What Can I Grow In A Hydroponic Garden?
In a hydroponic garden you can grow just about anything, including most house plants, flowering plants, vegetables, several different kinds of fruits and many different kind of herbs.
Are you interested in having a year-round supply of fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs, or maybe you'd love to grow your own flowers or foliage and have them decorate your home. The choices a somewhat endless, and depend on your personal preferences. Here is a quick list of some of the more popular items people grow in the hydroponic garden.
Vegetables
If your living situation makes it impossible to plant a vegetable patch in your back yard, or if you have no yard at all, you still enjoy a table-full of fresh vegetables. By growing vegetable hydroponically you can raise more vegetables faster then in a conventional outdoor garden.
Among the vegetables that can be grown using hydroponics are:
| artichokes | asparagus | beans |
| beets | broccoli | brussel sprouts |
| cabbages | carrots | cauliflowers |
| celery | cucumber | eggplants |
| leeks | lettuce | onions |
| parsnips | peas | potatoes |
| radishes | rhubarb | squash |
| tomatoes | yams |
Vegetable plants grown in soil must be spaced as much as a foot apart to allow their root system to not become entangled with and fight for necessary water and nutrients. Because all of the nutrients and moisture is pumped directly to the plants, hydroponic gardening allows the plants to be place considerably closer together - taking up less space.
Our garden center is conveniently located on Central Ave. in the heart of Minneapolis. Just minutes from downtown Minneapolis and across the river from St. Paul, our retail store features over 600 hydroponic and indoor gardening supplies... and all types of supplies for the traditional gardener, including organic soil and soil builders.
Special care ... the basic requirements for growing vegetables is not changed much in a hydroponic garden. They still need the appropriate levels of light and warmth, and you must follow all the normal procedures for caring for each plant. There are a few special requirements for vegetable such as carrots and potatoes that are grown underground - a full sized variety would require a very thick bed of aggregate.
Tomatoes (technically a fruit) are one of the most popular plants grown hydroponically and can ripen as much as eight weeks earlier and produce more fruit than when grown in soil.
Fruits and Melons
Hydroponic gardening allows you to grow fruits and melons year round no matter what the temperature is outside. But to be successful, you need to understand and pay attention to the growing conditions a particular fruit needs to thrive. Poor choices for hydroponic gardening are succulents, because they will only thrive in dry conditions and you are attempting to grow your fruits in a medium of water.
Water-loving fruits make a good choice for you hydroponic garden...and these include: watermelon, cantaloupe, tomatoes (yes they are technically a fruit), strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and grapes.
Surprisingly, there are some trees that can be grown in a hydroponic manner. Banana trees are one, and dwarf citrus trees, such as lemons are another. Through the use of appropriate lighting and nutrition you can grow fruits in the dead of winter in Minnesota!
Flowering and Foliage Plants
Hydroponic gardening lends itself to a variety of choices if you are interested in growing flowers or foliage. A hydroponic unit can be used to develop seedlings and then as the plants mature they can be transplanted into other hydroponic units in your home - or when they are large enough they can be planted outdoors. If you don't have enough hydroponic units to handle all of your flowers, you transplant them into soil-filled pots or containers and use them as you wish.
A great benefit of hydroponics is that you can grow flowers outside of their normal season. In fact, there's a good chance that the beautiful flowers you've been admiring at you local florist was grown by hydroponic greenhouse.
The only true difficulty in growing flowers and foliage hydroponically is that you may end up with many more flowers and plants of one particular species. The reason for this because each kind of plant has its on particular needs and can't be mixed with different species in the same hydroponic unit. A good example is roses, which need a larger amount of potassium then another plant or flower can handle. The bottom line is you need to be very careful in matching species that share the same space.
Herbs
Fresh herbs are very popular; they can also be fun and rewarding to grow ... especially if you have young children. Herbs mature rapidly, require little care, have a wide variety of uses and do very well in a hydroponic unit or culture. Even a small hydroponic unit, such as an Aerogarden, can produce an impressive crop of herbs. You can even grow enough to share with friends, family and neighbors.
Some of the most popular herbs to grow are:
| arugula | basil | chervil |
| chives | coriander | dill |
| lemon balm | mache | majoram |
| oregano | rosemary | sorrel |
| spear & peppermint | sage | tarragon |
| thyme |
Other Crops
There are almost an unending number of crops that can be grown hydroponically, but most home gardeners have neither the time nor the money to pursue them. Some of these include corn, cacao, sugar cane, rice, tea, tobacco and cereal grains. In most cases these crops are started hydroponically and when the seedlings reach their desired size is transplanted to the fields.