In the previous blog, "What's in a name...", I discussed the meaning of "Hydroponics."  Aquaponics has some key similarities - they are both soil-less, and both typically are carried out in controlled environments, at least in temperate or cooler climates. In both, the roots are suspended in flowing water. But in aquaponics, the "aqua" doesn't really mean water.  Instead it's short for aquaculture (incidentally, also a misnomer!), that is, the growing of fish in aquaria or tanks. So wh...

So what is "Aquaponics?" And how does it differ from "Hydroponics?" After all they both share the root ponics, and don't aqua and hydro both have something to do with water?Let's get "ponics" out of the way first. "Ponics" has a Greek root, ponein, "to labor or toil." So in our vocabulary, it means work. Thus, a logical conclusion would be that they both are synonyms for "waterworks."But when we adopt terms to describe things, we bend or adapt definitions to differentiate what we are doing. Hydr...