My Foray into Hydroponics at Home

About fifteen years ago, my good friend and fellow Master Gardener Renai introduced me to her little AeroGarden. It had four pod holes and a different plant growing in each pod. It was in January, so it was nice to see some fresh greens, but I was a little underwhelmed. I had a large garden, and every year I used grow lights to start about 1,000 vegetable, perennial and annual seeds. Why bother with a little AeroGarden?

Times changed and I moved from a large rural property to an in-town condominium. Of course, my grow lights came with me and I continued to start seeds, albeit a lot fewer each year. My grow light stand became a place to store junk and, with great sadness, I gave it away. I still wanted to start my own seeds and decided to try hydroponics. I had seen photos online of tomato plants started hydroponically and they looked amazing. The LED lights of these gardens produce much more light than traditional fluorescent bulbs. There were many types of small hydroponic systems to choose from. I chose a 9-Pod Bounty AeroGarden so I could grow nine plants at once. If using it to grow transplants, you could purchase an insert that would hold 50 plants, while the Harvest models would hold a 24-transplant insert. I later learned the Bounty insert was not available in Canada.

The garden system arrived promptly at the end of November and was easy to set up. I was eager to get started.

Hydroponics Basics

Seeds grow without using soil. The base of the garden is a reservoir of water. The grow deck covers the reservoir, and a pump regularly comes on to circulate the water. If using pre-seeded pods, soak each pod for an hour or two and put it in one of the holes. To plant your own seeds, soak the “sponge” that looks more like a cork in water for an hour and then plant the seed. Put the sponge in a basket and put the basket in one of the holes in the grow deck. Cover with a grow dome. If you are not using all of the holes, cover the empty holes with plant spacers. My garden came with a “Pod Gourmet Seed Kit”. I quickly planted Thai basil and parsley. I also planted some lettuce seeds I had at home from last year’s garden.

Great Early Results

The basil grew exceptionally well. At first, I harvested a bit at a time and gave some to neighbours. It was producing so much that the neighbours hid when they saw me coming. Although I had never made pesto before, I decided to try my hand at it, and we loved it. I made pesto every week or two to use up my basil. I put it in glass jars and into the freezer.

The booklets that accompanied my garden mentioned growing tomato plants in the set up. I did not believe I could successfully grow tomatoes but wanted to try. Rather than using tomato seeds I had on hand, I ordered pre-planted tomato seeds to give them every chance of success. The seed kits have five or six seeds planted in each cage. Once the tomatoes sprout, it is smart to prune out all but one plant.

After two months, I was eating tomatoes. They were Tiny Tims, and they tasted like tomatoes! The downside of tomatoes is they take up all the room they can get. The tomatoes crowded out the parsley and the lettuce. The basil held its own for a while, but the tomatoes eventually crowded it out. I could raise the light on my Aero Garden to 45 cm above the plant deck. I did this gradually, every time the plants grew close to the lights.

Hydroponics Automation, Care and Maintenance

The Garden has a built-in timer for turning the lights on and off. You can set the daily start time for the lights coming on and vary the length of time they are on each day. Your garden also shows when the water level in your reservoir is high, medium or low. A “Low Water Alert” shows when the water gets too low. You should keep the water level atfull but do not let it overflow. I found that when my tomatoes were producing, I used at least 1 litre ofwater every day.

Plant food is essential to grow the plants as this is the only way they get nutrition. My starter kit had a small bottle of liquid plant food (4-5-6). I did the math and decided to buy a 1 litre container. My grow system tells me when it is time to add fertilizer (every two weeks).

Algea in Hydroponics

Algae is a big concern with hydroponic gardens. It is important to cover all the dome holes to keep the light out of the water reservoir. Once per month, coinciding with adding your fertilizer, clean the reservoir. This involves disconnecting the pump and lifting off the plant deck. Have a container handy to sit the deck in. Empty your reservoir and wash it out. Refill the reservoir with fresh, cool water and add the recommended plant food.

While you have the plant deck off, examine the roots of your plants. If the roots are getting long or turning brown, trim them. Long roots can get tangled in the pump and damage it. Reassemble your garden and ensure you have sufficient water.

Join a Hydroponics Community

If you are a Facebook user, I suggest you join a hydroponic group. There are ones especially for Canadians. Members are helpful and generous with their knowledge. It is interesting to see what other people are growing—mini cucumbers, peppers, and even green onions. Many of the Facebook posts talk about having multiple hydroponic gardens. The most I saw was someone who said they had forty!

I have not grown tomato transplants for my outdoor containers. Some folks on Facebook complained that whenever they transplanted seedlings into containers, the seedlings died. Helpful members advised that the way to successfully move seedlingsfrom hydroponics to soil was to keep the soil containers very wet for the first week and gradually decrease the water until it was more normal. Remember, the plants have been growing in water and a sudden transition to soil can be damaging to their roots.

My friend Renai has moved into a retirement home and brought her gardens with her. She takes pride in telling me that the cooks often ask for the fresh herbs she grows in her garden. The herbs grow very quickly and benefit from regular pruning. A win-win.

I have enjoyed growing things hydroponically, and if you are looking to do something indoors, I hope this inspires you to give a hydroponic garden a try.

Tip: Adding a layer of vermiculite over a seed tray helps to prevent damping off, retain moisture and discourages fungus gnats. Adding a layer of fine gravel (e.g. aquarium) to the pots of house plants will also discourage fungus gnats