One little-known indoor garden trick
The single most important factor in plant growth is the quality of the soil, right? Wrong. Way back in the 18th century, it was discovered that the essential mineral nutrients absorbed by plants are inorganic ions in water. In nature, soil fulfills the role of a mineral nutrient reservoir, but that soil is not required for plant growth. When those important mineral nutrients are brought into a plant’s water supply through an artificial method, soil is not required for the plant’s growth. And that’s what hydroponic gardening is all about.
Engaging in hydroponic gardening is challenging, especially for a newbie, but it is also very rewarding after you learn the basics. Once you’ve chosen your indoor grow lights, understood the different types of hydroponic systems and learned some of the skills of indoor gardening, you may find this method just as or even more enjoyable than outdoor gardening.
I have to confess I’d never really seriously considered hydroponic gardening until I read “Hydroponic Gardening – Do It Right the First Time!”
One of the things I like most about hydroponic gardening is the incredibly fast growth rates, which are the result of the plant not having to grow roots down into soil to mine for food. And there are many different methods you can try to find the one that works best for your situation.
Have you tried hydroponic gardening yet? If so, what have your experiences been with this method? What are some of the challenges you’ve encountered, and how have you overcome them? Hope to hear from you.
I love the sense of community and sharing information in these comments. It’s a rare thing these days, but I do believe that people who love to garden love life and it’s many forms. Thanks to each and everyone of you.
I live in a small apt. Without direct sunlight. Using 4 hydroponics on my kitchen bar with LED lights. Growing cherry tomatoes and depending on what fertilizer I use they’re doing great. Also use a couple small pumps to aerate. Keeps the water fresher. Just got some solar panels and working on using those, but don’t want them stolen. Electricity use is up with this.
We bought a Tower Garden as a means of growing plants that don’t need propagating in our pantry. It works great. In fact if I had a complaint, it would be that we had too much lettuce, and kale and spinach, and various herbs to be able to eat. I started breaking off lettuce parsley, and dill daily to give to the chickens. We also have a green house, and garden in the yard. The fish poop garden is more time and money than I’m willing to do currently, but there is a place about a few miles from me that does have a huge hydroponic set up.
Hydroponics is a lots of fun, my friend had 3 — concert vats 3 x 20 x 60 with a track at 3 ft and 17 ft from end to end. On this track was 4 in PVC pipe with 6 holes cut in for tomatoes. When time to plant each pipe would be round up using the track so planter would only work at one end when 6 tomatoes were planted other pipe would be rolled up. All of water was cleaned before entering vats and fertilizer was added when needed, done by a machine. All 3 vats were in its own house with air completely changed every 8 hours.
I often wonder what would happen if ” ozone ” water was added to the water flowing thro each of those pipes. With 2 tomato plants in dirt side by side, one get just water the other gets ozone water, when plants were grown, now very carefully wash all the dirt away from each plant and put plants with roots in buckets. Plant that used just plain oh water would fill a one gallon bucket but plant using ozone water would fill a 5 gallon bucket. Wonder how many tomatoes the ozone plant had ???
gerald c
My Father was chemist and mostly worked with oil and additives. He made Styrofoam on our kitchen table. It was most impressive. His boss, the president of the company, fiddled with water like for land locked aquariums to replicate sea water. Then they began to work on aquaponics. There is an experimental farm not too far from where they lived. He was so excited about the potential benefits that he me tour the farm. He said that at some point water would become scarce. He said to remember this. Hydroponic would be growing and be better as it progresses with technology. This was back in 1990’s. I’m in the second year of vertical garden s. Next year I’m looking forward to aquiponic gardens with fish. Thank you all for links. I t will help with the research We are three families involved with this secret garden.
THANKS FOR ALL THE INFO. I’M 82 YRS SO PLAN TO GIVE DAUGHTER INFO WHO WILL BE RETIRING SOON AND NEEDING AN OUTLET. WHAT BETTER ONE THAN GROWING OU FOOD.
The best aeroponic system there around is the Tower Garden. The creator of these worked in The Earth at Disney with their large scale system and created an aeroponic system for personal use. It does take electricity, but it can be retrofitted with solar. See it here: http://kellis.towergarden.com/
I agree. We have one in the basement since August with their grow lights and cannot keep up with the greens coming off. Very happy with it.
Would like to try aqua phonics but don’t know where to start.
Ray go to brightagrotech.com. They also have a You Tube Channel. These guys have mastered aquaphonics and have shared their knowledge on You Tube
I’ve been so into aquaponics that I’ve decided to sell it as well, sometime before March, I should be bringing ya’ll both information and kits.
Let me know when very interested but not very confident in DIY project regarding this as of yet.
thank you frank, you put out the right information not only for a survival stand point but also for an independent point.
I am having great results with Tomatoes and peppers using a cheap indoor DIY Hydrophonics system made from a plastic dish pan and a plastic container with holes in the sides from the Dollar Tree. I drilled large holes in the bottom and keep it off the bottom with 4 ice cream cups. The seeds are planted in peat pots with Perlite. For nutrients I use powdered Kelp that has been tested for radiation from Kelp4less (a little goes a long way). I will add Sea salt after reading your comments. A cheap aquarium pump with a small bubbler from ebay is run only during the day to give the roots some air. I change the water every week or 2. It is by 2 large corner windows for light, and misting once in a while helps with pollination. Who said hydro. systems are expensive? Be creative:)
I will have to give this a try. I really enjoy all the info. you send out. Makes a person think. Keep up the good work.
I found http://www.fastonline.org/ for some good (and FREE!) info about aquaponics (and other stuff too). I found it by doing a search after buying a course on aquaponics. The course I bought had actually ripped off the content from their web page. Yeah, it was actually well enough written that it could be copied and made into a pay for course. Save your money and check them out.
Also GreenPhoenixFarms.com in Ft. Worth, TX are doing a lot of research on Aquaponics and will advise on questions.
Try feeding your fish in an aquaponic system, with plant trimmings (not tomato or eggplant), duckweed, red worms and mealworms you raise. That way you don’t have to pay for fish feed. During the main duckweed growth, dehydrate or freeze for non-growth times.
What would all of you say is the best lighting system for hydroponics? It is kind of confusing to me with all the different lighting available. Thanks, Sue
Where can an economic analysis of commercial gardening of this type be found?
just google it! I find that reading a few opinions gives a more realistic answer. Try HERE
12 to 15 years ago I lived on Maui. I had a small back yard but wanted to garden, so I went to hydroponics. I had good luck with tomatoes and cucumbers. Not so good with lettuce. I used a small fountain pump and 5 gal gray paint buckets. It was easy to get started and kept us in salad fixings.
love this view, will be using this for sure. not ready just yet, i will take advantage soon. thanks much
butch perry!
Recently, I have been growing vegetables in pots because of a lack of space (actually going very well). A friend also told me how easy it is to grow red potatoes in ten gallon plastic storage bins and that has been amazing. I just bougth several bags of seed potatoes and onion starts for planting between Christmas and New Yeaars (in central Florida). I am very interested in moving to hydroponics or the other option where you raise tilaplia in the water below (the guy that started that is located in Dade City and has instructional camps for newbies. Anyway, I recently purchased a solar well pump from Northern Arizona Wind & Sun, Inc. (they don’t charge state sales tax) and it works great. The system is set up to pump water from the well points to a rain barrel with a float switch, and then have a small solar pump distribute the water to the plants with the xeriscape sprinkler heads. Still working out the fine points but for a small garden it is perfect. The brand of the solar pump is Slowpump and the model is 1308-12. The hardest part is to find people that can answer design questions so the system can be improved on. Any advice would be much appreciated.
check out “mphgardener”. It will answer almost every question you have.
I have grown lettuce and other similar crops in hydroponic tubes for the past four years with excellent results… I use 10 ft.pvc pipe at two inches in diameter set on four foot high saw horses. The total cost with pump and reservoir for a seven tube arrangement is about $160 and is probably good for at least twenty years. The holes in the tubes are set at 6 inches giving about 130 plants per unit. I strongly suggest that you add sea salt to your nutrient mix. Sea salt contains virtually all of the elements of the periodic table and with these elements and trace elements available the plant can produce to its maximum… Tests in the 1950’s showed that lab mice bred to develop cancer cut their cancer rate by 50% in the first generation and down to 2% in the second generation by the simple addition of sea salt to the nutrient mix… The rate is a miniscule one teaspoon of sea salt to one gallon of nutrient mix. … Your crops will taste better, will last longer and will be far more beneficial to your health… If you have any further questions you can contact me at [email protected]… Best wishes…
This is a great way to grow foods with NO Dirt!! The problem with Hydroponics is you have to
keep nutrient chemicals around in order to keep things growing right. WE May not be Able to get
these “Chemicals” in a bad event & WHAT Then?
I’d suggest, “Aquaponic Gardens” where you have a tank with fish in it, their waste is pumped to
the plant beds(no dirt) & the Fish waste turns into your Fertilizer, then the water is returned to the
fish all clean! This will work with any type of fish you can get but many use Perch, catfish, or some
not to be eaten, just for the waste they provide. Me, I’m going to use talpia (spelled wrong) but they are good in the south and you can set it up outside under a heavy wire tube w/ thick plastic
to cover it up. On you tube you’ll see them doing this, Up North!! Great greens, mellons, & the best is you’ve got fish. You rarely need to add any chemical & that’s if you grow lots of tomatoes,
strawberries, ect., where you nutrients needs a certain nutrient but that’s only if you are growing
so much & trying to sell some for barter, trade or whatever your deal is. If just for the family, you
can pretty much let them go. Look into it, I’ve got all mine ready but I don’t want to set up in a
rental near a city. I’ll move the items to a better spot. Just a thought I read a lot about!
Thanks for the info Steph! You guys are doing a great job for all of us patriots! Keep it up!
It’s often the case that people jump in to this method and then only fully realising the cost of it once it’s in motion. It can definitely be a costly process so before you go ahead with it, plan your likely costs and what you can actually afford. It will save you a bad experience.
Its funny you should send this about hydroponic s I have been looking Into this as a way to have a garden In the cold months as I do live In T.N. as well so Its kinda a short winter but It Is hard to have fresh tomato’s and others so I think this Is the way to go Thank You for all the Info you have sent and I have the publication you have on solar power and am wanting to do that as well but I am on a fixed income so Its hard to do all I need and what I want at the same time.
Been around hydroponics for awhile, lots of problems with slime, algae, bacteria and abundant pathagens. Which cause root rot and plant diseases. All ending in DEATH of your plants.
So with the help of some very smart plant science brainiacs, we developed a solution to the problem.
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Problems with hydroponics can be solved with our microbes and carbon. We dropped the ppm down to 400 and have excellent plants. No flushing needed.
Hydroponic gardening depends on electricity. What happens if there is no electricity?
I would suggest that you purchase a hand pump or two they can be used to pump water for any reason & gas if you can find any when the S++T Hits The Fan,
no electricity for small simple deep water culture or drain back systems that can be gravity fed. i have a small tray with 8 heads of lettuce growing in red solo cups – start simple and get growing
You can use solar to power a pump
if you are going to do hydroponics,you might as well do aquaponics.you get fresh fish and fresh veggies and fruit at the same time ..the water from fish gets pumped up to your garden ,which takes nutrients from watering. the water then goes back to fish pond .water is filtered through garden to make clean water for your fish. then the process starts again.all you do is feed the fish .pretty simple and cost effectiveway to survive.
try square foot gardening using boxes 36″ by 10′ Uses only four inches of soil a 64 quart bag of Miracle grow with a gravel floor and the results are quick and very productive for a family of 4-8 ;persons I use a water solution of ALASKA fish emulsion combined with Miracle grow. Really a good solution for you City Rats that have no where to garden…. My sytem is elevated off the 0 ground,
Prevents bug from doing damage. I also plant garlic between rows, :”Japan Farmers Technique” that will scare off any thing else that has a mind to damage your crops….
Miracle Grow is not the best nor is Alaska Fish. It is water based. Try pacific Gro fish. Miracle Grow products use chloride fertilizers so it damages the beneficial microbes.
I’M BY NO MEANS A EXPERT BUT I TRYED HYDROPONICS FOR ONE SEASON THE COST OF THE CHEMICALS WAS VERY HIGH (I USED ORGANIC). THE CHANGING THE WATER AND THE CHEMICAL TEST FOR SO MANY DIFFERENT TRACE MINERALS.THIS YEAR I HAVE CHANGED IT TO AQUAPHONICS. I HAVE BEEN GROWING LETTICE AND SPINICH THE SAME AS THE HYDROPHONICS. IT HAS WORKED BETTER AT MUCH LOWER COST. IT IS STILL IN TRIAL AND ERROR BUT I PLAN A MUCH LARGER AQUAPHONICS SYSTEM.
check out this Instructable for some more ideas as to how others have setyp various hydroponic gardens.
http://www.instructables.com/tag/type-id/?sort=none&q=hydroponic+gardening
So many great ideas here.
It can be tricky but if you follow the recommendations the results are worth the effort.
I have used this method it works great. I am moving my greenhouse this year then I will start over again. Thanks for letting others know. Good Luck on your garden.
I successfully experimented with outdoor hydroponic gardening last year and plan to expand this year for my “prepping” plan. I own a fish farm where I breed, raise and sell Japanese Koi & offspring and some game fish. All Koi are maintained in lined ponds ranging from 500 to 2500 gal with liners extended to provide perimeter bogs. Past years the bogs have been solely for water plants serving as part of my filtration system. This year I am going to use the area for garden plants adaptable to moist soil. Bogs have sand bottom covered with abundant pea gravel remaining moist but without standing water. Each of the 8 ponds has a separate filtration system: a submersible pump pulling mucky water through a “bucket prefilter” (collecting sludge at the deepest area) with water then going through an external pressurized mechanical & biological filter w/UV clarifier (further sludge removal producing good bacteria for removal of toxins and germs, preventing algae and polishing the water), returning to pond over a waterfall which partially overflows into the bog with excess also returning to the pond. Even with all the filtration, plants will receive an abundant supply of fish waste – a fantastic fertilizer.
I also used empty plastic 2ltr soda bottle cases turned upside down with small piece of styrofoam under each side for buoyancy and successfully raised lettuce floating on top of the ponds last year. I put about 6 lettuce plugs in each floater to allow plenty of space for the heads. Only problem I encountered with this was very hot sun scorching plants and very rapid growth from fertile fish water. I plan to add greenhouse screening material over the ponds having direct sunlight this year.
Would appreciate input as to which vegetables would be suitable for either of these growing methods. I’m also adding a few game fish to each pond (Bluegill) as Koi are beautiful to sell but only good for Sushi to eat (to my knowledge).
Thanks,
Becki
Watercolors Koi Farm
Salem, VA
I always like cheaper, thanks for your comment. I’m off to investigate!
Hydroponics is expensive. You can do the same thing with the Mittleider Method of gardening and have the option of several alternative growing mediums, combinations of material, depending upon what is available where you live. It is also called poor man’s hydroponics, worth looking into.