- Grow a Hydroponic Garden in Your Home
- Benefits
- Installation
- Choose a system
- Choose a Plant
- Necessary Materials
- FAQs
Hydroponic gardening is an effective way to grow your vegetables in smaller spaces without soil. You can grow fresh quality greens, free from pesticides in a small space without soil and a few resources throughout the year in a hydroponic garden.
How to Grow a Hydroponic Garden in Your Dubai Home
Hydroponic gardens can be grown in places that were traditionally not considered by gardeners and farmers such as small spaces within your Dubai apartment. This is because growing plants hydroponically requires a very less amount of water and nutrients instead of soil.
In a hydroponic system, the plants are placed directly in a water reservoir with a nutrient solution or they are placed in growing media and net pots such as perlite, clay pebbles, coconut fibre or peat moss. Then the nutrient solution is directly delivered to plant roots through various techniques such as using a dripper or a pump.
Benefits of Hydroponic Gardens
The most prominent benefit of hydroponic gardens in Dubai is that they can be grown in limited spaces, making them ideal for people living in apartments. Moreover, growing a hydroponic garden requires no soil, this reduces the chance of pest attacks and eliminates the need for pesticides.
Hydroponic garden systems also don’t need a lot of water, making them an efficient and eco-friendly way to pursue your gardening habit! You can also control various environmental factors such as the pH level and customise the nutrient solution according to the plants you grow.
Installing a Hydroponic Garden in Dubai
Just like indoor plants, you can easily install a hydroponic garden in your Dubai apartment’s kitchen or balcony and grow quality fresh greens and vegetables all year round. Let’s go through the process of how to make a hydroponic garden.
Choose a Hydroponic System
There are different types of hydroponic systems to create a home garden. You can choose the right type of hydroponic system based on the time and money you’re willing to invest in addition to the space in your home.
One of the most common and simple types of indoor hydroponic garden technique is the deep-water culture (DWC). In this method, the plant roots are submerged in a nutrient solution. Usually, this type of hydroponic garden technique is ideal for beginners as it’s easy to assemble, needs limited space and results in fast-growing plants.
On the other hand, the nutrient film technique (NFT) delivers a thin and firm nutrient solution stream to plant roots using a pump and channel. This type of hydroponic system is a little more complex and needs more maintenance. That said, it is a more versatile system, whereby you can adjust to optimise the plant’s growth.
Other systems to grow hydroponic gardens in Dubai include the ebb and flow system, wick system and drip system. In all these systems, nutrients and oxygen are delivered to the plant roots in different ways. Evaluate the amount of space, time and money that you can dedicate before selecting a system to grow a hydroponic garden.
Choose The Plants You Want to Grow
Among other vegetables, you can grow rosemary, basil, thyme, coriander, broccoli, lettuce, cauliflower, cucumber and chillies. More advanced gardeners can also attempt to grow tomatoes and bell peppers.
That said, the best plants for a hydroponic garden depend on the system. For instance, deep water culture systems are ideal to grow lettuce and herbs, while the nutrient film technique is ideal for plants with shallow root systems, such as lettuce, spinach, strawberries and kale, among others.
Necessary Materials to Grow a Hydroponic Garden
You’ll need the necessary materials to grow different types of hydroponic gardens. For instance, if you want to build a deep water culture hydroponic garden, you’ll need the following items:
- Water
- A bucket or storage container for the water reservoir
- Hydroponic nutrient mix or fertiliser for hydroponic gardening
- Seedlings
- Net pots to hold plants
- Cut out a Styrofoam sheet to hold the net pots
- Airstone and pump for oxygen distribution within the nutrient solution so that the plants don’t drown
However, if you choose the NFT system to grow a hydroponic garden, you will need a water pump for delivering the nutrient solution. You’ll also need PVC pipes for holding the plants. These items can be found in different home improvement stores.
Maintaining a Hydroponic Garden
After you’ve decided on the type of hydroponic garden and the vegetables and herbs you want to grow, you’ll need to think of ways to maintain it. Let’s go through some tips that generally help maintain a healthy hydroponic garden in your home.
- When growing an indoor hydroponic garden, it’s essential to maintain the pH level of the water. The water must be a little acidic for the optimal growth of most vegetables.
- To lower the pH levels of the water you can carefully add ‘pH down’ liquid
- The nutrients may not dissolve easily with hard ‘tap water’ in your hydroponic home garden. Improvise by filtering tap water before using it for the nutrient solution.
- It’s also important to occasionally change the nutrient solution, to avoid any excess mineral build-up and to keep the reservoir neat and clean.
- Another useful tip is to check on the equipment of your Dubai hydroponic garden regularly, including the water, air pumps and connecting tubes. Keeping a check on the equipment at regular intervals helps you replace parts before the garden is affected.
FAQs
What is a hydroponic garden?
A hydroponic garden grows plants without soil. It uses water mixed with nutrients to feed the plants directly.
How does a hydroponic garden work?
It delivers water and nutrients straight to the plant roots. This helps plants grow faster than in soil.
Why is hydroponic gardening good for Dubai homes?
Dubai has limited soil and water. Hydroponics uses less water and grows plants indoors, making it ideal for the city.
That is all about growing hydroponic gardens in your Dubai apartment. Those living in apartments can also grow a vertical garden on their balconies.
Besides, growing a vegetable garden in Dubai is ideal for those living in villas.
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