We started growing food indoors hydroponically back in November 2019. It was cold outside and we wanted the chance to have fresh vegetables during our winter season. We decided to make our own DIY Deep Water Culture System.
A sweet view from the top, our hydroponic garden containers looking like a jungle.
After our first kale and rainbow chard harvest, these leafy greens have grown again and will soon be ready for another trim.
Growing cut and grow veggies was a great choice, less maintenance and continuous harvest. The key is trying to figure what type of vegetables work with your set up.
It’s not always a success, but a lesson is learned along the way. Some veggies that didn’t do well on our hydroponic system were iceberg lettuce and New Zealand spinach. That’s the best part of experimenting, you can keep trying again or try new varieties to test out what works best!
Here are our top 10 vegetables we like to grow hydroponically:
Top Vegetables to Grow in a Deep Water Culture Hydroponic System (DWC)
Growing vegetables hydroponically using DWC system can be easy and very rewarding method for indoor gardening. DWC systems allow plants to grow with their roots submerged in nutrient-rich water.
Lettuce is one of the most popular choices
Spinach grows well and can be harvested multiple times. It also prefers cooler temperatures.
Kale is another leafy green that adapts well to DWC systems.
Basil grows quickly, usually ready for harvest within 30-40 days, we love using it fresh for pesto or pizza
Swiss Chard is very hardy and easy to grow. Harvest within 50-60 days.
Bok Choy can be harvested by cutting off individual leaves or harvesting entire plant.
Peppers can thrive in hydroponic environments. We like to grow all types of varieties. If you have limited space; super dwarf chilli is a great option.
Tomatoes can be successfully grown, depending on the variety, tomatoes may take between 60-85 days until harvest time. We like growing a bunch of different micro dwarf or dwarf varieties like; micro dwaft rosy finch, orange hat or blaue zimmer!
The possibilities are endless. If you live in a cold climate and want the chance to have fresh veggies year round, growing indoors is a wonderful option!
