Hi There, Hydroponics

“Paradise” 35’x 5’ by Sheepman

I grew up with my hands in the soil helping my mother in her vegetable garden, so it never occurred to me that you could grow plants without soil. When I got older I heard people talk about hydroponics, but a lot of times it was in reference to growing pot. I wondered, why grow without soil? After all, we had a successful back yard garden with my mother’s vegetables and my brother’s recreational crop. Why bother… ??

Well my answer has now come—many years later. I am a much more experienced gardener always looking to learn more, and recently, THE opportunity arrived!!

This holiday season, my fabulous nephew David (I like to call him “The Dave”) asked, “Hey, Auntie, I want to grow some herbs on my windowsill at college to use for my ramen noodles. Can you show me how?” The Dave sent me images of the dorm room window—I could see the space limitation would pose a challenge. The size of the windowsill reminded me of a recent visit to a local restaurant by the name of Octobachi. They had an excellent solution for successful growing on such a sill. Their answer? A hydroponic system.

Hydroponically grown sunflowers

I did a little research about hydroponic growing in Charleston and came upon the greatest shop! It's located on upper Meeting Street and is called Greenspirit Hydrogardens. It is like a hydroponic wonderland! The manager of the shop was incredibly knowledgeable and helpful for this hydroponic newbie. The manager started me out with the “Grobal”—a self-watering system in which you can add liquid nutrients through a reservoir. It is perfect for a windowsill.

There are many different types of hydroponic systems, but the basics of hydroponics stay the same: hydroponic gardening is a method of growing that increases the absorption rate of nutrients through the release of oxygen in a nutrient-rich solution that stimulates root growth. This results in increased plant growth and higher yields. Hydroponic growing benefits the environment, too, as it can reduce the water that a conventional garden uses by recycling the nutrient-filled water. It also causes less pest problems, in inexpensive, and (oh yeah!) requires less weeding!

I am just beginning to learn about hydroponics so I will post progress and more on this topic. I encourage anyone interested in the demystification of hydroponic growing, or anyone just wanting to see some awesome, larger-than-life murals (like the ones below and up top), to check out Greenspirit Hydrogardens!

“Ganesh” 15’ x 20’ by Aero