Improving Aquaponics for Indoor Drug-type Cannabis sativa L. Cultivation

Abstract

Aquaponics is a growing method of agriculture which uses aquaculture effluent to fertilize mainly leafy greens and herbs. Whether this system can be used to cultivate drug-type Cannabis sativa L. has never been scientifically investigated. This thesis first evaluated C. sativa cultivation in an industry aquaponic system by comparing to a conventional hydroponic system. Results showed that aquaponically grown plants produced 42 – 116% less inflorescence yield than hydroponically grown plants, with high Na/Cl and low K/micronutrients concentrations in the aquaponic solution as potential limiting factors. Follow-up trial results showed that increasing NaCl from 4 – 40 mM in aquaponic solution decreased cannabinoid concentrations but did not affect inflorescence yield; while supplementing aquaponic solution with K at a 1 – 2:1 ratio with N, had a positive linear relationship with inflorescence yield. This research demonstrated aquaponically cultivated C. sativa is tolerant to NaCl and inflorescence yield can be increased with K supplementation.