When I first started hydroponic gardening I was just focused on growing my own fruit and vegetables. For me, this was the initial appeal – to be able to quickly grow my own food in a controlled system. Then I discovered that my hydroponic system could also let me grow so much more.
In this post, we take a look at some of the best flowers for hydroponics and understand a little bit about how they differ from growing fruits and vegetables.
Let’s dive in.
9 Best Flowers For Hydroponics
There are a number of advantages to growing flowers in a hydroponic system. For a start, because your plants get the exact levels of nutrients and light that they need. In fact, by getting the nutrients and hydroponic lighting right you can expect to get results in 50% of the time when compared to soil gardening.
The great thing is you don’t even need a power hungry light setup – a CFL grow light will do just as well for getting you results. The main thing is that you provide quality light for a duration suited to each plat.
1. Peace lilies
Peace lilies are one of the more popular choices of house plant and they grow great in a hydroponic setup. The secret is not to overwater them (sounds out if you’re going to be growing them hydroponically) and while this is true, the actual version you’ll grow in your system will be a hybrid plan with much shorter roots which limits the amount of water take up into the plant.
2. Hoya
Hoya plants (also known as wax plants) are another popular house plant is a type of perennial creeper that produces magnificent star-shaped flowers when it blooms. The Hoya is another low maintenance plant that doesn’t like over-watering so again look for a species with shorter roots to allow them to restrict water uptake.
3. Snapdragons
Native to Europe and North America, Snapdragons produce a large and beautiful flower which resembles the mouth of a dragon when pressed. One thing to watch out for is that due to the size of the flower produced, they will need a grow medium that can support them and also need some extra support in your system.
4. Dahlias
Dahlias certainly aren’t the easiest flower to grow in a hydroponics system but it can be done – the secret is to get the right grow media.
5. Rex begonias
With over 1,831 species of begonia to choose from you’ll be sure to find one that appeals to you. The begonia is native to South America, Africa, and Southeastern Asia and is fairly easy to grow under hydroponic conditions.
6. Carnations
The carnation is an extremely popular flower to grow in a hydroponics system – in fact, this is one of those flowers that commercial growers will grow in their large scale systems. Carnations will grow in pretty much all hydroponic systems and only require 6 to 8 hours of light each day.
7. Orchids
Probably one of the most mythical flowers in existence and widely regarded to be one of the most beautiful. Orchids grow extremely well in hydroponic systems and just like carnations, it’s common for commercial growers to grow orchids hydroponically.
8. Petunia
Petunias have a reputation amongst soil gardeners for needing space as they spread when they grow and don’t do well competing with other plants for nutrients. This holds true when growing petunias hydroponically, you’ll need to provide the plants with lots of space to grow and spread.
9. Zinnia
You might not be familiar with zinnia’s but they are a wonderful little plant native to the Southwestern United States and South America and as such love light. If you plan on growing these indoors then you’ll need to give them at least 8 hours of bright light. You’ll need to give them some support too as they can grow up to 40 inches high.
The Bottom Line
So there you have it, our guide to best flowers for hydroponics. While you might be familiar with some of the plants above, you might not have realised that they can be grown hydroponically.
Image by Brett Levin
