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Hydroponics

14 Vegetables you can grow hydroponically (and 10 you can’t)

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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Growing celery hydroponically
My baby celery

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.

Aerogarden Farm Plus

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

  1. Celery
  2. Herbs
  3. Lettucey
  4. Dwarf Kale
  5. Swiss Chard
  6. Pak or Bok choy

Self-pollinated

  1. Determinate tomatoes (check out my post on determinate vs indeterminate tomatoes)
  2. Sweet Peppers
  3. Hot Peppers
  4. Bush Beans
  5. Eggplants
  6. Okra

Manual pollination needed

  1. Strawberries
  2. 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.

  1. Indeterminate tomatoes
  2. Root vegetables
  3. Onions
  4. Pole beans
  5. Peas ( I tried and it was a total disaster…they were literally everywhere)
  6. Brassicas (Cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, etc)
  7. Squash
  8. Melons
  9. Potatoes
  10. Cucumbers
Lemon Spice Jalapeño
Lemon Spice Jalapeno

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.

  1. Peron tomatoes (semi-determinate)
  2. Cream sausage tomato (determinate)
  3. Sweet Thai basil
  4. Emily (Genovese) basil
  5. Dark purple opal basil
  6. Celery
  7. Cilantro
  8. Thyme
  9. Craig’s giant jalapeno
  10. Lemon spice jalapeno
  11. Orange spice jalapeno
  12. Dill
  13. Mint (but it started to get out of hand and take over)
  14. Dwarf Siberian kale
  15. Micro Tom tomatoes (determinate)
  16. Forellenschluss lettuce
  17. Butter king lettuce
  18. Rouge D’hiver lettuce
  19. Deer tongue lettuce
  20. Black seeded Simpson lettuce
  21. Buttercrunch lettuce
  22. Garnet rose lettuce
  23. Habanero peppers
  24. Mini bell peppers
  25. Golden harvest cherry tomato (determinate)
  26. Chives
  27. Parsley
  28. Red heirloom cherry tomato (determinate)
  29. Parris island lettuce
  30. 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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