US: Prepping for fall aquaponics growing

This past week Trifecta began the process of converting the three aquaponics systems at the Arc of Midstate (formerly Arc of Meriden Wallingford) to be fall and winter ready. The Arc runs one system out of a climate controlled greenhouse and two systems in a non-climate controlled warehouse. In their greenhouse, they maintain temps of 55 degrees minimum throughout the colder months allowing them to extend their season on many crops and increase the variety they can grow through the winter.

The other two Arc systems are in a non-climate controlled warehouse. The warehouse also maintains a minimum temperature of 55 degrees to make sure the water stays at or above that temperature. But since it’s not maintaining room temperature, and because there is no A/C in the warehouse, Trifecta actually treat it like a seasonal system and plant as if adhering to the seasons in a greenhouse system.

Malabar Spinach in the Midstate Arc Greenhouse System

So to adjust for the cooling temperatures Trifecta are anticipating they are starting to change over the plants in both systems. This means they took out the tomato plants, the basil in the greenhouse, the various hot peppers varieties and the callaloo. They’ll also be taking out the Malabar spinach once they see the daytime drop below 14 hours a day in the coming weeks. In place, they are going to plant out with crops that can handle wide temp variations as they will still see the greenhouse hit 90’s during sunny days but in extreme cold could drop below 55 if the heater can’t keep up.

With that in mind, they will be planting a few varieties of lettuce, Swiss chard, kale, cabbage, oregano, rosemary, and sage. The ARC’s greenhouse will produce all throughout the winter, providing a majority of their produce to their cafe; the Eatery.

Read more at Trifecta Ecosystems