Building your own gardening system can be an interesting and satisfying project resulting in a versatile, inexpensive garden where plants flourish.

For do-it-yourself types, EasiestGarden.com sells hydroponic garden plans for the home gardener who wants to grow lettuce, strawberries, flowers, herbs and other small plants. We recently had a look at the plans for building your own vertical hydroponic system. The final product is a four tube vertical garden that is quite attractive and functional. If you are looking at wall (vertical) gardening, these plans are excellent as they can be scaled to your own requirements.

More on Building your Own Vertical Hydroponic Garden

By: Charlene Rennick

Although the jury is still out on whether or not LED bulbs are a confirmed improvement over regular hydroponic grow lights, currently the LED bulbs have several distinct and known advantages. 

In the absence of side by side testing against Metal Halide and High Pressure Sodium bulbs, some benefits of substituting LED bulbs can be appreciated in a hydroponic garden. 

More on Introducing LED Bulbs to Hydroponic Gardening Systems

I was reading through some blogs the other day when I stumbled upon this story. An individual had set up an ebb and flow system in their spare bedroom and had everything working well. The individual had planned out their garden well with timers and ventilation so that all that was required was changing of the nutrient solution on a
weekly basis.

More on Setup your Indoor Garden in a way that Minimizes Potential Damage

By: Charlene Rennick

LED stands for Light Emitting Diode.  This kind of bulb has been popular for decades to illuminate clock displays, stereo equipment, flashlights and outdoor-lit advertisements.  Because they emit more light per watt than regular incandescent light bulbs, they have a potential to save hydro dollars and excess energy consumption.

More on How LED Grow Lights Recycle your Money

I came across a good tip today in a great book I was reading (Hydroponic Gardening by Steven Carruthers). Very basic, but it made sense to me. The author suggested only planting what you would be likely to need or use during the harvest period. Create a mental picture of how your garden will look during harvest time. If you can only use 6 heads of lettuce and 4 cabbages during the 6-week harvesting time, then only plant that many - or perhaps a couple more just to ensure success in case of some type of failure.

More on Plan Your Garden by Picturing the Harvest

Oregano and Marjoram are often confused or simply considered the same herb. They are not, however. Oregano has long been called wild Marjoram, but scientists have discovered that the two herbs are actually distinct. This is hardly relevant, however, as throughout history the two herbs are used interchangeably.

More on Marjoram and Oregano

Ventilation is an important consideration for a successful hydroponic garden.Plants require carbon dioxide in order to photosynthesize and the by-product of this process is oxygen.

If you have an indoor hydroponic garden, you will need to make sure you have adequate ventilation. If the room is small or enclosed, the heat buildup from the lamp as well as the carbon dioxide and oxygen levels may not create an optimal for your plants.

More on Use a Circulating Fan to Ventilate Your Garden Room

Starting the day without orange juice sounds unthinkable to many.  In the not-so-distant future, orange juice could become unaffordable due to problems with citrus farming.  In Florida, one of the larges citrus producing areas in the world, farmers are experimenting with hydroponics growing systems to help reduce problems with “Greening,” an increasingly prevalent disease of citrus trees.

More on Hydroponics Systems for Citrus Farms

A question that often comes up, is when to transfer seedlings into their permanent home, whether it be to a soil-based or to a hydroponic grow system.
This depends on a few things: 1-the type of plant, 2-the container used to start the seed, 3-where you are transplanting to, 4-how much time you wish to spend nurturing growing seedlings.

In their excitement, people sometimes transfer their seedlings as soon as they see a leaf or two. You need to wait until at least the first or second set of true leaves appears. (The very first ones up are not true leaves). Some people advise waiting until the plant is 4-6 inches tall.

If your container is very small or crowded, you will need to move the seedlings sooner. For example, seeds started in an egg carton will quickly outgrow their container.  (This can be a great choice if you plan to transplant outdoors into soil as most roots will push right through the paper variety).

Seedlings need to be monitored and tended in order to ensure that they don’t dry out. As they grow, this is even more imperative as they consume more water.

However, you should be able to see good root development prior to transferring the seedlings. If you do not and you transfer the seedling too early, the root will become saturated and growth will be stunted. A little bit later than sooner is a good rule to use when transferring seedlings. Just make sure to give them regular attention so your efforts aren’t wasted!

When we say organic we are talking about a method of working with nature and natural products to improve the environment we live in. It is a philosophy of giving back to Mother Nature rather than taking away. Organic gardening may sound like a new way of doing things, but it is simply going back to the way our pre-industrial ancestors grew food and nurtured plants – using natural fertilizers, reclaiming waste materials, and recycling nutrients into the soil. More on The Green Philosophy of Organic Gardening