I follow several homesteaders and gardeners who use small indoor hydroponic gardens to grow fresh food in very small spaces, during inclement weather, and in rental homes where they are unable to have a garden. I have tried container gardening (both here on the homestead and on my previous apartment balcony) but I hadn't tried indoor hydroponics - until now. This is the review of my experiment up until now.
What Are Indoor Hydroponic Garden Systems
I have seen examples of extremely large hydroponic growing systems. One system was in a large building in an urban setting. The operation was large and provided a significant amount of fresh vegetables. I am not currently able to remember the name of that group. But their story was pretty amazing. I have seen other hydroponic growing systems that include large tanks of fish, with plants growing just above the surface of the water. The plants and fish work together to create a preferred growing environment. The idea of the Indoor Hydroponic Garden system is similar, but on a small personal scale.
Some folks are able to use containers that include small fish and grow a plant just above the surface of the water. I needed easier than that. So I chose the mass-produced growing systems.
Initially, I chose a very small, 6 pod, AeroGarden brand. Then on the advice of two friends, I chose a 12 pod Mufga brand system. I have set up the 12 pod MUFGA and gave the 6 pod AeroGarden as a gift.
Indoor Hydroponic Gardens provide the light (LED lights in the colors that plants need) and water to the plants automatically. The "pods" are holes in the top of the water container that hold baskets of some sort of growing material (not soil). You simply place the seeds in the top of the growing material, place the growing material into the basket, place the basket into the hole in the container, and push a button. The growing light is currently just above the pods but it is on a telescoping arm that will move up as the plants grow taller.
I set my system up on December 30, 2024, Now, a mere 7 days later, I have lettuces that have germinated and are looking great. The system only takes up a portion of one of the shelves that is where I normally start my seeds in the spring. Speaking of which, many folks use the indoor hydroponic gardens to start their seeds for outdoor gardens; saving the time and money that it takes to purchase seeds from a nursery. The quick and easy germination of my lettuce has convinced me that starting summer outdoor garden plants will be the way to go.
Even though, there is a severe snow and ice storm moving into the area, in the first week of January 2025, I have lettuce plants started with the hope of making my own salads soon.
Shopping:
I ordered my indoor hydroponics garden system from Amazon. My friends advised me that AeroGarden is more expensive and that the many other brands, nowadays, do just as well at a much lower price tag. I can't advise which brand is best. I can say that the set up of my MUFGA was easy and the items seem well-made for what it is. The MUFGA isn't currently available but there are many similar units.
It does sound as though the units available in this market are frequently changing. It might be a good idea to watch or read recent reviews of the brands currently available.
A Peek at my Personal Video:
I took this video for friends and family that shows the different components of this hydroponic garden and may be interesting to you. In this video, I do a sort of show-and-tell. If you are truly interested in growing food indoors, I encourage you to watch the videos of experienced folks who have been growing their own food in these systems for some time for the how-to information.
Ah, a nice indoor substitute for the lady of the former apartment balcony garden. I remember your stories well from that time. Nice to know there is a way to have indoor gardening in winter at your mountain homestead. Well done, Dawn Rae!
ReplyDeleteI really miss gardening in winter when it is wet, windy, freezing and not advisable to walk on our heavy clay soil. Love the idea of indoor gardening with a hydroponic garden and it sounds easy enough to use. I would use it for growing herbs and salad crops in winter and as you highlighted another good use is to start off seeds for summer outdoor gardening. Interesting gardening review thank you.
ReplyDeleteWe have an AeroGarden that we bought many years ago. We only used it for herbs and discovered that we couldn’t keep up with its output, so eventually I switched to the Hamama seed quilt hydroponic system that is more flexible and works better for our modest needs. But I have been talking to my husband lately about resurrecting our AeroGarden and trying to grow lettuce and tomatoes in it. We shall see!
ReplyDeleteI have never tried hydroponic type gardening, but you are making my fingers itchy to get into some dirt of some kind and grow something! Thanks for this review Dawn Rae! I will have to look for a place for this in my home!
ReplyDeleteI did the Aero garden one that had three pods. It's so exciting to see the little plants sprout. I was amazed at how big some plants got and kind of took over. Some plants may need more space once they get growing, and may need to be transplanted. However if you eat the leaves up quickly, it may be the perfect choice.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping one day I take action and make an effort to garden in this way, and for my yard, with boxes. I think that time is coming soon.
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