Growing Healthy Vegetables in Aquaponics - Aquaponics Gold - page 18

Place one seed in each cube. We buy our Oasis Horticubes from Hort
Americas.
Photo 3: These rock wool cubes are also commonly used for planting and growing plants
in aquaponics and hydroponics systems and available at most hydroponic stores or online.
Both wrapped (plastic exterior) and unwrapped rock wool cubes have been used in
aquaponics for both seed planting and cloning purposes. We suggest you experiment with
both wrapped and unwrapped to see which cube works best for you.
Rock wool is a soilless growing substrate. According to Greentrees
Hydroponics , rock wool is made from melted basalt rock and chalk.
The materials are combined and heated to a melting point, after which
they are spun and compressed into a mat. Rock wool is "chemically
and biologically inert" according to the hydroponics products distrib-
utor, and one advantage is that it does not "modify or restrict the avail-
ability of nutrients to the plants."
Please note: Oasis Horticubes are not the same Floral Oasis. They are both porous and
lightweight but Floral Oasis is made with the addition of toxic chemicals that can harm
your fish.
We recommend the 1 inch Oasis Horticubes (Photo 2) which have an extremely por-
ous design and it makes them particularly suited for starting plants by seed. They are com-
pletely pH neutral; the cubes have no fertilizer built in them, so organic growers use them
for starting seeds.
Oasis Horticubes provide a clean medium for crops requiring high water usage. Fre-
quently used for hydroponic and aquaponics seed germination of vegetables, herbs, and
flowers, its unique design allows for drainage of excess water from the base of the seed.
These cubes are free of pathogens, providing an environment that reduces disease and in-
sect problems.