Just the plants will be CNG certified. There is only a very small supply of fish feed that would meet CNG standards for livestock certification, and that supply of organic fish feed doesn’t contain fish meal, an ingredient which professional…
We are aware of concerns about off gassing and leaching, but there isn’t conclusive scientific evidence that would justify prohibiting them. These materials may be prohibited in the future, pending more evidence.
Recycled plastics present an increased rate of degradation and risk of leaching compared to virgin plastic, and additional risks posed by chemicals that may be added to plastics shipped overseas for recycling.
In response to public comments, we made some changes to the draft standards. It is prohibited for IBC totes to be brought into an already CNG-certified operation. However, recognizing that many start-ups use IBC totes, the revised standards will allow…
In response to public comments, we updated the standards to allow for soil, compost, and vermicompost to be used in dead-end or non-recirculating sections of the system. These materials are natural, non-synthetic sources of nutrients. Many aquaponics systems function perfectly…
Minimally processed forms of calcium carbonate are allowed such as dolomitic lime and oyster shell flour. However, most pH buffering materials are synthetic, and at this time most producers consider them necessary to achieve a steady and balanced pH without…
They are allowed as long as they don't contain synthetic fertilizers. These are products where fibers (peat or coir in the case of most grow plugs, and mineral fibers in the case of rock wool) are compressed and held together…
After we begin to accept applications from aquaponics producers, those that are accepted into the program will be listed on our website at certified.naturallygrown.org. Visitors can see a listing of all CNG producers in a particular state, or search for aquaponics…
We discovered that there are very few commercially viable hydroponic operations that rely on natural fertility sources. The NOP has recently begun to certify hydroponic operation and allowed the use of synthetic, OMRI-listed nutrient solutions. CNG does not allow the…
Many of the components in aquaponics systems are plastic. However, they are generally reusable and have a long useful life. Soil-based farms also routinely rely on a lot of plastic products (pots, landscape fabric or mulch, drip tape, irrigation pipe,…