HYDROPONIC PLANTS
What To Grow?

Hydroponic plants...

Have you thought about what you would like to grow in your hydroponic garden? This decision will point you to the type of unit that would be best for you. At the bottom of this page we introduce four simple hydroponics systems. But first, here are some guidelines to get you thinking about your future garden:
 

• Start with vegetables you and your family love. It might be fun to grow 40 radishes, but if y'all don't like them, why waste the space? (Note: give radishes a try before you rule them out. Fresh from the garden to your salad tastes delightfully different).
  
  
                     
   
• Give priority to vegetables that taste the best fresh-picked and the worst from the supermarket.  You'll enjoy much better flavor in your home-grown lettuces, tomatoes (especially), celery, spring onions and herbs. Don't waste space on potatoes or turnips, as they are pretty standard in taste; you won't see a big difference in home-grown. Root veggies are also harder to grow in a hydroponic pot, as they need a lot of depth. (Later on, do try your hand at short variety gourmet carrots for a real taste treat).
  
  
                     
  
   
• If you start out with just one small unit, make the space count! If your family enjoys salads, then stick mostly to salad vegetables at first--- lettuce, tomatoes, radishes, celery, and tuck a cuke plant in the corner.
   
• For more ideas or vegetable selection, or if you want to start some of the larger species outside in a traditional soil garden, you might want to explore this fresh new website: Organic-Veggie-Patch.com.
   
• Fresh herbs are awesome! We have a special section for you  Herb Freaks.
   

What NOT to grow?

Hydroponic plants...

Corn, zucchini, summer squash, melons. Sure they can be grown in a hydroponic garden, but they are space hogs, and just not practical. They will take over your whole unit. Your resources are better spent on crops more suited to the compact systems. Think small for now--- bush or patio strains of beans, tomatoes and cucumbers.

If you later get into a greenhouse, you'll have the room to train all those beautiful vining crops all the way to the ceiling (no lights to stay under). You could experiment with any crops under the sun, even corn if you'd like.


                           
 

SEASONAL CROPS?  WHEN TO PLANT

Hydroponic plants...

It's the thyme of the season...

If your 'ponics garden is going to spend all its days inside, in air-conditioned comfort, then the crops you grow won't need to be matched to the seasons. Granted, you'll have to provide light, humidity and the proper temperature range, but with a little knowledge and diligence, you can grow cool or warm season crops year-round... one of the beauties of the hydroponics method. Pick strawberries in your basement while a snowstorm rages outside!

However, if you cannot provide adequate air conditioning, or the unit will spend at least some of the year out on your patio, or if you have graduated to a greenhouse (nirvana!), then don't fight nature... plant crops according to the seasons.

Here's a list of vegetables well-suited to hydroponics, and when to plant them (in North America):

WARM WEATHER CROPS: Start seedlings in March-April, transplant in May. Done by late August:

• Tomatoes
• Green peppers
• Eggplants
• Cucumbers
• Green beans
• Squash (needs room)
• Melons (need room)

COOL SEASON CROPS: 2 growing seasons: Early spring (February 20); and early fall (August 30):

• Broccoli & cauliflower
• Cabbage & bok choy
• Lettuces
• Spinach
• Swiss chard
• Peas, snow peas and sugar snaps
• Green onions
• Carrots (stubbies)
   

Hydroponic Plants...

Like our website? (We do too...)    Our mission is to bring you the most important, interesting, fresh   and creative information on the modern gardening method known   as... hydroponics!   We invite you to join our growing village of hydroponic gardening   enthusiasts by subscribing to our free monthly offering,   The Urban Farmer.   Stay "plugged in" to your fascinating new hobby with our most   excellent newsletter/ezine, and receive: Troubleshooting tips & FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) Honest, unbiased reviews of new techniques and systems Spotlight on pests, plants and products Visitor submitted project photos; successes and failures!   All this, delivered right to your mailbox!                                The Urban Farmer... Keeping you on the cutting edge of hydroponics.                          Sign Up below!

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NOW HERE'S THE REAL BEAUTY...

Hydroponic plants...

Here's one major advantage of the hydroponic method...

It keeps your crop plan realistic, manageable, and highly productive.

Have you ever had a traditional, soil-based vegetable garden? This is probably how it went:

The first warm days of spring hit, and you get garden fever.

Off you go to the local nursery or home improvement center on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Yikes! Everybody else has spring fever, too.

You fight over the choicest vegetable seedlings (baby plants), and snag a flat each of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, and squash. Then you pass the seed rack and all those beautiful seed packets get you pumped up. In your cart goes several of them, too. Don't forget the heavy bags of manure, peat moss, sand and fertilizer!   
   
   
                           


You get it all home. Out comes the tiller (if you're lucky). Otherwise, the rake, shovel and hoe. After a day or two of back-breaking work, everything is planted. A little droopy, mind you, but the plot looks beautiful. Ah, the aroma of fresh tilled earth!

Now, here's the problem. Did you really need that many plants? Are you really going to use 10 tomatoes, 12 cukes, and 10 peppers a day? Not!

So what happens? You leave the excess fruit on the plants, not wanting to be wasteful. What does that do? Stops production of more produce. You find worms in the corn and potatoes, and the tomatoes start splitting on the vine. You get tired of all that horrible weeding, and soon, your beautiful vegetable garden has turned into a huge weed and bug infested plot, littered with rotted tomatoes and cucumber carcasses.
 

                           

Am I right?

Now, with hydroponics... since productive space is at a premium, you're forced to think carefully about how much to plant of what.

How about just one tomato plant, one cuke, one or two peppers, lots of lettuces, spinach and onions?

No weeds, no bugs, no excess produce. You will find that with a hydroponic garden, you will plant a wider variety, fewer plants of each crop, and you will utilize it all. Hydroponic plants are much more practical and less wasteful.

What a difference hydroponics will make in your gardening experience! You'll just love it.

Later, we will go into more detail on the individual hydroponic plants varieties, and which ones work best with which units. Check out our new  Plants & Produce  section for that!
 

BUT WHICH HYDROPONICS UNIT?

Okay, so you now have an idea of the types of hydroponic plants you want and when to plant them. But which hydroponics method is best suited to your needs?

We provide an introduction to the 4 best and simplest systems to get you started:  But Which Unit?