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Hydroculture, no matter how I look at it, seems like a far more suitable method of keeping and maintaining houseplants indoors. And although I discovered hydroculture by sheer – blessed – luck, it is inevitable that eventually I would have found it. Because while I thoroughly enjoy digging in the dirt in the back yard, I also believe that the soil and all its elements belongs exactly there – in the great outdoors...not inside my house.

So you can imagine my excitement when I discovered the hydroculture way of maintaining houseplants. Obviously the first thing I did was research, read and read some more, and learn everything about it. The more I learned, the more I became a believer. I was ready to convert! I couldn’t wait to get started. I couldn’t wait to go shopping and pick up everything I need to start the transition.

Unfortunately, it didn’t start off that easily.

For one thing, I learned very quickly that hydroculture was not as well-known or accepted here in North America. I encountered problems right from the get-go. One of them was the lack of supplies for hydroculture in local shops. Almost all the retail stores & garden centers that I visited that stock up fully on items for houseplants (soil, pots, plants) stocked nothing for hydroculture. There were no special pots, water gauges or clay pellets to be found. There were hydroponic shops scattered here and there – almost everyone’s heard of hydroponics – but these are what I call ‘boutiques’ or ‘specialty shops. In more common terms you know them as ‘expensive’ or ‘ridiculously priced’. Online shopping was just as bad.

        
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Whether you visited a hydroponics shop or shopped online, by the time you finished purchasing all the necessary items required to put together a hydroculture system – outer pot, inner pot, pellets, water gauge, nutrient – you’d have spent a small fortune. And that was just for ONE plant. I had about three dozen to convert! I was very disillusioned at this point and I wondered if this was precisely the reason why hardly anyone knew about hydroculture or cared to learn. Although the long-term cost is much lower than growing plants in soil, the short term one may be hard to meet, which discourages plant growers from converting.

Why would people jump on this bandwagon – when they’d been successfully raising houseplants in soil – if it means investing a small fortune? In order for this style of maintaining houseplants to succeed here, you need to give houseplant lovers a very good reason as to why they should convert to this method. Good information with all the benefits over soil-grown plants will motivate them to consider the idea. Once you’ve motivated them into considering the idea – you see them eager to try or to learn more - you have to make it affordable for them to be SOLD on the idea! Or else you’ve lost them. If it’s too expensive they will go back to their tried-and-true method – soil. "Nice idea. Too expensive. I'll stick to soil. It works."

Although discouraged about the lack of supplies and the excessive expense involved, I wasn’t going to give this method up. I purchased a few plastic pots without drainage holes and a bag of clay pellets from a local greenhouse - one of the only garden centers with it in stock. I unpotted some houseplants, washed the roots and placed them in the clay pellets inside the plastic pots. I poured in a little bit of water and waited. The plants converted successfully but I was always on edge about whether or not the roots were submerged in water continuously that would lead them to rot or whether the water had run out and the plants would dehydrate. After all, I couldn’t see the water level through the opaque plastic pot and I had no water gauge to guide me. I was not fully satisfied with this set up and continued to ponder.

        
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And then one day it all came together and I wondered why I hadn’t thought of it from the get-go. I created my own method, which was more aesthetically pleasing for me and far less expensive. I understood the hydroculture philosophy and I understood from the beginning that the roots of my plants would have to be above the water level and constantly wondered how I would accomplish that without a water gauge.

The solution was glass! They are visually pleasing and they are transparent! I purchased some nice glass containers and transferred plants and pellets into them. I could finally see the water level and be able to determine easily when to replenish it. I adopted this method and stuck with it. It works, it looks great and above all it’s affordable!

This is my own method and my own experience. I am not trying to sell you on this idea or trying to discourage you from the real hydroculture setup that includes five basic parts, which is a fabulous way of growing houseplants, and a style that I am using with some of my own plants. But I do want to share my growing method with you along with the concept of hydroculture. Perhaps, with a little imagination, you may create your own unique style.

In the meantime, here is what you need to know about clear containers:


Growing Plants in Clear Containers

If you decide to use clear containers for your plants like I do, the first thing I’m going to tell you is: don’t hesitate to use plastic containers instead of glass; they work just as well. Using plastic containers opens up a whole new world of possibilities. All those Tupperware pieces that are collecting dust in your kitchen cupboards can be put to use.

The second thing I will tell you is: make sure that the container you choose is the appropriate size for the plant you plan to grow in it. Do not choose a container that is too large or too small; it has to be just the right size for the plant you have in mind. Make your selection the same way you would if you were choosing a pot for a soil-grown plant. In addition, do not choose a container that is too shallow either. It has to be deep enough to allow the water level to sit below the root system. If your container is too shallow, there is a chance the roots of your plant will be immersed in water constantly, which defeats the purpose of using the hydroculture style.

The third thing I will tell you is: pot up your plants in single, clear containers the same way you would in soil, just exchange the soil for the clay aggregate. When you have decided on a container, add a layer of clay pellets at the bottom of it. The amount of medium added can be an inch or two, maybe more. It all depends on the depth of your container and how tall your plant is. The process is similar to the way you add some soil at the bottom of your pot before placing your plant on top of it in traditional growing styles.

Place the plant that is to be converted (its roots should be washed free of soil) on top of the layer of pellets, spread the roots out across the medium and slowly fill up the container, adding clay pellets to within 1/4" of the top. The clay pellets on top of the roots and around the stem(s) help anchor the plant; this is similar to filling the remainder of a pot with soil.

The last thing I will tell you is: there is no standard water level to be added; it all depends on the setup. Visitors to my site that decide to use my style often ask in their emails: “How much water should I add to my plant’s container” The fact in the matter is that there is no right answer to this. The only thing to remember is that the rooting system must sit above the water, not on it. When you finish potting up your plant in its new container, add water to below the root system. Depending on the depth of your container and how high or low the roots of the plant are, it can be anything from 1/2" – 2", possibly more. As long as the water remains below the roots at all times, that’s the right amount. Always let the water finish completely before replenishing.

For more information, click on the links below:

Converting Plants To Hydroculture

Put On Your Hydro Thinking Cap

Frequently Asked Questions

The Advantages Of Hydroculture Kits