I’ve been experimenting with a new-ish hobby: Hydroponic indoor growing. This is gardening without soil – using just water and nutrients. I have been doing it regularly for the last couple of months (off and off for a few years), and wanted to post an update.
I’ve been using three different methods:
- Commercial AeroGardens
- The Kratky Method
- Home made custom hydroponic system
I started with a commercial AeroGarden Farm Plus, and a smaller, Harvest Slim. In these, I have herbs and salad greens.
April 20 
May 10 (ready for the SECOND harvest!)
April 20 
May 9
The growth is super fast (as you can see from the photos above) and we have been harvesting as we go – specifically, using the “cut and come again” method. This means we can continue to trim off parts to use, while leaving it to grow more.
This started to get more and more interesting, so I joined a Facebook group to learn more. I saw some of the other members using something called the Kratky method, and decided to try that too.
Today, we’ve expanded a bit further. This one, below, is still a passive system, with no pump or water flow of any sort. These are green onions from the grocery store – we are re-growing these to use repeatedly.
So is this one:
And today, we built a home-made aeroponic system, from a large black and yellow tote, and some PVC pipe:
Stay tuned for updates!
Automattic
Very cool. I find this super interesting.
I do worry about 1)space and 2) time consumption.
How do you find those? Expensive?
Hi Shana! It would appeal to you because it combines science and growing things – two of your passions. As for space, yes, that’s a definite consideration. But they tuck into corners or on shelves, and I enjoy both the light and the greenery. My mom had a ton of plants when I was growing up and I guess I’m used to it.
Time consumption: Well, as you know, I’m pretty famous for not keeping plants alive. But I find this more simple, in that the timing of the work that’s required is flexible. There is enough water that my seedlings and young plants aren’t going to die if I don’t get around to checking them any given morning, or even for a day or two. I am checking water levels, PH and nutrient levels a couple of times a week. Any hobby does take some time and I tend to get obsessive. I imagine it would be possible to do it without obsessing.
Expensive: Depending on the route you go and how deep you get, yes, it can cost money. Some systems are less expensive – the Kratky method is super inexpensive!
Also, the growth times are not dependent on outside forces like time of the year or the weather. I find this suits me better as I can plant when the interest strikes me!
Ooooh! Sounds intriguing!
That last picture of the Aeroponic system is amazing! I couldn’t set something up like that by myself!
That YouTube video I linked in the article gives pretty amazing step-by-step instructions! We followed it very closely. ?