Even though it’s still cold out, it’s time to take out your gardening supplies. Now, with hydroponics, gardening can finally be a year-round activity! In this easy and comprehensive guide, we’ll show you how to grow hydroponics for beginners.
Grow fruits, veggies, and herbs without worrying about seasonality! Discover how easy it is to grow faster and larger plants with a hydroponic garden. Let’s get those green thumbs going and dive in!
First Things First: What Is a Hydroponic Garden?
A hydroponic garden is a way to grow plants without soil. The roots are submerged in nutrient-rich water instead of soil. Typically, these systems can grow indoors, and most importantly, they are self-watering and self-fertilizing.
The best part is you can grow hydroponics at home or anywhere! It takes the stress out of gardening, so you can see the fruits of your labor!
How Does Hydroponics Work?
In hydroponic gardening, the nutrients needed for plants are dissolved in your water and absorbed through the roots. In traditional gardening, plants in soil have difficulty seeking out their minerals. As a result, soil-grown plants typically grow smaller than hydroponically grown gardens.
How to Grow Hydroponically and How to Build a Hydroponic Garden
There are many ways to build a hydroponic system, but the simplest method is the deep water culture (DWC) system. This is where plants are suspended above a tank of water so they can absorb the nutrients needed for growth. Typically these materials are needed to build out your hydroponic DWC garden:
- A container – This will act as your growing medium for your plant’s water and nutrients. Pro tip: pick a container with a lid and drill holes through it. The lid will act as a stabilizer for your pots and plants.
- Net pots and substrates – Net pots hold and suspend your plants in water. The pots have slits in the sides so your plant’s roots can grow and reach the water below. The substrates are where you germinate your plants. You’ll add the plant and substrate into the net pot to replace typical soil gardening.
- LED grow lights – If you are growing your garden indoors, it’s essential to have light directed at your plants. The lights will help to create glucose, so your plant can grow nice and tall!
- Air pump – Thisis very important to the growing process. The pump helps tooxygenate the water and balance the pH in the container.
Hydroponic Nutrients and Fertilizer
Once you have built your hydroponic garden, the next step is to ensure your plants get the proper nutrients. There are two ways to do this. One is liquid fertilizer, and the other is dry fertilizer.
There’s no wrong way to go, but the simplest nutrient solution would be to buy a fertilizer made for your plant. Buy tomato hydroponic fertilizer for your tomatoes and pepper hydroponic fertilizer for your peppers. You can’t go wrong!
How to Support Your Hydroponic Garden
Now it’s time to watch your plant babies grow! Once your hydroponic plants have bloomed and flowered, your garden may start to get a bit top-heavy. The best way to keep your plants from tipping over is by supporting them!
Though you can’t place a stake in the water, there are several different ways to solve this issue. You can use a trellis, a PVC pipe cage, or even a wire tomato cage along with our VELCRO® Brand Garden Ties. This will help support your plants and as a gentler tie for stems, the fastener can be cut to size and adjusted as your plant grows.
With this comprehensive guide on how to grow hydroponics for beginners, you’re ready to create your dream garden!
