Do you love gardening but don’t have any outdoor space? Wish you could harvest your own food all year round? Hydroponic gardening could be the way to get you growing.
Here’s what to know about this popular indoor gardening method.
What Is Hydroponic Gardening?
A hydroponic garden is a way to grow plants without soil. Instead of planting seeds in the ground or in a container of potting mix, you provide the water and nutrients they need directly to their roots. Seeds are planted in a soilless medium like coconut coir, LECA, rockwool, perlite, gravel, or pumice.
Nutrients are added to water that’s pumped through the system. Instead of the sun, grow lights supply plants with the light they need to thrive.
In addition to being soil-free, hydroponics can allow you to grow indoors—no yard, patio, or balcony needed. That means you can grow vegetables, herbs, and even fruits year-round with a hydroponic setup, even in very cold climates.
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Pros and Cons of Hydroponic Gardening
| Pros | Cons |
| Year-round growing | Higher start-up cost |
| Doesn’t require outdoor space | Limited crop selection |
| Good for small living spaces | Some systems require lots of indoor space |
| No weeds to pull | Requires regular maintenance |
| Reduced pest and disease pressure | Must manage some pests, diseases, and microbial growth |
| Uses less water than growing in soil | Requires constant supply of electricity |
| Easier to control nutrients | Requires cleaning and sanitizing between plantings |
| Can be done in areas with contaminated soil | Produce may have less flavor |
Best Plants for Hydroponic Gardening
Plenty of common garden plants can be grown in a hydroponic system. However, some are well suited to indoor growing, while others will fare best in an outdoor hydroponic system that benefits from levels of natural light that would be impractical to supply in the home.
- Lettuce: Compact, fast-growing salad greens like lettuce are ideal for growing in indoor hydroponic systems. Popular varieties include Butterhead, Salanova, and Romaine. The time from seed to harvest can be as little as one month.
- Kale: Varieties of kale, as well as other brassica family plants like collard greens, mustard greens, and turnip greens, are easy to grow hydroponically, even in winter.
- Spinach: A range of spinach varieties can be grown in an indoor hydroponic garden. This fast-growing, iron-rich green can go from seed to harvest in less than two months.
- Herbs: Why not cultivate your own hydroponic indoor herb garden? Just about any herbs can thrive in a hydroponic garden, including basil, cilantro, parsley, dill, thyme, and mint.
- Cucumbers: Try growing compact varieties of cucumbers in an outdoor hydroponic system. Look for seed varieties that are labeled as ideal for small gardens or container plantings.
- Tomatoes: Tomatoes require lots of warmth and direct sunlight to thrive, but it’s possible to grow them indoors with the proper grow lights and a large enough system. Look for indoor gardening kits designed for tomatoes, or DIY your own. Consider growing compact or determinate varieties to keep plants contained.
- Strawberries: You’ll have the most success growing hydroponic strawberries outdoors in a greenhouse to benefit from the sun’s natural heat and light. Start with bare-root strawberry plants rather than trying to germinate them from seed.
- Peppers: It’s possible to cultivate bell peppers or hot peppers indoors with a large-scale hydroponic growing kit or a DIY setup. Seek out compact varieties to minimize the space the plants will need. Plan to harvest about three months after planting with optimal care and conditions.
- Eggplant: Eggplants don’t grow as large as some pepper and tomato plant varieties do, but they still require lots of light and warm temperatures. Plant them in an outdoor system or use strong grow lights to give them the conditions they need.
Hydroponic Gardening Tips
- Start with a grow kit: Before you invest time, energy, and money into a complex DIY system, consider experimenting with a small tabletop grow kit.
- Monitor for pests: Hydroponic growing can help you avoid some common insect pests, but you’ll still want to watch out for aphids, white fly, thrips, shore flies, and mites on your plants.
- Help fruiting plants with pollination: Before you can harvest juicy tomatoes or spicy peppers, you’ll need to help plants set fruit. While they’re in bloom, run a fan on the plants, tap the stems occasionally, or use a paintbrush to pollinate female flowers by hand.
- Be vigilant about cleaning: After you’ve harvested your bounty, it’s important to empty, clean, and disinfect the entire system before planting another crop to avoid plant diseases and bacteria buildup.
