The Complete Idiot's Guide to Aquaponic Gardening

by Meg Stout

The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Aquaponic Gardening is a comprehensive guide to aquaponic gardening, from choosing a setup to selecting fish and vegetables. In addition to everything one needs to know to run a healthy aquaponic garden and care for both the vegetables and fish, there are step-by step plans with photos for building different size systems. The expert author fully explains how to garden indoors and how to resize and move a garden inside or outside, depending on the season, to produce an abundant supply of edible, organically-raised vegetables and fish.

356 pages, ebook

First published November 6, 2012

Reviews

[Carly Ellen Kramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative, but geared toward a much larger scale than the kitchen counter aquaponics project I am envisioning.

[Kylie Reeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was working on a research project, and this book helped a lot. Thanks

[Jenae · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book certainly is extensive (albeit not exhaustive), covering many topics dealing with aquaponics, both directly and indirectly. I was a little disappointed with the lack of specific, quantitative discussion regarding the aquaponic nitrogen cycle (i.e. how much ammonia fish will produce, how much nitrate plants will uptake from the water supply). These amounts probably vary with species, maturity, and other factors but, given how much detail was given on other topics, it would have been nice to have at least broached this one. The other big drawback for this book was the fact that there were no diagrams accompanying the DIY instructions at the end of each chapter. There were only a handful of pictures, and the majority of those were of fish and plants rather than parts and systems.

This book did do some things very well. As mentioned above, it is very extensive and covers the what, how, and why of aquaponics, as well as basic plant maintenance, organic pest control, augmenting the growing season, and other topics. I'm half surprised that the author didn't include a chapter of on food preservation. I particularly liked one of the final chapters, which covered integrated aquaponic systems. It outlined several ways that aquaponics can be incorporated into a variety of lifestyles, from a rural African village to a retirement community.

[Rick Kennerly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this as an Apple iBook thinking there would be more photos, illustrations, & diagrams. From that standpoint the book is disappointing. Publishers missed a real chance to turn out an enhanced, interactive instructional e-book in a quite visual topic. Inexplicably, even the detailed parts list & assembly instructions were not illustrated. My powerpoint presentation on aquaponics is better illustrated & more interactive.

Otoh, the information is solid & clearly pesented. It's always important to me that reference e-book be closely inter-linked inside the book. In that regard this book is superb. Stout is a well-respected leader in aquaponics, an engineer, & a published author. She has all the tools to make this book superb, so i'm blaming the publisher.

If stout were to re-do this book using an interactive platform like Inkling & commit to doing it right, i'd buy it again & pay twice the price. Sylvia Bernstein's Aquaponic Gardening is still the reference book to beat.

[Guy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very cursory look at aquaponics. Not comprehensive in any dimension. Folks in the know will find little value here. "Aqua-what-ics?" newbie types may find this whets their appetite, but isn't a stand-alone or ongoing reference material. You're gonna want to read something else after or instead.

[Dianne J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everything you wanted to know about growing plants without dirt and creating that circle of life process with your fish in the aquarium. I just wanted to create a small set up in the kitchen window/counter area, but even the simplest set up may be too extensive for my space.

[David Braly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Aquaponic Gardening is a comprehensive guide to aquaponic gardening, from choosing a setup to selecting fish and vegetables. In addition to everything one needs to know to run a healthy aquaponic garden and care for both the vegetables and fish, there are step-by step plans with photos for building different size systems. The expert author fully explains how to garden indoors and how to resize and move a garden inside or outside, depending on the season, to produce an abundant supply of edible, organically-raised vegetables and fish.