Hydroponics and Indoor Gardening

Image via WikipediaIf you have heard of hydroponics or other methods of growing plants without soil and want to try it out at home, you can. Hydroponics systems are generally pretty easy to care for and set-up at home. There are materials you can buy or some you may even be able to find around the house.

The dirt or soil that you use to grow plants in a traditional method is substituted with a growing medium (full of nutrients the plant needs to grow) in hydroponics gardening. The growing medium is fed directly to the roots by method of a drip-feeder. The system can be automated and the gardener can control how many drips the roots receive in a specified time frame. The more of the growing medium the faster the plants grow.

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.

Image via WikipediaA home-based hydroponics garden can grow vegetables year round. The concerns about pests and the composition of the soil are less of 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 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.

Be sure to check back later this week for more tips on hydroponic growing systems and indoor gardening!