There is more than one way to grow a beautiful indoor garden, and surprisingly, soil is not always required. In one gardening technique, for example, the plants’ root systems are suspended in mist-laden air. In hydroponics, plants are grown in a mineral-rich solution. Cultivating plants in these environments can yield spectacular results and is an extremely pleasurable form of gardening.

How does it all work?

While specific aeroponics or hydroponics supplies are needed to get started, it is important to understand how each form of gardening works before shopping for equipment.

Aeroponics is the only form of plant cultivation that does not involve a growing medium. Roots are left exposed to misted air that is rich in nutrients. Plants are grown in a totally or partially closed environment, such as an aeroponics cloner (used to propagate from cuttings) to contain this mist. Some believe that delivering nutrients to this manner brings greater amounts of oxygen to the roots which in turn better stimulates growth. Additionally, it is believed that plants are less susceptible to disease when cultivated in such a closed environment.

Gardening with hydroponics systems, on the other hand, involves using a mineral rich solution for growing medium. Some hydroponic grow systems feature the growing solution alone, while others may include an inert medium such as gravel or perlite as well. In either case, nutrients are absorbed by the roots from the growing solution. Neither soil nor a medium is required by hydroponics systems as the roots can conduct everything needed by the plant directly from the growing solution.

Getting started

To begin gardening with either technique, it is important to have all the necessary aeroponics or hydroponics supplies on hand. To ensure nothing is missing, purchasing a complete assembly is a wise decision.

There are many different types of hydroponics grow systems, such as wick, ebb and flow, drip, nutrient film technique and deep water culture system. While there are operational differences between these hydroponics systems, they share similar components. A growing tray or basket and air pump are all used in some manner. In some hydroponics systems, the liquid reservoir is contained within the growing tray, but in other models it is a separate component.

It’s important to remember that once you have all the hydroponics supplies in place, your indoor garden will still need a lighting assembly to create the ideal environment.