The Best Hydroponic Plants to Grow
I love hydroponics! Hydroponics is the growing of plants in water through an inorganic growing medium. If you are getting into hydroponics as I did then it can be overwhelming where to start. There are so many plants to choose from and you may not know where to start. Here are the best plants to grow hydroponically. Let’s dive right in!
Table of Contents
1. Lettuce
This is by far the best plant, to begin with, hydroponics. This is the plant I first grew with hydroponics and it is a great plant to learn with. It is an amazingly easy plant to grow that is forgiving in the environment that you give it. It grows fast, often being able to harvest within 1 month of planting seeds. I see seed germination within a few hours and within a few weeks, I can begin to harvest some baby leaves. Delicious!
You can also get several harvests from the plant using the cut and come again method. This is where you allow the plant to grow several inches high then cut all the leaves between 1-2 inches above the base of the plant. This allows the leaves to regrow for another harvest.
This plant is eaten raw and is only rinsed in water before eating, with that said please be careful about buying lettuce as most people only wash them on tap water which can seriously lead to some illnesses and in worst cases be fatal. Try to look for a pick and pay farms near you or even better (if you have the time) grow one at home. This issue could lead to serious health issues if it is handled incorrectly. There are lots of recalls on lettuce due to E. coli breakouts. If you did decide to grow it at home, you can ensure you are getting a clean crop handled properly. On a personal note, I do not buy lettuce for this reason alone at the store.
2. Kale
This is a delicious plant to add to your salad mix and I grow lettuce and kale at the same time. While adult kale is large and takes up a lot of space, you can harvest the leaves while they are smaller to keep the plant compact. Kale also provides multiple harvests with the cut and come again method so you can have a bountiful harvest with a small plant footprint.
Kale is also a great supper food and is one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet. The issue is that Kale loses 30% of these nutrients 3 days after it is harvested. Store-bought kale is often weeks old and you lose much of the gains. If you grow hydroponically, you can increase the yield, eat directly after you harvest, and receive all the health benefits kale has to offer.
3. Basil
Basil is a vigorous plant that will grow very quickly. If you use hydroponic methods, you can make basil grow even faster. You can harvest leaves as it grows and has an unlimited supply of basil.
It can always be grown in a kitchen window and It has a very pleasant aroma to be around as well and I highly recommend adding it to your hydroponic garden.
4. Mint
It is a very vigorous plant that will spread on its own with rhizomes which is a type of underground runner. It’s hard to mess up mint because its such a strong growing plant. Just put it in a hydroponic system with enough space and it will do the rest! It is delicious in drinks, salads, and has a great aroma.
5. Green onion
You can purchase a green onion from the grocery store, bring it home, use some of it, then put the rest into a small container and it will grow again. It goes great in a kitchen windowsill for you can continually cut the stems as you need while it regrows. My wife uses it on our eggs in the morning and it adds a wonderful flavor to breakfast.
6. Strawberry
So I know you have watched the numerous tik tok videos about strawberry bugs like this one from @michelle but *spoiler alert* it has actually been proven that we’ve been eating these “worms” for a long time and it definitely won’t cause us any harm.
On a positive note, however, Do you know that strawberries can be transplanted into a hydroponic system? Hover on my video below as I did just that.
This fruit gives you fresh strawberries all year round for several years if grown indoors before it loses its strength. Strawberries are a self-pollinating plant meaning it has both male and female parts on one flower. It only takes a few seconds to hand pollinate each flower with a small brush like this one. You cannot beat the taste of a freshly picked strawberry!
Can All Plants Be Grown Hydroponically?
Absolutely! All plants need water, nutrients, and plant stability or a place for their roots to take hold of. If you provide all three of these things without soil, the plant will still thrive. However, certain plants are better suited to hydroponics than others.
Leafy greens like lettuce, kale, chard, and arugula tend to be the best and easiest because they grow fast, are compact plants, and no pollination is necessary. Root crops like potatoes, carrots, and beets tend to be the hardest because of the accommodations necessary to make for the large root. Vining plants are also difficult because most hydroponics is done indoors, and vining plants are usually large and take up a lot of space.
Dirt can be substituted for an inorganic grow medium like Rockwool. Rockwool will provide a substance where the roots can take hold and allow the plant to have stability. Rockwool is very absorbent and allows the roots to have plenty of oxygen and water. There are several other types of inorganic grow mediums, but I trust Rockwool the best.
Which Type of Water Should You Use?
The best type of water for hydroponics is distilled water. This water is boiled, and the steam is condensed leaving all dissolved solids behind. This has the least impurities and is a clean slate for you to add your nutrients too.
The most practical method of using distilled water is to combine one gallon of distilled water and 4 gallons of tap water to dilute your mixture to a lower PPM(parts per million).
Hydroponic water does not need to be perfect for water to grow and this is acceptable if your TDS(total dissolved solids) is too high.
Another way to make water is through reverse osmosis. Water runs through these semi-permeable materials that prevent dissolved material from passing through. You can buy this system for under your kitchen sink, but systems tend to be expensive compared to using distilled water.
My plants grow fine with a PPM between 200-300. Soft water and hard water have the same PPM because the process of changing hard water to soft water is purely the exchange of calcium and magnesium for sodium, which I was disappointed to find out.
Neither sodium, calcium, nor magnesium is bound to have a large effect on your hydroponic system. However, if you use pumps, pipes, and valves, the calcium in hard water will build up in your system and may clog it eventually.
Nutrients need to be added to the system to replace what comes naturally in organic soil. I use the General Hydroponics 3-part mix. You add 3 different concentrates to water and create all the nutrients the plant needs.
I highly recommend getting the quart size because I have made over 50 gallons of the solution with the quart size and I have only used about half of the concentrates. Mixing nutrients is quite simple and I show a video on how to mix the concentrates in this video here.
As a note, seedlings come equipped to grow on their own for quite some time before nutrients are needed.
If I do not have a hydroponic solution mix ready, I use water for a while until the seeds germinate and grow for about a week before I add it.
What is The Most Profitable Hydroponic Plant To Grow?
Tricky question, the most profitable is the one you can sell! Price per pound, the average yield of the plant, and growth rates mean nothing if you can’t sell it! So here are the most popular plants out there.
1. Lettuce, kale, and other leafy greens
People understand that lettuce and other leafy greens have a short shelf like and want it fresh. If you can provide them fresh leafy greens, they will give a premium price! Leafy greens are often eaten raw with only rinsing in water and people are concerned about the cleanliness of the food in the stores. If you can prove to them you grow your produce in a sanitized environment, they will flock to you.
Leafy greens are best suited to hydroponics because they are all quick crops that greatly benefit from the boost a hydroponic system gives them. You can make multiple harvests per plant and the yield per square foot of growing space is astonishing.
2. Herbs like cilantro, basil, mint, lavender, rosemary, and parsley
These herbs can all be grown using hydroponics and be sold at a premium price. They tend to go for a higher price than leafy greens and if you can find a customer base is a great option to sell your produce.
Hydroponics is a great way to have fun growing plants in water. You do not have to worry about many pests like gnats or grubs. Gnats were the number 1 reason why I switched from potting soil to hydroponics. It was an absolute warzone in my basement. I could not get rid of them no matter how many remedies I tried. Gnat paper, hydrogen peroxide, and apple cider traps all did nothing to slow the spread of gnats throughout my plants.
Hydroponics does not need to be complicated either. I use the Kratky method which is the best to do for beginners.
All you need is a few things and most of it can be done DIY. I show a video here of the setup I use.
