Many plants have been successfully tested in aquaponic systems in which fish wastes provide the nutrients which are required by the plants in the system. These plants may include lettuce, pepper, tomatoes, kale, broccoli and others. However, lettuce as a leafy plant is widely used in most aquaponic systems. The advantage of lettuce in such systems is attributed to several factors including their fast growth rate (reach maturity in about 4 weeks), ability to grow well in floating beds, high market demand and their adaptability to the system environment especially in relation to the nitrogen content in the water. Like most leafy plants, lettuce grows well in waters of high nitrogen content. Similarly, lettuce will also grow well with the lower phosphorous and potassium as normally characterize aquaponic systems. In addition, lettuce is considered a hardy plant which can withstand wide range of environmental parameters such as temperatures. Moreover, the short growing season of lettuce cannot be overlooked in regard to the cash flow of the operation. The photos included represent the lettuce in aquaponic projects in Colombia, Egypt, Jordan and USA which could be found individually on this website.
