Indoor Vegetable Hydroponics Gardening

Hydroponics gardening is the growing of plants without soil, in other words, “dirtless gardening”. There are many methods of Hydroponics gardening, most of which work better than regular soil gardening because it is easier to give the plant exactly what it needs as it needs it. Plants will only receive what you give them; therefore you will be able to regulate the pH, nutrients, nutrient strength, water amount, and light amount. Hydroponics give you better control over traditional gardening techniques. Since the system can be automated, the amount of time and energy that is required to maintain a hydroponics garden is less than with a traditional garden. As long as enough water is present and growing medium the plants can be left unattended for a longer period of time. This makes it necessary that you research the kind of vegetable plants you will be growing so you know what they need to survive.

A home-based hydroponics garden can grow vegetables year round. The concern about pests and the composition of the soil are not an issue with this type of gardening. Another bonus with this type of gardening is how fast you can have mature vegetables indoors (by increasing the amount of growing medium). The types of plants that are best for hydroponics are ones with thin spider-like roots. Plants that have a bulb root system like beets, potatoes, carrots, onions, and radishes are still best grown in the traditional soil method inside a pot or outside. When you are ready to begin, germinate the seeds for your plants like you normally would. When the seed has started to sprout and has approximately 2-5 millimeters of growth it is ready to transplant to the hydroponics container and begin growing.

The growing medium used in Hydroponics gardening can be any number of things, such as Rockwool, perlite, coconut fiber, gravel, sand, vermiculite, or even air. You can get instructions from a gardening store, online, or buy separate parts and build your own. There are also kits already assembled for sale in gardening supply stores. There are certain micro-nutrients that are necessary for healthy plant growth including magnesium, sulfur, calcium, cobalt, boron, iron, copper, manganese, and zinc. These nutrients are absolutely essential to plants and if missing could cause the food to not be as healthy and in some cases even cause health problems for those who eat it. It is very important that you use a quality fertilizer when Hydroponics gardening. Another important aspect of Hydroponics gardening that must be closely regulated is the pH balance. When the pH balance varies the plants will lose the ability to absorb nutrients that it needs. The ease with which the pH in Hydroponics gardening is tested and controlled give it a huge advantage over regular dirt gardening.

Lighting for Hydroponic growing can be either natural or artificial. Natural lighting can be provided by a sunroom or a southerly facing window. "Grow" lighting comes in many different types and styles. Simple incandescent grow bulbs are still manufactured. Flourescent grow lighting is still a popular choice. Metal-Halide lighting is usually used in larger indoor vegetable growing ventures but requires it's own power supply and consumes a substantial amount of electricity. LED grow lighting is the newest lighting available. Although LED is the most energy efficient, prices are still relatively high for this new lighting, but should come down as more manufacturers get into this market. Below are some clickable image examples of typical lighting and stands for indoor vegetable growing that are available from Gardener's Supply and other vendors.

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Gurney's stocks a wide variety of fruit, flower, and vegetable seeds and plants that work well for container gardening.

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Bob Haslam