Having an indoor herb garden is a convenient way of being able to add herbs while cooking meals. You can have fresh basil, mint, rosemary and thyme all year long. One of the most effective and easiest ways of growing savory herbs at home is by using a hydroponic herb garden system. Here are some useful tips and tricks to starting your own indoor hydroponic herb garden.
Water - Plants grown in an indoor herb garden require less water compared to soil based gardens. This is because the hydro system is able to recycle the nutrient solution.
Important Equipment - Every herb grower who uses the hydroponic method should have a digital PH test and CF meter to accurately check the PH and nutrient strength of the system.
Hydroponic Lighting - It is important to provide plenty of natural light for your hydroponic herb garden. Your best bet is to use LED grow lights
Seedlings - Once your seedlings grow, you should rinse the roots gently as opposed to scrubbing them before placing into hydroponic solution. This keeps some of the dirt that is necessary for fragile roots.
Growing Medium - It is advisable to use Rockwool as a growing medium because it holds moisture and nutrients best.
Hydroponic Nutrients - Having the right amount of hydroponic nutrients for your hydroponic herb garden is crucial for growth because you are not using soil. When you use nutrient solutions, make sure to control the chemical balance of nutrients to water on a daily basis and record the levels.
Passive vs Active - You can have a passive hydroponic system that contains no moving parts. This is similar to cutting a houseplant and placing it in a jar of water for it to grow roots. An active hydroponic system uses pumps and other methods of providing nutrient solutions to roots in an ongoing cycle. The active methods include Deep Water Culture, Flood and Drain, Drip, Aeroponics, and Nutrient Film Technique (NFT).
An indoor hydroponic herb garden system is simple to set up but requires sufficient amount of time spent on monitoring growth. This is to ensure that your plants will have optimal growth and tasty herbs for cooking.
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what if i started my plants in the ground, then try a hydro technique? would it work ? i could care less about the potency at this point i just wanna be able to grow it before i worry about that. or could i just grow a regular plant and was the roots and then try hydro growing methods? i really would just like a CHEAP way out, funds are low.
can i use a fish aquarium with the filter that comes with that? and i know this sounds silly but what about a fish aquarium with filter along with (dare i say it) a algee eater? please email me an let me know. I AM A NEWBIE SO BARE WITH ME.
Yes, you can start you plants in the ground if you like. You could grow them all summer and when the fall rolls around, you can pull them and gently wash off the roots (no scrubbing, leave some dirt on them) and place them in your hydroponic unit.