Growing large plants with hydroponics is simply, the best bang for your buck because we can use a very affordable large pot or grow bag and every other gadget we use to help them grow are minimized.
For example, if we grow a single tomato plant in a 3-5 gallon bucket, we only need one dripper and less frequent irrigation than growing these plants in a stacked pot vertical garden where we could need 20 plants, 4 feeder lines and 4 three drippers feeding several times per day.
Although from a farmer’s perspective this makes sense, from a grower that likes beauty, a stacked pot system may have those other rewards like elegance and soulful interactions.
Of course, this only holds true if the plants you plan to grow have the potential to grow large in the first place. Some examples of large, common vegetable plants are tomatoes, tomatillos, cucumbers, some pepper varieties like Bell and Jalapeno.
Although this post will detail on large plants, as growers and hydroponicists, we always try to focus on the right grow spot for the right plant. For example, lettuce grows effectively in small, vinyl downspouts or stacked vertical pots, while a 7 gallon pots would be a waste of space for the limited root system and max potential size for plant.
Setting Up a Large Pot, Top Feeding System
Growing in large pots is very easy, especially with some automation, like dripper lines. When we build our bucket system, we have the option of recirculating, or one way feeding.
Cost/Benefit Analysis
As we look into the project, we can provide a drip item to each pot for under $1 each. The only real cost here is the pump. All costs can easily be covered with the potential production, not to mention ease of operation which converts to time saved watering large plants.
