The Impact of Black Light in a Solar-Powered Aquaponics System Controlled by Arduino Mega (I.B.L.A.S.P.A.S.C.A.M.)

Abstract

The traditional farming method involves the use of soil to grow plants. Because of growing demands, fertilizers and pesticides are applied to increase the production rate. Unfortunately, these artificial products have a high chance of causing problems concerning human health like cancer. This is where Aquaponicsis introduced, a system in farming that uses no soil and with the use of less water consumption. On the other hand, there were people who are using a black light to activate the plants’ natural defence mechanism. Carotenoids make the plant more nutritious and can be enriched using the spectrum and wavelength of UV light where it is exposed to. This investigatory project aimed to create an aquaponics system utilizing black light in growing tomato plants. Forty-five seeds were first germinated within thirteen days (13). After the germination, fifteen seedlings were transferred to the device with black light, fifteen without blacklight and fifteen in soil. The plants were observed for thirty-two(32) days, then, the mean height was measured using One-Way ANOVA. Results showed that the Tomato plants grown in the device with blacklight have grown an average height of 33.17 cm after germination. The plant grown in the device without blacklight has grown an average height of 20.48 cm after being transferred to soil. Meanwhile, the plant grown in a traditional farming method has grown an average height of 18.69 cm after germination. The statistical analysis showed that in terms of height, the plants grown in the device with black light was the highest among the three setups. The lowest was the plant grown in a traditional method. The device was effective to be used by the local farmers based on the results gathered from the conducted experiment. This device can change the traditional method of farming that can be more economical for farmers.