Home Hydroponic Gardening

Written by Lee Wyatt (last updated May 15, 2023)

1

Even if you don't really have a large amount of space you can still do a bit of gardening. The best type of gardening that you could use for an area such as this is called hydroponic gardening. Simply put, this type of gardening is one that requires little or no dirt at all, and therefor one that will allow you to grow plants just about anywhere. Before you begin attempting home hydroponic gardening, it is a really good idea to understand the basics.

  • What is it? In the simplest possible terms, hydroponics is where you grow vegetables and other kinds of plants without any soil. To offset this, typically an extremely rich nutrient infused solution is used instead which gives rise to the term hydroponics. Without the use of a soil medium you can find yourself faced with quite a few options or variants of hydroponics that will all produce some amazing plants.
  • Types, or options. There are several different types of hydroponics that you can choose from, and a detailed analysis of each would cover enough information to fill a book. That being said, there are a few forms of hydroponics that are more common than others. One example of this is called NFT, which stands for nutrient film technique. In this particular type of hydroponics a thin layer of nutrient solution is run over the roots. Ebb and flow hydroponics is where you will temporarily flood your roots, and then allow the nutrients to slowly drain away. The one that you most often see in the movies is where you hang the plants in the air, and regularly mist or spray the roots. This last one is often called aeroponics, though it is a form of hydroponics.
  • Benefits. Hydroponics has quite a few benefits, all of which can tempt you into trying it out even if you have plenty of soil on hand. One of the biggest reasons is that with hydroponics you can change, adjust, and simply tweak the food that is given to the plants as needed a whole lot easier than you can with soil gardening. What this basically means is that you have a whole lot more direct control over the whole growing process than you do with traditional growing.
  • Drawbacks. As with most types of growing systems, you will also find some with hydroponic gardening as well. For example, if you decide to go with a prefabricated hydroponics kit, you can easily end up spending around $200. However if you are willing to take your time (since you can typically begin growing in any season) you can easily spend around $30. Another drawback with hydroponics compared to regular gardening is that hydroponic gardening will often require a bit more hands on work, and a bit more dedication to really make it work.

As you can see, home hydroponic gardening is really rather simple to understand, if not to initially implement. While hydroponic gardening may seem a little confusing at first, it is one type of gardening that is really friendly towards experimentation. So if you like to have some hands on control, and see relatively immediate results, then this is a type of gardening that you should seriously consider utilizing.

Author Bio

Lee Wyatt

Contributor of numerous Tips.Net articles, Lee Wyatt is quickly becoming a regular "Jack of all trades." He is currently an independent contractor specializing in writing and editing. Contact him today for all of your writing and editing needs! Click here to contact. ...

MORE FROM LEE

Environmentally Safe Cockroach Elimination

Without a doubt, cockroaches are one of the most difficult pests to remove. These little critters can be so pesky to deal ...

Discover More

Securing a Trailer to Your Vehicle

Trailers are a great tool if you need to move things around. However, if they aren't secured properly you can find ...

Discover More

Hanging Pictures on Masonry Walls

There are several areas of most homes that often go bare simply because we don't know how to hang pictures on them. ...

Discover More
More Gardening Tips

Improving Your Garden Soil

Knowing how to improve your garden soil can go a long way in helping you to have a successful garden. There are a few ...

Discover More

Planting Herbs and Spices in a Shaded Area

Growing herbs and spices can be a great way to get started on gardening in general, and kitchen gardening in particular. ...

Discover More

Understanding the Basic Soil Types

One of the keys to getting really good at gardening or landscaping is that you need to know what type of soil you are ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Receive an e-mail several times each week with a featured gardening tip. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 2 + 8?

2013-08-13 10:54:12

Sharon Stroud

I don't see any tips about the gardening process itself. I was hoping to get the "how to" of hydroponic gardening.


Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Receive an e-mail several times each week with a featured gardening tip. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)