So, you’re interested in starting your own hydroponic indoor garden! You’ve probably got a lot of questions regarding getting started including a big one, do you need special seeds for hydroponics?
No! You certainly don’t need to buy special seeds for growing a hydroponics garden. But you will need to choose seeds that are practical and seeds that will grow in your space.
If you want to know the best seeds to start your hydroponics garden, you came to the right place.
So read this article for a great selection of seeds, and why using hydroponics is the right way to go.
Can You Grow Normal Seeds in Hydroponics?
Absolutely. You can grow any seed in a hydroponics system.
This is one of the reasons why hydroponics is increasing in popularity today.
It gives you control over the garden’s environment, which gives you the ability to grow almost any type of produce on the market:
- you can change the temperature quickly and easily
- you don’t need to worry about soil conditions
- It alleviates any worry about pests or pollution, which takes away any unwelcome hassle in the farming process.
The Best Seeds for Hydroponics
This is the exciting part of hydroponics, as many seeds do very well in a hydroponics garden.
Once you get comfortable with the process, you’ll soon find yourself growing flowers, vegetables, fruit, herbs, and more!
There are no specific seeds to use in hydroponics, however there are five very easy options for a beginner to get started with that will almost take off on their own.
- Herbs
- Lettuce
- Bell Peppers
- Spinach
- Strawberries
Once you learn how to care for the above, you can start including other options for a large variety of produce!
This produce does extremely well and it does not seem to miss doing any growth in soil.
There are many flowers that do extremely well in water and also can be grown with water from seedlings or cuttings.
Of all the flowers people rely and prefer to grow their indoor gardens are:
- Carnations
- Daffodils
- Dahlia
- Gerbera
- Hoya
- Amaryllis
- Begonias
- Peace Lily
- Petunia
- Snapdragon
- Zinna
- Freesia
- Lavander
- Chrysanthemums
- Daisies
- Hyacinth
- Iris
- Morning Glory/Poppy
- Orchid
While the above lists may appear to be long, these are only a number of the more popular options available.
While there are some items that are difficult to grow this way, there aren’t too many things you cannot grow.
Planning Ahead: some varieties simply may take longer and require more effort than the others.
Seeds to Steer Clear Of
Like some of the plants/crops you may not want to try and grow in a hydroponic garden, there are a few others that may prove to be difficult
Some plants that are either very tall or underground will present a challenge for the gardener:
- Melons: Melons, especially watermelons, will do quite well in a hydroponic garden; however, the challenge is managing them due to their size.
- Vining plants: As you might think, these are going to be a real challenge to control indoors.
- Corn: Due to height, corn is not a great crop to grow in a hydroponic garden.
- Potatoes: Any crop that grows beneath the ground is going to be challenging in a hydroponic setting.
We want to be clear, just because it might be challenging to grow these crops, doesn’t mean it is impossible.
If it is something you would like to try and add to your hydroponic garden, you can do it.
Growing Heirloom Seeds
Heirloom seeds are a fool-proof way to get some durable and hardy seeds when you start your journey into hydroponics.
Heirloom seeds come from generation to generation of a specific plant through open germination.
The plants have lasted and thrived so long without any interruption from a gardener, which is what makes these plants appealing in the sense that they are easy to grow and maintain.
The strong genetic integrity with these seeds is appealing for gardeners because they are adaptable.
What Is the Best Medium for Growing Hydroponic Seeds?
Well, there are many options available for growing hydroponic seed.
There are only a couple that the hydro garden folks would say:
- coconut coir
- expanded Clay
- Rockwool
- pumice
- peat moss
- grow stones
When thinking about what you want to use as your medium to grow your hydroponic seeds, you need to think of the plant you will grow, the size and where you plan on growing your plant.
For example, if you are planning on wanting to grow herbs or succulents, you will not want to buy grow stones as they will be to big and will not work!
On another note, if you are going to use coco peat, you need to add a source of nutrients to the mix, as coco peat is a medium that does not have any of that by itself!
Seeds Vs. Cuttings (Clones)
There are only two ways to get your own plants in a hydroponic system with
- one being with the seeds
- and the other is with cuttings
Cuttings are stems from a parent plant that are put into a garden to grow into their own separate adult plant.
These are also referred to as clones as they will look just like the parent plant.
Cuttings
People prefer to go with cuttings; that way the gardener has peace of mind about exactly what type of plant they are going to have and they will be able to keep growing the best-producing plants over and over again.
Good to know: Cuttings also grow faster than seeds, about 3 months quicker.
Seeds
Now, seeds are a safer route as they offer gardeners a clean slate; so there’s no chance of recreating a diseased plant and growing healthily crops.
You also have a much greater variety of options when growing crops from seeds, unlike cuttings, you aren’t limited with what is currently in season, you can grow whatever you want at the time!
Lastly, seeds are advantageous for just being much cheaper to purchase, and you can find them just about anywhere so you’ll save a pile of money.
How to Germinate Seeds for Hydroponics
Once you are ready for the growing process, you will need to germinate your seeds.
You can easily do this by purchasing pre-cut Rockwool starter cubes, these are cubes that are cut evenly for you and they have prepared holes for you to place each seed in.
Before putting your seeds into the Rockwool, you should presoak it for around 5-10 minutes, and then placing it on top of a warming mat.
Doing this will help your seeds start growing much faster than placing them in on dry mat and watering periodically.
After you have soaked your Rockwool, remove the excess dripping water, then place your chosen seeds into each hole.
Final Step: When you are finished, put your Rockwool and seeds on the heating mat, covering your tray, watering daily until your seeds begin to sprout.
Summing Things Up
You will probably find some places selling seeds as “hydroponics”, there is really no such thing.
If the conditions are proper, any seeds you see at a farmers market or at a farm and tractor supply store will grow perfectly well in your hydroponics garden, and that is one of the top attractions to this plant-growing system.