Best Crops For Hydroponics: Cultivating Veggie Hydroponics At Home

Vegetable Plants In An Indoor Hydroponic System
hydro crops
(Image credit: Tatomm)

As you’re aware, hydroponic growing is done mostly indoors without soil. Perhaps you’ve never practiced growing in water or have only dabbled in this method of growing. Maybe you’re an expert. In any situation, you may be curious to know which indoor hydroponic vegetables are easiest to grow.

Hydroponics at Home

Commercial growers have long used this manner of growing for a wide range of crops. Most suggest that you limit your beginning efforts to just a few of the easy crops until you’re familiar with the process. Using hydroponics at home is growing in popularity.

Other than indoor hydroponic vegetable crops, you can also grow herbs and ornamentals inside in water. Hydroponic growing is done in special containers, with nutrients added at the appropriate time. Vigorous crops are produced in this manner, but not every crop grows well. Below we’ll list which crops grow most vigorously using this method.

Hydroponic crops can grow from seeds, cuttings, or be started with a small plant. Reportedly, most crops grow faster when grown hydroponically than when growing in soil.

Best Crops for Hydroponics

Both warm season and cool season crops can grow hydroponically. Added warmth and light are often needed for warm season crops.

Here are the most commonly grown hydroponic veggies:

Herbs are listed as one of the top five best crops to grow with hydroponics. Try the following:

Grow lights are a consistent means of getting the necessary light and usually more reliable than using a window. However, a southern window that provides the necessary six hours of sunlight is less expensive. You can grow this way in a well-lighted greenhouse too, as well as growing any time of year.

Various substrates are used when growing in this manner. Substrates, instead of soil, hold your plants upright. These may be pumice, vermiculite, coconut fiber, pea gravel, sand, sawdust, and a few others.

Becca Badgett
Writer

Becca Badgett was a regular contributor to Gardening Know How for ten years. Co-author of the book How to Grow an EMERGENCY Garden, Becca specializes in succulent and cactus gardening.