Hydroponic Gardening In Small Spaces

Copyright (c) 2008 Kaye Dennan

Growing hydroponically is an experience one should have. The system supplies plentiful vegetable crops, is virtually organic and weed free and the kids love it. It is a fantastic system for small courtyards or even inside.

There are millions of frustrated apartment dwellers that would love to have a garden but feel that the 'conventional garden' is not possible because they do not have the space for soil nor the time for weeding.

Hydroponic gardening is great because it allows us to avoid those concerns. All you need is the correct set up and the correct use of nutrients in the water. It is a very simple way to grow pants that are virtually organic and weed free.

Even those of us living in relatively small spaces can grow fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs. Yes, that's right, with hydroponic gardening it is easy to grow the freshest of fruit and vegetables in even the smallest of spaces.

There are all sizes of hydroponic set ups, from something quite elaborate to even just a sealed deep tray. With the right mix to stand the plants in and the correct nutrients, plants will grow quite easily under the correct light situation.

The plants need to be set up in a way that the roots only, are in the water, and the leaves above the water. There are several ways of doing this and you need to decide how big an area you want to put into an hydroponic garden so that you can use the correct set up.

You can have a set up that is set out in rows at waist level, a set up that is attached to a wall with several troughs up the wall, or you may choose to only have a few smaller, box type, arrangements that are sealed to hold the water.

If you choose to grow your plants inside for any particular reason this, too, is quite possible and very successful with hydroponic gardening. You may choose to use an internal courtyard, the garage or any other type of room that does not have good outside lighting. One can even successfully convert a linen closet into a garden with the right hydroponic know-how and a specialty light. Lighting set ups will need to be installed for all inside growing.

Hydroponic growing is ideal for organic vegetables and fruits and are much easier to control than those grown in soil situations. With hydroponics the growing time for, say, a lettuce is approximately 6 weeks as opposed to 3 months for a soil garden. This rapid growing system produces results in approximately a third of the time of conventional methods of growing and is one reason alone why gardeners should choose to grow hydroponically. It is great for growing vegetables for a family and also for involvement as a family hobby. Small children love watching their plants grow and they can start picking herbs and lettuce leaves within weeks.

Another group of people who would find hydroponic growing beneficial are the elderly because of the fact that it can be set up to be at waist height and therefore eliminates that back breaking work. Also there is virtually no weeding and bending over to tend the plants. A smaller type system could be set up for the elderly in their courtyard and would easily produce fresh healthy food for a couple.