Food-Gardening Lessons From A Wartime Victory Garden

Which is Better, Hydroponic or Potted Indoor Vegetables?

“Why should I continue to use Black Gold products for my indoor gardening projects, rather than switching entirely to hydroponics?” Question from Vicki of Brownsburg, Indiana

Answer: It depends on your home, budget, and goals, but I favor soil growing for lots of reasons. Either way, both methods have value. To help you make up your own mind, here are the plusses and minuses of growing in pots versus home hydroponic growing.

Indoor Potted Vegetables: Benefits and Problems

Five Benefits of Pots

  1. Least expensive
  2. Easy if you have lots of sunshine
  3. Less energy needed
  4. Accommodate larger and more vegetables
  5. Crops have more flavor

Five Problems of Pots

  1. Need more space
  2. More light may be needed
  3. More food, water, and pruning may be needed
  4. Attract fungus gnats and shore flies (Click here to learn how to manage these pests.)
  5. Can be messier.

If you are interested in taking this route, click here to learn more about how to grow potted herbs and vegetables indoors. Two great soils for indoor growing are Black Gold® Natural & Organic Flower and Vegetable Soil and Black Gold Natural & Organic Ultra Coir. Both are approved for organic gardening, hold water well, but also offer excellent drainage.

Home Hydroponic Vegetables: Benefits and Problems

Benefits of Hydroponic Units

  1. Faster yields
  2. Less messy
  3. Often all-in-one units
  4. Often compact units
  5. Often automated for easy use

Problems of Hydroponic Units

  1. Most expensive
  2. Accommodate fewer, smaller plants
  3. More energy needed
  4. Spread disease faster
  5. Encourage algal growth and can leak

I will let you be the judge, but I happily grow my indoor herbs in pots along my south-facing window. I’ve my basil already growing for the season.

Happy gardening,

Jessie Keith

Black Gold Horticulturist

 

About JESSIE KEITH

Plants are the lens Jessie views the world through because they’re all-sustaining. (“They feed, clothe, house and heal us. They produce the air we breathe and even make us smell pretty.”) She’s a garden writer and photographer with degrees in both horticulture and plant biology from Purdue and Michigan State Universities. Her degrees were bolstered by internships at Longwood Gardens and the American Horticultural Society. She has since worked for many horticultural institutions and companies and now manages communications for Sun Gro Horticulture, the parent company of Black Gold. Her joy is sharing all things green and lovely with her two daughters.

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