When people first hear about hydroponic gardening they think it something that is too hard for normal people to do. Well, that true and it's not true. There are huge commercial hydroponic facilities that use very sophisticated computer automation software and have many employees working around the clock. But there are also people who set up backyard hydroponic systems that they make themselves with everyday materials that can be purchased at any mega box store (target, k-mart, etc). It really depends on the amount of food that you want to produce and the method of production that you plan on using. We'll get to the different methods in a minute.

For many people growing hydroponic vegetables is actually easier than growing in soil for a couple reasons. Because in a hydroponic system plants are grown in a soil-less medium there is no weeding required. This is great news for older people who have trouble bending over or for people who just don't want to put the time into building up quality soil. One positive result of there being no soil is there are no soil born pests or diseases. This limits the need for any sort of pesticides. This is good news for anyone who is going to eat the fruit from plants grown hydroponically. This eliminates the damaging effects of pesticides on the environment and people.

Speaking of being environmentally friendly, using the hydroponic method for growing plants uses 1/10th the amount of water as traditional farming. The nutrient water recirculates in the system and it only needs to be changed once a week or so. It is possible to grow plants organically.



Another advantage of hydroponic gardening is the ability to grow vegetables in regions that are not normally able to produce plants like deserts, rocky, or mountainous regions.

Let's go through the various methods to grow hydroponically...


The Wick System
This is a passive irrigation system. Essentially, the plant is grown in a soil-less medium like expanded clay in conjunction with a capillary pad that wicks nutrient solution up from a reservoir to keep the growing medium and the plant's roots moist.

Ebb and Flow
Sometimes also called flood and drain this system consists of two trays. The lower drain holds the nutrient solution and the top tray hold the growing medium. A timer causes a water pump to fill the upper tray with water at set intervals until the water reaches above the drain pipe at which point the water drains back down into the holding reservoir. Once the upper tray fills past this point the water recirculates into the lower tray until the pump turns off and all the water trickles through a small drain hole. This process keeps the grow medium regularly flushed with water and gives the roots adequate air.

Drip Irrigation
Also called top irrigation, a nutrient solution is applied as you would with a plant in a pot. This can either be done by hand or with a water pump and a drip irrigation system.

Deep Water Culture
This method requires a flat with net pots to be placed above a tank of aerated water so that only the roots are suspended in the water.

This concludes this article on hydroponic gardening. Future articles with include topics like: the history of hydroponics, grow media, lighting, and how to build your own systems.