Since the pandemic, hydroponic gardening has been expanding its fan base as more of us start growing our own produce and get creative even in small urban spaces.
It may sound a little scientific, but in simple terms, hydroponics is a soilless indoor gardening system that uses water-based ingredients and LED lighting to produce fresh, nutritious indoor food.
The good news is that hydroponics can be as simple as mason jars with plants rooted in water on a sunny window. Or you can go big and expand your home with a more complex arrangement, like a tower in an unused corner of your apartment, and add fancy lights to start your hydroponic show.
What is hydroponic gardening?
"Hydroponic gardening is a new way to grow plants without soil," explains Henry Bravo, a University of California graduate with a degree in plant science and founder of SmartGarden Home. "Instead, the plants get nutrient-rich water, allowing them to grow faster and healthier than traditional soil gardening."
The main advantage of hydroponic gardening is that you can control the environment, resulting in higher yields and fewer pests or diseases. Additionally, hydroponic systems typically use less water than traditional methods, making them a more sustainable option. And it's very easy: there are many easy ways to get started with hydroponic gardening.
"Most hydroponic systems consist of a plant container (usually a tray or cup), a non-soil growing medium such as perlite or coco, a nutrient flow system, typically a pump, pipes and tank, and 'LEDs.'" Home for the Harvest gardening expert Mary Jane Dufford explains.
You can basically get your bearings with hydroponics, grow a small collection of plants and think about how to turn your windowsill into an indoor garden, or fresh strawberries, tomatoes or herbs all year round.
8 important things to know about hydroponics
Now let our experts answer 8 frequently asked questions about hydroponic gardening to help you grow.
1. The easiest way to start
"If you want a system that's easy to buy, start with a hydroponic table garden," says Angelo Kelvakis, horticulturist and head of research and development at Rise Gardens. "It comes with light, circulating water and enough seeds and nutrients to start." Setup will be easy and you should be able to produce 5-12 plants with little effort.
If you want to create a large garden, consider purchasing an underground system with a large water tank, including lighting and the ability to grow 12 to 100 plants at a time. "These systems are more expensive, but you get more production," says Angelo. "There are many different types of gardens. So choose companies that have a wide variety of plants, a wide variety of nutrients, and powerful grow lights.
If you're new to indoor growing, it's a good idea to get a system with a companion app to help you assimilate nutrients and care for your plants. Personally, I'm looking at this neat, self-contained WiFi and app-controlled indoor hydroponic gardening system from Amazon to start my growing mission.
2. Create your basic hydroponic system
The answer to the question of what can you grow in a hydroponic garden is basically anything. And you don't need any fancy equipment to do it. The easiest method is to try it first with a few pots and seedlings. You can create a mini hydroponic system by adding 1 to 2 inches of cool tap water to a pot, adding young plants and placing them on the windowsill. Still, it's easy to start with herbs like mint, basil, and parsley that grow well in the kitchen.
With a little time and money, you can improve your system to grow a variety of plants and vegetables from seed. For this purpose, you can buy your own seeds, some hydroponic ingredients and hydroponic plant plugs. Plant plugs are usually organic matter made from grass.
"The seeds can be placed in the pod, and by making a hole in the lid of the plastic container, hang the stick of the plant on the lid, only the bottom part of the water," explained Angelo Kelvakis. . . "Put it on the windowsill and add water and some nutrients once a week and continue until your plant is big enough to harvest."
There are many types of hydroponic systems to choose from. Among the most popular are deep water culture systems, in which plants are suspended by their roots in a nutrient solution, drip systems, in which the nutrient solution is slowly dripped onto the culture media, and ebb and flow systems in the culture. Food is constantly flooded with water. Balanced solution, then liquid.
3. Sometimes growth medium is needed
Some plants require a substrate or growing medium to support their roots instead of soil rather than being suspended in water. Popular materials include clay pebbles, perlite, vermiculite, cornice or sponges like Amazon. Typically, these materials are porous and contain nutrient-rich water that feeds the plants.
Which one is best for you depends on where you grew up. Coir, perlite, and vermiculite are commonly used media for microgreens because they have very delicate root systems. On the other hand, pebbles work well with strawberries, and spinach works best with coconut.
In a simple way, you can grow hydroponics per plant in a perlite pot that you water regularly with liquid fertilizer. However, most systems are a bit more sophisticated, but they all have a clear indication of the best substrate.
4. Nutritional solutions can help
To grow in hydroponics, plants require different amounts of water-soluble nutrients depending on the individual plant and stage of growth.
"Hydroponic nutrients come in many forms, but there are two key characteristics to consider when choosing the right fertilizer," says Angelo Kelvakis.
"The most important thing is the difference between the nutrients in the first growth and fruit and flower. When flowers and fruit grow, plants need different nutrients. This means that you need more nutrients and you have to switch between them as your plants grow."
The three main elements that plants get from the soil are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, while carbon, oxygen and hydrogen are obtained from the air. Other important soil nutrients are magnesium, calcium and sulfur.
These Amazon hydroponic foods are especially cheap.
"Another characteristic of hydroponic ingredients is the form they come in," Angelo adds. "Most hydroponic ingredients come in liquid form, but some also come in powder form."
5. The Kratky method is wonderful
Google hydroponics and you won't miss a mention of the Kratky method. In the year In the 1990s by the researcher Dr. Bernard Kratky, horticulturist at the University of Hawaii. It is the simplest hydroponic system and does not require any complicated equipment or electricity.
This is a great way for beginners to get started with hydroponics, and quickly leads to vegetables that can be grown indoors all year round. The Kratky method works best with herbs that have a fast growth rate. These herbs include lettuce and spinach. Start with light-stemmed herbs like basil, mint, cilantro, parsley, and chives because they tend to grow quickly.
With the Kratky method, once you prepare your container and growing medium and your seeds or cuttings, along with water and nutrients, everything takes care of itself.
Simply place your pot in a south-facing window and watch the root mass under water. When the water level is completely gone, the plant should be ready to harvest. No need to add water and nutrients after the first preparation.
Water pH is important in hydroponics, but less so in the Kratky method. You can still get good results with rainwater or bottled water.
6. You need lights
While natural sunlight is the ideal light source for plant growth, artificial lighting should also be considered for indoor systems. Depending on the type of plants you want to grow, you should provide up to 14 hours of artificial light per day followed by 10 to 12 hours of darkness.
First, think about the size of your facility and what kind of plants you want to grow. Some plants such as B. Strawberries will not produce fruit if they are exposed to more than 12 hours of light per day, while lettuce needs up to 18 hours per day. If you want to grow different plants with different light requirements, an electronic timer is a good idea.
"When you use a hydroponic system, you have water and nutrients to help your plants grow, but the plants are fed by light," says Angelo Kelvakis. "Grow lights are specifically designed for plant growth and have special LED light spectra that support plant growth. "You can grow all kinds of plants with strong lights."
This Amazon grow light is effective and affordable.
Plants like lettuce, basil and arugula need less light than plants like cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers, Angelo explains. Grow lights are generally rated for their effectiveness on plants by measuring PAR (Photosynthetic Active Radiation). It measures the light that plants use for photosynthesis.
"Light in the focused spectrum is important to plant growth because plants only use specific wavelengths of light (especially red and blue wavelengths) for photosynthesis. As a result, grow lights appear purple."
7. There are some maintenance work that you need to do
Although they are growing in a hydroponics controlled environment, they are growing living plants that need help from time to time. So make sure you create a weekly, monthly and semi-annual schedule to track the maintenance.
Add nutrients and water to the garden every week and collect the ready plants. Cut dead leaves every month and remove dead leaves. Nutrients can accumulate over time and affect the growth of your plants, so change the tank completely after 6 months. It is also a good idea to set up your hydroponic garden near a sink where you can easily clean the parts.
What are the benefits of hydroponic gardening?
"Hydroponic gardening offers many advantages over traditional growing," says Nikki Thomas, founder of Backyardville. “Supplying nutrients directly to a hydroponic system results in faster growth as well as healthier and stronger plants.
"The fact that this branch of modern gardening is called 'hydroponics' can lead one to believe that it uses a lot of water and is not environmentally friendly," Nikki continues. "It's actually water-efficient gardening that uses less water than traditional soil-based practices and allows growers to grow their own crops, even in drought-prone regions or areas."
Hydroponically grown produce is also significantly greener, healthier and more nutritious because the recirculating water system can precisely control the flow of plant nutrients. The direct extraction of the nutrients contained in the water leads to faster growth and healthier plants. So it's a total win.
