Hydroponic Plants Include Vegetables, Fruit and Herbs

Vegetable, flower or herb plants grown without soil are considered hydroponic plants. Using nutrient enriched water, seeds and plants grow and produce fruit and vegetables without soil. You can grow a hydroponic garden either outside or indoors, or in a greenhouse. By using hydroponic growing techniques, it is possible for you to have fresh produce year round.

Those culinary herbs you like are easily grown using the hydroponic method. Spearmint, peppermint, catnip and those specialty cultivars like chocolate mint are fast growing herbs that you can use in cooking and beverages. Chives, which are a bit heavier, grow best using sand as the soilless growing medium. However, when grown in this manner they’ll need to thinned out every few months due to the accelerated growth caused by the ease of obtaining food.

You can also grow rosemary, oregano and basil in water gardens. Lemon balm, cilantro and dill are good choices to use for filling in the areas between taller vegetable plants. If you plant fragrance herbs such as lavender, anise and pennyroyal, you’ll find they will scent the air around the garden.

The varieties of flowers that you can grow in a hydroponic system are limitless. Chrysanthemums, tulips, xenias, daisies and roses will produce beautiful blooms for fresh cut flowers year round. You’ll find smaller flowers such as marigold, snapdragons and pansies add color to the garden. Even cultivar flowers that vine like the wave petunias, geraniums and nasturtiums will provide cover for the garden container and use less vertical space.

When deciding on which hydroponic vegetables to plant, don’t forget to plant leaf vegetables like hydroponic lettuce. Spinach and the many varieties of leaf lettuces grow easily and are nice to use around the edge of a hydroponic garden. When fully grown they are less than eight inches tall forming a green border around taller, climbing or trellised plants. You can also plant kale, collards and leeks in the center of the garden where their height and thickness will fill in the area left open by climbing vegetables and fruits.

If you love tomatoes, you’ll definitely enjoy growing hydroponic tomatoes. The smaller varieties such as Roma, red and yellow cherry and grape tomatoes are easily trained to grow up not out. By using a trellis or wire support system, your grape salad tomatoes can produce many pounds of fruit for your salads. The heavier tomatoes will grow in a hydroponic garden but are bit more difficult to support. Remember though, the types of hydroponic plants that you choose to grow should be those that you also enjoy eating.

Hydroponic strawberries are the most common fruit grown using the soilless method of gardening. There are many varieties of hanging everbearing strawberry cultivars available. In fact, many types of berries do very well in hydroponic gardens. You can grow bush fruits such as blueberries, as well as raspberries, blackberries, dewberries and gooseberries. Not surprisingly, watermelon, cantaloupe and other melons thrive in hydroponic gardens and produce healthy stems and fruit. The types of hydroponic plants you can grow are jus about unlimited. The size of your hydroponic garden is the only limit to how many varieties of vegetable, herb and fruit plants you can grow. Gardening without soil is cost effective, easy to maintain and you will enjoy beauty and produce all year round.