2025-02-01 AGRONOMY-BASEL 2025 15(卷), 2(期), (null页)
Water scarcity poses a significant threat to food security, particularly in coastal, arid, and semi-arid regions. To address this challenge, a half-strength seawater aquaponics system (approximately 250 mM NaCl) was developed to cultivate halophytes. This study investigated the growth performance of three halophytic species-ice plant, romeritos, and sea asparagus-to assess their adaptability and optimal agronomic management in a saline aquaponics setting. After rearing tilapia in half-strength seawater, four treatments were applied to the rooting medium: untreated half-strength seawater aquaculture rearing water (HSW) (C), pH-adjusted (5.5) HSW (pH), pH-adjusted (5.5) HSW supplemented with additional nutrients (pH+S), and a standard nutrient solution (NS). The findings revealed that ice plant growth was significantly enhanced by pH adjustment and nutrient supplementation, leading to improved water and potassium absorption. Conversely, romeritos and sea asparagus demonstrated stable growth across treatments, likely due to high sodium accumulation and consistent water uptake despite elevated salinity. Sea asparagus exhibited dependency on high salinity, while romeritos showed increased phosphorus accumulation with nutrient supplementation. This study suggests that while pH adjustments favor ice plant growth, romeritos and sea asparagus are resilient across diverse salinity conditions, highlighting saline aquaponics as a viable approach for halophyte cultivation in water-scarce environments.