How to Grow Plants the Hydroponics Way

Vegetable and flower gardens offer bright rewards through blooms and harvests but come with space and season drawbacks. Indoor situations like hydroponics, on the other hand, feature controlled growing situations, protection, consistent moisture and nutrition, and year-round growing. Hydroponics produces healthier plants more quickly and offers the gardener a larger range of choice in plant selections. The easiest way to grow hydroponic plants is with a commercial hydroponic garden. As with all gardens and growing situations, hydroponic gardens have specific requirements.

Hydroponic garden
Growing foundation
Hydroponic nutrients

Instructions

- 1
  Fill the pots in the hydroponic garden with your choice of coconut fiber, peat moss, fern matter, gravel, pebbles, sand, vermiculite, perlite, expanded clay or pumice. Look for recommendations in your manufacturer directions.
- 2
  Plant one seed or seedling per pot to give the plants room to grow. Use larger pods or gardens for root crops like radishes and beets, which require pod space for vegetable development.
- 3
  Add hydroponic nutrients to your plants. These nutrients mix with the water and provide vitamins and minerals. The plants won't grow or thrive without this nutrition. Use nutrients specific to your plants to encourage growing, flowering and fruiting.
- 4
  Place the hydroponic garden in a site with sun and air movement. Fruit, vegetable, herb and flowering plants need six to eight hours of light every day for growth and fail without it. Good air circulation encourages pollination in fruit and vegetable plants for the eventual harvest.
- 5
  Set the garden to give the plants their required water. Vegetable, fruit, herb and flowering plants do best with 2 inches of water every week.

Aeroponics & Feeding Your Plants

Specialty Gardens