How to Prepare and Start a Hydroponic Garden

Most people take up hydroponic gardens for one simple reason - they’re fun! You can experiment with a number of different plants grown in a variety of materials, including water, perlite or rockwool. You will gain a better understanding and appreciation for how these plants grow and thrive in the new materials. You will have to be sure that you do plenty of preparation to make sure that your plants are successful, however.

The first thing you will need is the most obvious thing – a plant. Whether you choose a pre-existing plant or a seedling, the type of plant that you choose will dictate the rest of your preparations. You will be able to grow a range of plants in a hydroponic environment, including tomatoes. Tomato plants are the most popular starting plant for new hydroponic gardens. These plants drink and love a bunch of water and without containers, they can grow to enormous sizes.

Hydroponic gardens don’t use any soil to support the plant as it grows, but they do use substitutes. Water is the most common form used in hydroponic gardens, but it doesn’t support a growing plant well against the forces of gravity. You can use a number of different methods instead.

Look for a small container with good support for the stem. You can find supports like wooden ice cream sticks or plastic straws glued to the containers or put together by string. In addition, you can look for kits that are available that can supply all of the structural and support pieces that you need for your plants.

The container that you will need and the size you will need will all depend on the plant that you have and how old it is. Most of the time, you are safe with a pot that is 6 – 12 inches deep and roughly 3 feet wide. You will need smaller pots for smaller plants, but even a single tomato plant needs a lot of room to grow, so it’s better to give your plants more room than less room in the beginning. You don’t want their growth stifled because they don’t have enough container room. You don’t want to work on re-potting your plant right away since this is a more advanced technique.

After you fill the container with water, you can put in the permite or rockwool later, once you have become more familiar with what you need in your hydroponic garden. You will need clean water, but it doesn’t have to be distilled. Plants grow better with tap water that has the minerals in it, but be sure that it’s free from organisms. You can stick it in the microwave for a few minutes to be sure there are no organisms that could attack your plant.

The water needs to be aerated, so you will want to look into an aquarium pump and filter. You can get one that goes in a fish tank, but a hydroponic pump and filter are much better choices since they give the right amount of oxygen at the right speed for the plants.

         

Hydroponics How to Tips and Guide