7 Most Profitable Plants to Grow Hydroponically

Most Profitable Plants to Grow Hydroponically are not only cost effective to grow but also increases the yield per area space space. Using hydroponic method mineral-laden nutrient solutions are used to feed plants that are growing just in water, without soil and gardeners are in control of the climate.

What Is Hydroponics?

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The growing population’s food demands leads to innovations and improvements and one such an example is hydroponic. In hydroponic this demand have led to the development of recirculating hydroponic systems, which minimize water use by recycling unused irrigation water. Using hydroponic growing systems you can grow food anywhere even in urban cities and save over 70% water compare to soil grown crops.

Hydroponics is the growing of plants without soil in a liquid nutrient solution with or without the use of artificial media.  such as peat coir, expanded clay pellets, perlite, brick shards, vermiculite, polystyrene packing peanuts and  wood fiber. 

Hydroponic is profitable, and today we can see many country’s in the world are using hydroponic for food production. Hydroponic is a great way to get your own local grown food with minimum use of water, fertilizers. There is no need to use any type of fungicides and pesticides so we can get healthier food. Hydroponic is also suitable to grow crops in terrace, roof top, back yard etc. of urban household.

The origins of the word hydroponics comes from two Greek words, “hydro” meaning water and “ponics” meaning labor. The method of soil less gardening or hydroponics or horticulture has been around for thousands of years. Hydroponic systems can be grouped as either medium-culture or water-culture. 

Let’s quickly look into the pros and cons of using hydroponic.

The Advantages of Hydroponic:

• You can grow anywhere.
• Saves water, up to 90 percent.
• Your environment is sterile, which means no pesticides.
• You’ll use 20% less space for growing.
• The system water can be reused, allowing you to conserve water.
• You can have complete control over nutrient balance by using Nutrition Solutions.
• No soil setup and testing hassles.
• Harvesting is easier.
• No mulching, tilling, changing of soil and weeding
• You can grow year round if indoors.

The Disadvantages of Hydroponic:

• Higher start-up costs compared to soil growing systems.
• Constant monitoring is required.
• Hydroponic systems are vulnerable to power outages. In the event of a power outage that outlasts your generators you will be manually watering your garden.
• Micro-organisms that are water-based can creep in rather easily.
• Growing a hydroponic garden demands technical expertise.
• Production is limited compared to field conditions
• Diseases, when present, can spread easily.
• Without soil to serve as a buffer if the system fails plant death will occur rapidly.

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What Can It be Grown Hydroponically?

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One of the main advantages of hydroponic produce is that can be grown anywhere – in an apartment, in a basement greenhouse. roof or office space. You only need light, water, air, nutrients, space and heat.

Lettuce is one of the best plants to grow using hydro-culture and great for beginners and doesn’t require much effort.

The five best plants to grow in a hydroponic system are:

• Lettuce
• Spinach
• Strawberries
• Bell Peppers
• Herbs

It’s important to know what you shouldn’t try to grow using hydroponics. You should avoid plants that are more intensive to grown hydroponically – for example some plants, because they have both male and female flowers on them, need the bees to pollinate them. Others can be use and utilize more space or have extensive root system.

In general, you can grow anything you want using hydroponic but you you should know that not all plants may come out as ideally as you would like. 

What Are Most Profitable Plants to Grow Hydroponically?

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You’ll want to research the hydroponic farm startup cost before you get in too deep, depending on what kind of hydroponic system you’re interested in. When researching for most profitable plants to grow hydroponically we focused on price per pound of crop, since that’s more reasonable to grow in a smaller system. 

Let’s get into the top most profitable plants to grow hydroponically below ranked starting with those with lowest prices.

Cilantro – $6.00 per pound

Widely used medicinally by cultures across the world for millennia, cilantro and its seed – coriander are on of the most profitable plants to grow hydroponically. Cilantro requires very little maintenance and it can be harvested fully or partially, like trimming. You can expect the first harvest at about 5 weeks after transplant and the second at about 8 weeks after transplant. 

It may take up to 14 days for germination, because the seeds of cilantro are hard. They will start to grow quickly after the sprouts appear and are transplanted into a hydroponic system.

Basil – $14.00 per pound

One common issue with these herbs is the fact they lose much of their flavor and aroma when dried and thus tend to be used fresh. There are many basil varieties besides the most popular with the traditional, large-leaved sweet or Genovese basil. That sweet basil is used in a wide variety of dishes, combined with chillies, peppers, tomato, in hot salsas and blitzed into pesto.

Some of the top variety basil well-suited to hydroponic production are Rubin, Purple Ruffles, Dark Opal, Purple Delight and Basil Bicolor. Basil is most commonly propagated from seeds, which are available in raw and pelleted form.

Dill – $14.00 per pound

Dill (Anethum graveolens) is a popular herb grown for its leaves, adding strong flavor to dishes, or its seed seeds that are used as condiments, pickles, pastries, and other foods. Dill is one of the easiest and most profitable plants to grow hydroponically but do not transplant well so it is best to be grown in the site it will grow further.

Harvest by cutting only the leafy foliage and remove the stems when the seeds appear brown and ripe. You may need to consider how much space you have and dill usually grows so tall, you may need to select a dwarf variety like Fernleaf dill.

Mint – $14.00 per pound

Mint is one of the most popular herb around the world with more popular variety such as spearmint (Mentha spicata), peppermint (Mentha x piperita), and pennyroyal mint (Mentha pulegium). Mint requires full sunlight, which means 6 to 8 hours of sunlight.

Mint can be well transplanted even from tip cuttings of about 5 to 6 inches in length from an established mint plant.

Chives – $14.00 per pound

Hydroponically grown chives is growing rapidly as many consumers prefer the freshly harvested chives for flavor, aroma and appearance. Fresh chives are widely used as a garnish and have a mild onion flavor. 

Chives will grow year round, like more cool temperature but even n in warm temperatures can thrive and require 14 hours in length. If you are grown chives from seed, they will be ready to transplant in about 4 weeks, and ready to harvest 3–4 weeks later. 

Tarragon – $16.00 per pound

Using several kinds of growth media, including sterile root cubes made from cellulose fiber or peat and vermiculite, you can grow Tarragon hydroponically. It requires receiving 8 hours LED light per day. Because it is also aromatic Tarragon is often compared to thyme. Tarragon originated from from Siberia and it can usually grow up to about 1.5 meters tall.

You can’t grow tarragon from seed and you best option is from tarragon plugs. This herb is one of the most important herbs in French cooking & recipes and it has a very delicate aromatic flavor.

Bay Leaves – $30.00 per pound

Bay Leaves are popular and can be used as a fresh or dried bay leaves and are used to add to the aroma and taste of a dish. There are multiple varieties of the herb, including the California bay leaf, Indonesian bay leaf, and the Mexican bay leaf.

One thing to consider is that is Bay Leaves are evergreen tree that can potentially become very tall, so keep that in mind when trying to figure out what crops to grow and how much space you have.

Ginseng – $500-600 per pound

Ginseng looks like ginger and it is a “rooty” crop, well used a lot in teas and energy drinks, but also for centuries, it’s also been used for various health purposes. Ginseng is one of the most profitable plants to grow hydroponically. It does very well in open gardens as well as in a greenhouse and if grown in a greenhouse, the plant might mature early.

Remember that growing ginseng requires a six year wait to harvest the mature roots. In the recent decades ginseng became extremely popular to the Western world. There is a big market for “wild simulated” ginseng, and true wild ginseng is becoming more and more rare. 

Cannabis – $1.600 per pound

Growing cannabis is getting more and more popular and in many stays is becoming legalized. Remember, this one only applies to you if you live somewhere where it can be grown legally though.

Obviously this plant it the Most Profitable Plants to Grow Hydroponically and it getting more and more interest due to its health benefits as well. In the vegetative stage, plants in hydroponic setups generally grow faster than soil-grown plants.

Considerations

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You can find many profitable crops that you could grow on your hydroponic farm, but there are many different factors that your decision will depend on.

Here are some questions you should consider when deciding on a new crop for your hydroponic farm:

• What is the cash value per pound or kilogram of product?
• How quick is the growing cycle?
• How will you sell the produce?
• How much space do you have and can you make use of vertical space?
• How labor intensive is a crop to produce?