If you are familiar with me and my blog then you know that I LOVE my Aerogarden Farm Plus and all the things I can grow with it hydroponically. I use it to grow food year-round in my basement as well as using it to start my seedlings for the things I intend to grow outside during the summer. While I can’t grow everything down in the basement garden, you may be surprised how much I can and do grow. In my books, it’s all about becoming more sustainable one day at a time.
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I have definitely tried to push the boundaries in what I can grow down in the basement garden. So times I learned the hard way (with the peas) and other times I was pleasantly surprised (like the celery). I mean practically every recipe calls for like 1 or 2 stalks of celery. The rest of it easily gets forgotten in the back of the crisper. Fun fact I learned from my dad, if you wrap it in aluminum foil (shiny side in) it stays crisp for a VERY long time. But I would still rather harvest it a stalk at a time from the basement.
So with that in mind let’s take a look at 14 things that you can grow relatively easy in your Aerogarden. In truth, its actually way more than 14 but I grouped things like “herbs” into a single item otherwise the list would have been long, to say the least. So let’s just call it 14 and move on to the list.
Plants that can be grown hydroponically
I am going to separate this list into three sections, those that do not require pollination, those that are self-pollinated and those that need manual pollination. Most of the list falls under the set it and forget it headings of no pollination or self-pollination which is good news for you. Only two are going to require manual intervention.
No pollination needed
- Celery
- Herbs
- Lettucey
- Dwarf Kale
- Swiss Chard
- Pak or Bok choy
Self-pollinated
- Determinate tomatoes (check out my post on determinate vs indeterminate tomatoes)
- Sweet Peppers
- Hot Peppers
- Bush Beans
- Eggplants
- Okra
Manual pollination needed
- Strawberries
- Dwarf peas
Plants not suited to be grown hydroponically
I mean anything is pretty much possible given enough time, money and willpower. But the list below is going to be a pain in the ass or just not feasible to grow hydroponically. If you had enough space and height you could most likely pull off the indeterminate tomatoes, pole beans, peas, squash, melons, and cucumbers. The root vegetables, onions, and potatoes are just not feasible to be grown in water. Which leaves us with the brassicas, these babies are in this list just given their sheer size.
- Indeterminate tomatoes
- Root vegetables
- Onions
- Pole beans
- Peas ( I tried and it was a total disaster…they were literally everywhere)
- Brassicas (Cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, etc)
- Squash
- Melons
- Potatoes
- Cucumbers
30 things I have grown in my Aerogarden (so far)
So, I think it’s only fair that I share with you the list of things I have grown in my Aerogarden Farm Plus up to this point. I try to use only heirloom seeds if you’re curious why you can check out my post on 5 Reasons you need to grow heirloom seeds. I have linked each of the items on my list to my favourite seed source Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, but there are loads of other places you can get them.
- Peron tomatoes (semi-determinate)
- Cream sausage tomato (determinate)
- Sweet Thai basil
- Emily (Genovese) basil
- Dark purple opal basil
- Celery
- Cilantro
- Thyme
- Craig’s giant jalapeno
- Lemon spice jalapeno
- Orange spice jalapeno
- Dill
- Mint (but it started to get out of hand and take over)
- Dwarf Siberian kale
- Micro Tom tomatoes (determinate)
- Forellenschluss lettuce
- Butter king lettuce
- Rouge D’hiver lettuce
- Deer tongue lettuce
- Black seeded Simpson lettuce
- Buttercrunch lettuce
- Garnet rose lettuce
- Habanero peppers
- Mini bell peppers
- Golden harvest cherry tomato (determinate)
- Chives
- Parsley
- Red heirloom cherry tomato (determinate)
- Parris island lettuce
- Marvel of 4 seasons lettuce
If you are new to the wonderful world of Aerogardens or growing hydroponically, you should check out my post on How to clean your Aerogarden. I honestly wouldn’t be without one, I’m even thinking of trying to build my own hydroponic system to use in my grow tent! So hopefully I have answered your questions about what you can grow hydroponically and what you can’t.
UPDATE!
I have since successfully grown Charentais melons in my AeroGarden Farm Plus! SO if you’re curious about what Charentais melons are you can check out this post or take a look at the video below!
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