Vegetable Hydroponics
My hydroponic tomatoes in bloom!
Vegetable hydroponics is a really handy skill to have in the wintertime when fresh, homegrown produce can’t be had. I started getting interested in vegetable hydroponics when I had my first hydroponically grown tomato in the dead of winter. I don’t mean the grocery store type of tomatoes that have no flavor. I am talking about the tomatoes that taste just like the ones you grow in your outdoor garden in the summer. I was truly impressed by the flavor a tomato grown with a vegetable hydroponics system was capable of.
I use my own homemade version of a vegetable hydroponics system to grow tomatoes in the winter. It’s a very basic set up, but it works! I have a small decorative planter that has no drainage hole, a regular fish tank air pump and a bubbler stone to provide aeration for the plant. A small piece of plywood with a hole cut in it to hold the planting pot and a small hole for the air tubing to go through. That’s it! As I said, very basic!
If you’ve ever been curious about vegetable hydroponics, I will try to show you how to get started. To start with, you need to understand a little about hydroponics in general. The vegetable hydroponics plants are started from seed in a special type of plug. They never come in contact with soil. Once started, solution is poured over the young vegetable hydroponics plugs every day until roots begin to show through the plug.
The plugs with the vegetable hydroponics plants are placed in small pots that have lots of holes for the roots to grow through and small gravel completely surrounding the plug to support the roots. You will also need to figure a way to support the plant. I suspend small cords from the ceiling in my garden window.
The vegetable hydroponics plant is then ready to be placed in it’s container with the hydroponics solution. Start off with a slightly weak solution that encourages root and vegetative growth for a week or so. Once your vegetable hydroponics plant is about 2 weeks old you can switch over to full strength hydroponics solution. Be sure to keep an eye on the solution and don’t let it go dry! And replace it every week or so.
After about a month your vegetable hydroponics plant will be ready to start producing flowers. This is when you need to start using the flowering solution, and your vegetable hydroponics will begin to flower, putting on produce. Ah, fresh veggies!
