What Fruits Can Be Grown With Hydroponics?

Fruit List

• Water-loving fruits like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, grapes, cantaloupe and watermelon can be successfully grown with hydroponics. Some gardeners even grow pineapple, dwarf citrus and bananas. Commercial hydroponic growers tend to concentrate on growing strawberries because they have the highest value per acre. Some commercial growers also grow melons.

Techniques

• Several techniques can be used for growing strawberries hydroponically. Plants growing in a Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) system are tied to trellises with their roots immersed in a flowing solution of water and nutrients. A power failure can mean that plants die quickly when their nutrient solution stops flowing. This system can also have problems with alga growths.

  Gravel bed systems can be used for growing strawberries, pineapples or melons. This method involves growing plants in raised beds filled with aquarium sand or other coarse stone. Nutrients are provided with a drip irrigation system or by flooding the plants and then draining off the extra liquid. Poor drainage can cause root rots with this system.

  Strawberries and melons can also be grown on rockwool, which is a sponge-like material made from molten rock that's been spun into fine fibers. Rockwool is very absorbent and can hold a large amount of nutrient solution while still allowing the roots to be exposed to a lot of air. One advantage of using rockwool is that it's difficult to overwater plants. However, large plants may need to be supported if they become top heavy. Algae growth can also be a problem.

Home System

• Home gardeners who want to try growing fruits with hydroponics can start out relatively inexpensively by using a non-circulating system. With this system, no electrical power is needed. The gardener places the lower part of the plant's roots into a nutrient solution and suspends the upper part of the roots in humid air. Plants need 13 different nutrients, which aren't available from most fertilizers. Special hydroponic fertilizers must be used and can be ordered from mail-order companies.

Advantages

• The major advantage of hydroponic gardening is the ability to harvest fruit year round, regardless of the temperature and weather outside. In addition, hydroponic gardeners don't have as many problems with weeds, pests or diseases and, when they do have problems, it's easier to control them non-chemically. Hydroponic gardening requires less space, too, because crops can be grown vertically, as well as horizontally. In addition, the roots don't have to spread out in order to find water and nutrients.

Disadvantages

• The initial cost to set up a hydroponics system is very high for commercial growers. When diseases do infect plants, they spread quickly because the plants are sharing the nutrient solution. In addition, the high humidity found in hydroponic systems, coupled with the presence of fertilizer, encourages the growth of salmonella, according to horticulturists at Colorado State University Extension.