farms.
According to Wikipedia, "Duckweed plants are very simple, lacking an obvious stem or leaves, but consist of a small 'thalloid' or plate-like structure that floats on or just under the water surface, with or without simple rootlets." Duckweed floats and has more nutrition by weight compared to other plants: 15-45% when grown under ideal conditions and it also contains fat, nitrogen, and phosphorus.
By feeding your fish (who are vegetarians) duckweed, you can raise their food on the nutrients coming from their tank and make an almost perpetual motion cycle of food, fish, and food.
Two 8' children's pool containing duckweed to feed the fish.
Question: How long does it take to grow lettuce or greens in Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems?
Answer: If you plant your seeds in the peat pots when they arrive, you can enjoy your first lettuce in about 40 days. That is about as fast as you can produce edible food. The different lettuces, tomatoes and other vegetables will tell you on the seed packet how long they take to mature. The time listed on the packets will be shortened somewhat because the plants have optimal growing conditions inside the greenhouse which is warm at night and the plants always have a fresh supply of water and nutrients. And, if you want to, you can add additional grow lights (to add another 4 hours of sunlight) during winter months (like we do) to allow for optimal growth from November to March.
Question: Can I grow radishes and carrots in the Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems?
Answer: Yes and No. You will have room in your greenhouse to create a growing tray with sand and gravel so they develop their roots properly, but you’ll need to water the tray by hand to keep the sand out of the system. We're experimenting and just yesterday, we harvested our first carrot. It was a little crooked and only 2.5" long, but it tasted great and we celebrated by sharing bites.
