Growing Guide · Herbs
Asian herbs
for aquaponics
The herbs that matter most to our community — Thai basil, shiso, garland chrysanthemum, Vietnamese coriander — are rarely available fresh at grocery stores and are almost never covered in Western aquaponics guides. They also happen to thrive in aquaponic systems, which mimic the wet, nutrient-rich conditions of the gardens they were bred in across East and Southeast Asia.
How herbs grow in an aquaponic system
Thai Basil · โหระพา
Thai basil has an intense anise-clove flavor completely unlike Italian basil — more floral, more complex, essential for pho, pad krapow, Thai curries, and Vietnamese spring rolls. In a media bed with mature fish waste cycling, it grows faster and more abundantly than in soil. Harvest continuously by cutting just above a node pair, and the plant will bush out and keep producing for months.
Shiso · 紫蘇
Shiso is a staple of Japanese cooking used in sashimi, onigiri, tempura, and tsukemono. Green shiso (aojiso) is bright and minty; red shiso (akajiso) is earthy and used to color umeboshi. Known in Korea as kkaennip and used extensively in ssam and banchan. Shiso is a heavy drinker that loves the constant moisture of an aquaponic system — and a single mature plant yields weekly harvests for a family.
Garland Chrysanthemum · 春菊
An essential green for Japanese hot pot (nabe), sukiyaki, shabu-shabu, and Cantonese soups. Called tong ho in Cantonese and ssukgat in Korean. The earthy, slightly bitter flavor is irreplaceable — and it's virtually impossible to find fresh outside Asian grocery stores. In a DWC raft system it grows incredibly fast, direct-seeded into net cups and ready to harvest in 30 days.
Vietnamese Coriander · Rau Răm
Rau răm is essential in Vietnamese cooking — spicier and more intense than regular cilantro, with a distinctive heat that makes it irreplaceable in pho, bun bo hue, and goi cuon. Nearly impossible to find fresh outside Vietnamese grocery stores. It is semi-aquatic in the wild, naturally growing along riverbanks and in paddy margins — which makes aquaponics its ideal environment. Propagate from cuttings rather than seed.
Lemongrass · 香茅
Used in Thai curry pastes, Vietnamese pho broths, Cambodian amok, and across Southeast Asian cooking. Lemongrass is one of the most productive plants in a media bed — a clump grows large and can be divided repeatedly. Use the lower stalk fresh in cooking; dry the leaves for tea. Start from division or root a stalk from the grocery store.
Mint · ミント
Vietnamese mint (húng lủi) and rau thom are indispensable in pho and bun bo hue herb plates. Mint loves wet roots — it's naturally found along stream edges — and outgrows soil by a significant margin in aquaponics. An NFT channel of mint can supply a household year-round. Give it its own zone in a media bed, as it spreads aggressively via runners.
Which system for which herb