Different fresh tasty vegetables isolated on white background[/caption]
Many different plants will work well in a Hydroponic gardening system. In fact, many crops will come out better in the soil free hydroponic environment than they would in a traditional garden plot.
Some plants, however, might struggle a bit and others will do fine but will need some extra babying to really do well. So what are the best vegitables to grow hydroponic style?
This article will give you a run down of what those vegetables are, why they do so well in systems like this, and what you can do to make your success with those crops even better.
Tomatoes: Tomatoes work very well in hydroponic systems. These crops can be very fragile in outdoor gardens because they are susceptible to frost, wind, and lots of little critters that will destroy them easily. Hydroponic systems are a tomatoes dream come true because it takes out many of these factors and the threats that are posed in traditional gardens are eliminated. You will want to make sure that the grow light you have has a heat control, or different bulbs to switch out because when tomato seeds are first growing and germinating they like it hot, and then lower temps when they begin to root. Also make sure that your nutrient solution is high in nitrogen as this will make for happy tomatoes with perky fruits to harvest later on.
Lettuce: Lettuce is one of those vegetable crops that is always hard to kill once it gets going. Growing lettuce in a hydroponic system is about the same way. Once you get those little green blooms, you will be in business and your lettuce will take off giving you an instant salad garden whenever you want. Lettuce likes lower temperatures than most crops, so put the lettuce in a different area so that you can keep it at the lower temperatures they like without disrupting a more hot and sweaty plant from other crops.
Peppers: We are talking pretty much any kind of pepper. Hot peppers, sweet peppers, bell peppers, you name it. Peppers are hardy plants that enjoy heat and humidity. This means being partially submerged in water under hot grow lights is like a tropical vacation for most pepper plants. In fact, once they get going, peppers will most likely need to be staked because they will grow so tall so fast with the help of the nutrients and heat provided to them through the hydroponic gardening system.
Spinach: Make Popeye proud and plant yourself some hydroponic spinach. This is a leafy crop a lot like lettuce, which makes it almost as easy to grow a successful crop. You will have to be more careful with the nutrient solution used for Spinach than you will for lettuce as spinach can be a little more testy and particular right at the beginning. In fact, if you didn’t want to deal with the headache of getting spinach seeds to germinate, you could always eliminate that step of the process and go straight for seedlings or starters.
There is a process of removing the soil from the roots, but once this is done, you will have a lovely little spinach head ready to grow happily in your hydroponic gardening system. Spinach is always a good crop to have because if you are careful and harvest it by snipping off just the leaves, those leaves will re-grow and you will get more than one harvest from the single plant. It is the crop that keeps on giving.
Herbs: While not technically vegetables, herbs do very well in hydroponic systems. They like the regularity of temperature and light, and with the right nutrient solution in the water, will sprout up very fast. You will never have to buy dried and supplemented spices again once you get your hydroponic herb garden going. What we love most about the herbal gardens in hydroponic systems is that a little bit of herb goes a long way. That means you don’t need a whole section of thyme- just one plant should be enough for one household. Herbs also do well growing side by side, so this saves on space for you. If you are a novice with growing and using fresh herbs, then be sure to mark what each plant is so that you don’t get confused between them.
Cucumbers: These little guys will grow like crazy in hydroponic systems, so make sure you like cucumbers or are ready to make pickles when the crop matures, because you will be swimming in cucumbers soon enough. The way to get the best cucumbers in the soil free systems of hydroponic gardening will be to crank up the heat and use white lights to get those leaves going. White LED lights will get you the biggest cucumbers in the fastest times.
Eggplants: This very healthy and beautiful vegetable loves hydroponic gardening. They are low maintenance as well. There is no special trick to getting them to grow well. They will flourish no matter what system you use. Not everyone likes eggplant, but if you are a fan, then there is no reason you should try planting some eggplant. You will find that the eggplant grown in your indoor hydroponic gardening system will taste fresher and be more crisp than eggplant grown in more traditional ways. That is because you will be taking away many of the factors that can make eggplant mushy or bland out in the wild land of soil.
Strawberries: Clearly this is not a vegetable either, but we have to include it in the list because they grow so well in hydroponic systems. These little berries love the warmth and moisture they get from hydroponic systems. You will get more berries from a plant grown in this way than you will in any other way. You will also never see an end to the producing season. There will be no cold front to stop it, so you will have fresh strawberries all year round.