Hydroponics

pauldreed

Has anyone any experience of growing tomatoes, chillies, salads & herbs (no, not that type of herb!) using hydroponics?
I'm considering a system for my new greenhouse as I like the idea of soiless gardening and being able to leave home for a few days without worrying about the watering.
Does the results taste as good as soil raised produce?

foreign_correspondent

not in my opinion - the dutch grow a llot of their toms using hydroponics and although its ecenomical on a large scale I do feel the flavour suffers.

Suzy_M

I agree with foreign correspondent. I always think hydroponics somewhat defeats the object of grow your own if you want better flavour and quality than you get in the shops.

If you are worried about watering whilst you are away you can easily set up a drip feed system for open ground or a capillary matting system for pots. It needn't cost anything if you use up old hosepipe, carpets, towels etc.

alanobrien

I have used flood and drain hydroponics to grow toms in the greenhouse. Can't say i noticed any difference in taste really but the growth rate was much faster. This year for a change i am going to try growing some in a home made self watering container.....earthbox type of thing. I am also going to grow some rocket via aquaponics indoors linked to the aquarium........which should be interesting.

Angelina-M

The posters who are saying they arent impressed with hydroponics, can I just ask if you have tried growing hydroponically?

The comments about flavour suffering, thats not due to hydroponic growing, thats due the tomatoes being taken off the plant before they are ready so they can ripen in transit otherwise they would be past their best when they reached the shops.

I don't mean to start a fight but I have had this argument time and time again with people who have never tried hydroponic gardening. However everyone I know who has tried it say there is no loss of flavour whatsoever and the plant is healthier, fruits quicker etc.

I love hydroponics. My tomatoes, cucumbers etc are fantastic. In fact I've even got indoor gardens now so I can have a freshly picked tomato on christmas day if I please.

Suzy_M

We tried hydroponics many years ago but compared with what we grew 'normally' in the soil we were very disappointed. Plenty of quantity but not the quality.

I find the flavour of a lot of crops are affected by the type of soil they are grown in. For example, same variety of tomato pot grown in compost differs in flavour from those grown in open ground. - Personally I love the flavour of potatoes grown in the machairs of Scotland.:D

I also think that as most of the crops that can be grown by hydroponics are 'watery' in flavour they need any extra oomph they can pick up from the soil.

I can understand hydroponics has its' advantages, particularly if the grower is not physically able to work the ground or where soil conditions are very poor, - and for the Third World. However, I think if you've got enough ground area to cater for your needs and the ability to work the soil it's worth the effort for flavour alone.

alanobrien

Another advantage with hydroponics is the lower potential for disease and bugs being spread via the soil, i find is especially true with growing cuttings aeroponically.

Andy_Davies

Have you got any fish, if so what about aquaponics?

http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?p=41

Andy

pauldreed

Andy_Davies wrote: »

Have you got any fish, if so what about aquaponics?
http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?p=41
Andy

Andy, the only fish that I have are in the freezer!
Fish bodily fluids, - not for me, I'll stick to bottles of nutrients (and not read the constituant label!)

BigDonut

I've got some tropical fish.
Much as I'd like to setup some kind of indoor aquaponics I'm not sure it would be welcomed by the good lady.

Instead I was thinking about trying to water some plants with the aquarium water when I do a water change.

zanzibar_2

We have been growing hydroponically for several years with great success and last year we started an aquaponic unit with trout.
We would recommend anyone to have a go - its well worth it.
See http://www.herbsfromwales.co.uk
This year we are running courses for those interested in setting up a hydroponic unit and will be also doing an introduction to aquaponics!

The flavour of the produce cannot be beaten !
We were still picking salads and herbs at Christmas time.