How to grow delicious food inside without using any soil
I want you to experience how easy it is to grow food indoors without soil.
Why, you ask? Because it’s fun and fulfilling. And contrary to popular belief, it’s not complicated at all. Plants grow a lot faster in a hydroponics setup, as the environment can be fine-tuned for them to thrive. You control the amount of light that the plant gets. You get to choose the exact amount of nutrients that the plant needs. As there’s no soil, there are a lot fewer pests that can attack the plants.
Hydroponics is the practice of growing plants in nutrient-rich water, without using soil. While you can go out and buy a smart garden for a half a grand or more, I want you to start simple. See if it’s something you enjoy. It’s not complicated, but you have to be patient. Even the fastest-growing plants take a while to sprout and start to grow.
Start with basil — it’s easy to grow in a hydroponics setup. Even if you only have a handful of leaves, you can still use it as a garnish for your spaghetti bolognese.
While it’s a lot of fun building your own DIY hydroponics setup, I’d recommend starting with a small kit first. I got a Seed Pantry Grow Pod 2 as a gift five years ago, and I’m still using it to grow basil and chilli peppers.
If you’re based in the US, an Aerogarden Sprout could be a good start. I’ve never used one, as they’re not available in the UK, but I’ve heard good things about them.
One channel on YouTube worth subscribing to is Hoocho. His videos on growing food with hydroponics are always insightful. Here’s his review on the cheapest system tabletop system he could get hold of:
The important thing is not to spend more than £80/$100 on your first system. It’s easy to spend a lot of money on tools and equipment. To be honest if you wanted to you could grow plants using a jar and some cardboard.
What you’re looking for is a simple tabletop system with a grow light, since you’ll be growing indoors. You shouldn’t expect these small systems to grow massive amounts of food. For herbs and small leafy greens they work fine. You can always build bigger systems later, but for your first system it’s best to start small and experiment.
If you do get started with hydroponics, please let me know in the comments. If you’re interested in writing about your experience for the Indoor Hydroponics publication, get in touch!
