Hydroponics Gardening The Organic Way w/ Grow Lights

Hydroponics is a form of indoor gardening that produces fresh, organic plants, herbs, and vegetables. Grow lights assist in the process and act as sunlight to the plants. The nutrients are fed directly to the plants which helps them grow much faster than tradtitional growing.

Organic gardening is becoming pretty popular in this day and age and it seems like the right way to go. When you are thinking about organic gardening, do you ever think about the methods you will be utilizing on that organic garden? If you do not have any techniques, then the bacteria and pests may take over that garden in no time. True organic gardening is impossible without that rich, lovely soil, right? Wrong. If you are a organic gardener, or you are interested in organic gardening, then this article is for you. Within this article, we are going to tell you how to grow that organic garden you have always wanted, without using any soil. We know it sounds impossible, but continue reading.

Hydroponic gardening is every organic gardeners dream. Before you go looking up hydroponic gardening in the dictionary, it is simply gardening using no soil. The plants in the garden will by relying on water to give them the nutrients they need in order to promote their growth. In many cases, plants who are growing the hydroponic way are more healthy then those plants who have their roots stuck in soil. You can even do this indoor with grow lights.


In organic hydroponic gardening, the main growing medium can be obtained from any source of organic material. For instance, in hydroponic gardening, perlite and Vermiculite are generally used. Please note: Always be careful when you are using Vermiculite because it’s actually a source of asbestos. Some other organic material that would make great choices for the gardener are cotton, straw, plant fiber or any other type of organic material you can think of.

In order to provide nutrients to the plant, keep in mind that the water is essential. Anything you put in the water should be organic in order to stay with those organic standards. In organic hydroponic gardening, many individuals use compost tea. You can use compost tea by soaking it in the water, then straining the solid material. When you do this, the water is going to be enriched with nutrients and the plants will feed on it. Another thing individuals use in organic hydroponic gardening consists of manure tea. This is a great source of bacterial contamination, therefore the manure should be sterilized before you make manure tea.

Some more organic choices are fish emulsion and seaweed. What you use in your organic garden is solely up to you, but be sure you stick with those organic standards.

This post was written by Craig Vandaal.

10 Questions To A Hydroponic Farm Owner

Check out this interview with Tassioni in Dallas. He runs a hydroponic garden business and sells his stuff in the local farmer's market. Tassioni delivers organic herbs and vegetables to 23 restaurants and hotels. Making money with hydroponics seems to be very profitable nowadays. Read the actual article below:


On Sunday, April 19, the Dallas Farmer's Market Friends will host a roundtable discussion of the "buying local" concept and its challenges.

Tassioni knows these all too well. Since 1997, he and his wife have operated a hydroponic farm (Tassione Farm) near Stephenville, growing specialty greens and herbs. They deliver to 23 area restaurants and hotels, which keeps them busy enough. But they've also tried, with little success, to profit from the Farmer's Market.

The roundtable starts at 4 p.m. on Sunday at the Farmer's Market Resource Center (1010 S. Pearl Expressway). It includes a select panel of top chefs and local farmers--including Tassioni.

He's not shy about speaking out. Just get the kids out of the building if he starts to sing...


1. Is it hard to keep all those chefs happy?
Not as hard as you would think. It's hands down fresher and our product has a good shelf life. The only problem is if I drop it off at the wrong spot. Then they get mad.

2. Ever hear voices telling you to build a baseball field?
[Laughs] I hear my own when I do something stupid like drop off product at the wrong place.

3. How does Texas soil compare?
Well, of course we don't really grow in the soil, ourselves. Where we live the soil is terrible. But south of Dallas--around Ennis--it is ideal for growing.

4. Why has the local and sustainable movement become so popular?
There's a few reasons. One, gas prices; shipping just adds to the cost. Plus all the salmonella and e.coli outbreaks from the large farms. There's less of a chance that you will get those illnesses if the farm has good practices. Plus it's just really good business to help out those working in your own state.

5. What's the most finicky thing to grow?
Around here? I haven't tried all of them, but I used to kill quite a few plants when I was learning how to do this. The hardest thing we deal with is watercress. If something's going to happen, it will happen to the watercress first, from fungus to bugs. And some things just flat out won't grow in this area.

6. Is the farmer's market a plus?
My personal take is that it's not really set up for fresh produce grown locally. We took basil down there a couple times and we didn't sell anything. A lot of the stuff is brought in from other states. The farmers that sell squash--seasonal stuff--those farmers sell a lot. We're the only ones down there with lettuce and herbs. We would have to be there everyday to make it work.

7. You don't get to use manure, do you?
We do fertilizer salts. We mix our own batches. You can do hydroponics with organic fertilizer, but it's a little more involved. I've never tried it. But we don't spray any chemicals at all.

8. But with a hydroponic farm, aren't you missing out on wearing bib overalls?
[Laughs]. Growing in greenhouses is great.

9. When you go to a grocery store, do you look at the produce and cringe?
Oh, yes. Definitely. I cringe--and then I think 'I need to get my herbs in here. So there's a lot of opportunity.

10. Ever sing the 'Farmer in the Dell' song?
No, but we do make up our own songs. I can't sing them for you. [Laughs] We get bored out there, so we gotta entertain ourselves somehow.

By Dave Faries