A Year-Round Harvest with Indoor Organic Hydroponics

The growing season for most of the United States spans on average from May to October. So for six months out of the year, fresh produce can be harvested from your outdoor garden. For the remainder of the year, one has to rely on grocery store produce, unless the harvest has been preserved in some way. Most people will agree that the quality of grocery store produce is inferior to that which is produced in the home garden. It has typically been shipped in from California and Mexico, losing quality along the way. For optimal nutrition and quality, a person would need to grow their food year round. For the majority of the people in the United States, that is just not possible.

One possible solution is to grow vegetables inside over the winter under grow lights. This involves bringing soil inside or purchasing potting mixes. This can get quite messy. In addition, there may be insects lying in dormancy in the soil, ready to spring back to life in the warm confines of your home. This is true even in bags of purchased potting mix. So dreams of growing your own vegetables in the dead of winter can easily turn into a disaster.

Fortunately, there is a way of growing vegetables indoors with less mess and fuss. Hydroponics is a system of growing plants without soil. If you provide water, nutrients, and adequate light, plants can grow and thrive. Nothing else is needed. Many people think of hydroponics as being expensive or too technical to implement in the home. This is certainly true of some of the higher-end commercial systems. However, one can grow vegetables with a very inexpensive passive hydroponic system. If you have a nice sunny windowsill, you don't even need a grow light. With a little bit of time and effort, one can enjoy organic salad fixings all winter long while the snow piles up in garden outdoors.

One might have to wonder if growing salad fixings indoors during the winter is worth the effort. Why not just go to the neighborhood grocery store and buy everything needed to make a salad? The simple fact of the matter is that it is extremely simple to set up a passive hydroponic system. It requires only a few minutes of time to set up and a few minutes a week to maintain. During the winter months while everyone else is stuck eating grocery store produce that has been shipped thousands of miles across the country, the hydroponic grower can be dining on freshly picked salad greens, radishes, and carrots.

The grocery store can not possibly offer anything comparable to home-grown vegetables in terms of quality and nutrition. It is a well-known fact that produce loses valuable nutrients and quality upon shipping. In colder northern climates, one has to rely on produce shipped from warmer areas to get through the winter. It may take weeks from the time the produce is picked to when it arrives at the neighborhood store. There the produce will sit for an undetermined time until a consumer purchases it. All the while, the nutrient counts are falling, as is the quality. The best produce in terms of taste and quality is that which is consumed shortly after harvesting.

Another disadvantage of relying only on the grocery store for produce during the winter is that varieties are limited. Typically the varieties available in grocery stores are chosen for their storage ability, not their flavor. In most cases these are not the best tasting cultivars available. By growing vegetables from seed in a hydroponic system, one can choose from varieties that are not commonly available in neighborhood grocery stores. Since the varieties you grow from seed do not need to withstand long shipping times, choices can be made based on superior flavor alone.

Probably the biggest disadvantage of relying on the grocer store for vegetables in the winter is the judicious use of pesticides by commercial farmers. Pesticide exposure has been linked to many cancers and health problems. Pesticides are contaminating the water supply and causing irreparable damage to the environment. Through use of an indoor hydroponic system, one can ensure that the vegetables are organic and do not contain any of these harmful chemicals.

The most basic system in hydroponics is called a passive system. All a plant really needs to survive is water, nutrients, light, and air. A simple system consisting of a container, growing medium, water reservoir, a light source, and nutrient mix can be set up for under ten dollars.

Any container can be used provided it has a way for the water and nutrients in the reservoir to reach the growing medium. A basic pot with holes in the bottom is sufficient. One does need to take into consideration the size of your plants at maturity when choosing a pot. A good rule to remember is that the spread of the plant above the ground is roughly equivalent to the size of its root system. Lettuce and other greens do not need much space at maturity. A three inch pot is adequate for one spinach or lettuce plant. A tomato or pepper plant will need a much larger pot. An advantage to hydroponic systems is that the grower can get by with smaller containers because the roots are constantly being fed. The plant has a constant supply of nutrients so the root system does not need to get as big as it would if it were grown in the soil. In the soil, the roots tend to spread out to find water and nutrients. In a hydroponic system, the plant does not need to take the time or effort to produce large roots systems; it can expend more of its energy on growth and production.

Your chosen container will need a water reservoir. The reservoir is going to be where the water and nutrients are stored until the plant needs them. The plant needs to have continuous access to the reservoir. A water reservoir can be as simple as setting the pot in a small basin. The water and nutrients in the basin will wick into the holes in the pot and reach the roots, where they can be absorbed and used by the plant. Although these can certainly be made quite cheaply, these are also available commercially. They are typically sold as "self-watering" pots. These are available in some mass merchandisers. The disadvantage is that the water reservoir is generally quite small. It will need filling more frequently than a home-made one with a larger reservoir. The reservoir does always need to have water in it so it is a wise idea to check it frequently. If it is allowed to run dry, it can mean the death of the plants in your system. Although the growing medium will retain some moisture, it can not sustain the plant long term. The reservoir is really the key to the success of the passive hydroponic system.

The next component needed for the hydroponic system is growing media. This provides support to the roots and plant as it grows, as well as aeration to the roots. Many things can act as a growing medium. The growing medium needs to be able to retain some moisture so it can supply it when needed to the roots. In a passive system, it works best if the growing medium can wick the moisture to the roots through capillary action. To get started, a mixture of half vermiculite and half perlite can be used. These are readily obtainable in the garden section of larger home improvement stores. These are generally used as soil amendments to break up heavy clay. However, they work fine in a hydroponic system.

Typically, plants get all the nutrients they need for growth from the soil. Since there is no soil involved in the hydroponic system, the nutrients needed by the plant will have to be provided in the water. This can be obtained in the form of a nutrient mix. Although pre-formulated organic nutrient mixes can be obtained at hydroponic supply stores and online, you can also mix one yourself from items found at local garden centers. To make your own organic nutrient mix, one needs one teaspoon of fish emulsion, one teaspoon of liquid seaweed, and a half a teaspoon of blood meal. This should be mixed with one gallon of water. The reservoir typically will need filled with nutrient mix once every two weeks. If at any time in the two week period, the reservoir is getting low, plain water should be used to fill it. At the end of the two week period, the reservoir should be dumped. Plain water should be gently run through the growing medium from the top to help flush the system. This ensures that there is never any build-up of unused nutrients that might alter the pH of the system and cause damage to the plant. This should then be dumped and fresh nutrient mix should be used to fill the reservoir. This process then starts over again.

The last component of the system is a light source. For growing salad fixings, all you really need is a sunny window. Fluorescent lights are adequate if you need to supplement the light. Just be sure that the plants are positioned three inches beneath the light for best plant growth. Specialty grow lights are also available, but they are more expensive.

In this type of a system, the roots stay fairly wet. Vegetables that can thrive with their roots in constant contact with moisture are salad greens, including leaf lettuce, Swiss chard, arugula, and spinach. This type of system can also be used for radishes, carrots, and green onions. These plants all have fairly small root systems and can tolerate the wetness.

Although herbs can be grown hydroponically, this is not ideal. Most herbs are of Mediterranean origin. They actually thrive on a bit of neglect. If they are provided with all the water and nutrients they need, the flavor isn't as good. It is the stress of dry conditions that causes the oil production necessary for good flavor in most herbs.

Larger plants like tomatoes, peppers, and squash can be grown indoors but they require a larger system. It is best to do these outdoors due to space and light requirements.

For a small amount of time and money, an indoor organic hydroponic system can be set up that will produces several salads a week throughout the winter months. For the average person, hydroponics will never completely replace growing in soil but just think of how good a fresh-picked salad will taste with your supper on a snowy winter evening. One taste just might make you a winter hydroponic gardener for life.