Vermiponics is a soil-less growing technique that combines

hydroponics Hydroponics is a type of horticulture and a subset of #Passive sub-irrigation, hydroculture which involves growing plants, usually crops or medicinal plants, without soil, by using water-based mineral Plant nutrition, nutrient Solution (chemi ...

with

vermiculture Vermicompost (vermi-compost) is the product of the decomposition process using various species of worms, usually Eisenia foetida, red wigglers, Enchytraeus buchholzi, white worms, and other earthworms, to create a mixture of decomposing vegetable ...

by utilizing diluted wormbin leachate ("worm tea") as the nutrient solution as opposed to the use of fish waste (as used in

aquaponics Aquaponics is a food production system that couples aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as fish, crayfish, snails or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) whereby the nutrient-rich aquaculture water is fed to h ...

) or the addition of manufactured chemicals to provide the nutrients. In 2008,

Saginaw Valley State University Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) is a public university in University Center, Michigan, United States, in Saginaw County. It was founded in 1963 as Saginaw Valley College. It is located on in Saginaw County's Kochville Township, appr ...

in Michigan was using vermiponics as part of its efforts to reduce waste.

Aquaponics Aquaponics is a food production system that couples aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as fish, crayfish, snails or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) whereby the nutrient-rich aquaculture water is fed to h ...

growers have noted previously that redworms can be added to aquaponic grow beds successfully and serve useful functions in aquaponic systems. This has led several people to experiment with nutrient solutions that are based on wormbin leachate alone, for instance in a

Central Queensland University Central Queensland University (branded as CQUniversity) is an Australian public university based in central Queensland. CQUniversity is the only Australian university with a campus presence in every mainland state. Its main campus is at Norman ...

trial. The effectiveness of vermiponics compared to hydroponics and aquaponics has not been thoroughly studied. However, a paper from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

has found that using wormtea has beneficial effects on root protrusion in lettuce seedlings when compared to inorganic fertilizer. As hydroponics is based on feeding plants inorganic fertilizer and as many aquaponic growers use commercial fish feed, it has been suggested that vermiponics is a more sustainable method of food production as worm castings can be used from local

food waste The causes of food going uneaten are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during food production, production, food processing, processing, Food distribution, distribution, Grocery store, retail and food service sales, and Social clas ...

rather than mined fertilizer or sea caught fish.

References

{{reflist Agricultural technology Aquaponics