8 BEST CROPS FOR KRATKY HYDROPONICS METHOD.

8 Easy crops to grow with the Kratky Hydroponics Method!

As this technique is best used for smaller plants, it doesn’t mean as a limitation, many of the plants that can be grown with this method.

Now here we’ll look at the 8 best crops that do fine when grown in the Kratky hydroponics system.

Kratky Hydroponics

A Kratky hydroponics system is best used for a small crop so you can expect to grow 3 to 4  plants in a five-gallon (19L)& 8 best crops listed below with details.

 

If you want to learn to make a Kratky hydroponics system at your home Click here and read the article.

1) Lettuce

  • It is best to be grown in this method
  • Lettuce also grows very fast in a hydroponic system, which makes it a fast crop for those of you looking to use this method to earn money!
  • Lettuce likes cool places
  • It should be provided with a pH level of 6.0 to 7.0.
  • Lettuce is grown best in a container if you provide a gallon(3.8L) of nutrient solution per plant if you provide that much then you won’t need to refill the nutrient solution in your hydroponic setup until after you harvest your lettuce
  • More the capacity of the container the more you can grow
  • The growing medium that gets lots of air, such as clay balls can be the best medium to grow!
  • A nutrient mix for lettuce is evenly balanced, i.e you need to mix equal parts nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
  • There is no fiddling with nutrients in this method of growing.
  • Plant a few seeds and let them grow weaker seedling should be trimmed away.

2)Herbs

  • Herb garden is aesthetically peaceful in houses
  •  They are also known for medical benefits and hydroponically grown herbs are more aromatic than soil-grown!
  • You shall be using the herb for seeping the plants for their flavour, as you do when making tea!
  • There are many varieties in herbs which require different pH to grow and have different harvesting time!
  • Herbs tend to have small root systems, so you can put them to grow in a small system rather than a larger one and can be grown much tighter together than lettuce or spinach!
  • Just figure out what is the growing condition of your herbs and maintain accordingly.
  • You don’t have to rinse the water in the Kratky method, it doesn’t have any moving water, nothing messy for you!

3) Spinach

Do you know?
Growing spinach in the temp range between 18°C -22°C will result in sweater spinach!
  • Growing spinach hydroponically is a great choice!
  • Spinach grows quickly in larger volumes in your hydroponic system than soil-grown!
  • In Kratky, you can grow quickly as your system allows plenty of oxygen to get at the roots!
  • Spinach takes max 7-9 days to develop seedling.
  • A pH level of between 6.0 and 7.5 is necessary, mostly within the ranges that lettuce needs so you can take advantage by growing both of them in the same nutrient container! But the harvesting time will be different for both lettuce will be harvested first if both sown at the same time
  • Lower the temp slower the growth.
  • Give them plenty of light to grow!

4)Strawberries

  • Strawberry grows quick best in the hydroponic method.
  • Especially it likes a controlled environment so growing indoors might be a good option for you and also pay close attention to the microclimate you create for them.
  • It takes 2-3 weeks to develop a seedling and from seedling to harvest is only about 60 days!
  • The Kratky system can work perfectly fine if you pay extra attention to the starting!
  • They need to be pollinated by hands in indoors
  • You can pollinate them by taking a brush and brushing pollen from the male flowers into the female flowers, this should be done once a day, starting from when flowers begin to bloom
  •  It likes pH level strictly between  5.5 to 6.2 if not maintained with this precision then your strawberries will suffer.
  •  9-12 hrs of light should be given.
  • Temperature requirements 15°-26°
Strawberries are not as thirsty as Tomato (which you will know in no.8th), it also depends on the variety you are growing some require more water and some require less water.
-If it drinks less water then there is no need to refill or change the nutrient solution!
NOTE– Some variety needs to refill the nutrient solution once to twice because they are thirsty!
Although it requires some maintenance its results are amazing economically(depends on the location and market) as well as quality!

5)Celery

  • Celery is the best crop for beginners looking to expand their skillset and tackle harder crops!
  • Celery has many nutritional values too it is a source of high fibre and high vitamins!
  • Celery takes the longest growing time in this list it almost takes 150 days before it is ready to harvest.
  • As it takes so much time so beginners can learn to tackle it!
  • Celery is also very particular about its pH 6.5 (Precise).
  • The best growing medium will be clay balls which allows an ample amount of oxygen!
  • Temperature requirement 15-23°C
  • Light requirement 6-12hrs.
  • You should grow at a ratio of one plant to two gallons(7.5L) of water. The five-gallon(19L) container could manage two celery plants!
  • Celery requires balanced NPK and additional Ca and Mg for better development of stalk and improve quality.

6)Cucumber

  • Cucumber crop is very appropriate in the Kratky method, and, when grown hydroponically, they are much crisper!
  • It requires a lot of water you can expect one plant /four gallons (15L) of nutrient solution
  • A pH level of 5.5 to 6.5 should be maintained,
  • The temperature range should be 18-23°C for its best growth.
  • You don’t need to self pollinate like in strawberry.

7)Bell Peppers

  • Bell peppers have a higher yield in the hydroponic system.
  • Bell peppers take about 90 days to grow after seedling development.
  • pH should be between 6.5-7.5
  • They are a little thirsty they need  a ratio of one plant to three gallons(11L) of water
  • The problem is that bell pepper plants like to grow quite tall so it requires a lot of light
  • 18hrs-24 hrs of light is required, yes it’s actually true it can handle that much duration of light but it’s up to you if you do so it will be more beneficial in case of early production!
  • It depends on you that how you can provide that much light indoors by keeping economic feasibility in mind.
  • Pruning is required from time to time so a beginner should not directly jump into this
  • Making perfect nutrient requires skills especially in this system of growing.

8)Cherry tomatoes.

  • Tomatoes are a lot harder crop to grow in the Kratky method but they grow well, the thing is it loves a lot of water so you need to refill the container on a weekly basis. (Considering your container size 5 gallons or 18 L)
  • Tomatoes like to get a pH level in the range of  5.5  to  6.5
  •  Proper pruning is required for tomatoes
  • 16-32°C Temperature requirement
  • It also requires so high duration of light like bell pepper(18-22hrs it’s up to you)
  • It will take 3-4 months to grow so you will need to check the nutrients frequently.

Top 8 Crops For Kratky hydroponics

8 best Crops for Kratky Hydroponics

The result you get from the Kratky method is worth the efforts you make!

If you want to learn to make a Kratky system at your home Click here and read the article.
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3 thoughts on “8 BEST CROPS FOR KRATKY HYDROPONICS METHOD.

  1. Excellent information. You are really helping new generation farmers by providing a very specific information on different plant and different methods.

    I would like to develop Zinger and Turmeric hydroponically in grow bags with cocopeat as media. Could you please suggest right ratio of nutrient requirement for zinger and Turmeric.

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