Hydro-culture -- Growing Plants without Soil

Hydro-culture means that a plant is growing in a non-biodegradable "soil" that support the plant and its roots instead of in an ordinary pot with ordinary soil. I use aquarium-sand, which is "gravel" of around 3-5 mm in particle-size. Other materials than are usable are leca-gravel and glasswool (which is used in greenhouses for growing tomatoes and cucumbers).
Because there are no nutrients available in the substratum, they have to be added via the watering-water. Some nutrients are already present in ordinary tap-water, but some need to be added.

Currently, I only have two plants in hydro-culture: a small cutting of Pilea depressa 'Hanne' which is not very old: about half a year or so, and a Peperomia obtusifolia which has been in hydroculture for about two-three years, and does well. It blossoms rather abundantly in summer, and grows rather well, too. This I can't say about the mother-plant.

Hydroculture the easy way:

Cut a small cutting. trim all leaves which would be buried in the gravel/whatever.
Put the cutting in a pot (no drainage hole!) which is filled with gravel/leca. You can either use a stick to make a "hole" in the filled pot, and put it then, or fill the pot with the plant inside (be careful not to damage the cutting).
Water: fill the whole pot with lukewarm water
Water: I usually fill the whole pot. In waterculture proper, you only fill till the pot is half full, and refill when the pot is a quarter full (these figures need to be checked). Once in a while, but only after the cutting has started to grow (=rootsystem developed), you have a low concentration of liquid fertiliser in the water. And the water is ordinary tap-water, which happens to be rather soft where I live.
Repotting: doesn't seem to be needed. Of course, if the plant grows very large, then it should be done. My Peperomia has been in a 2 dl yoghurt container the whole time. I am thinking about putting it into something nicer.

In "proper" hydroculture there are special pots, with a float or something so you'll know how full the pot is. They might also have an inner pot, where the plant is, and the space between the pots is the basin. Apparently there are briquettes that can be used to provide the fertilisation.

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Author: Cami:-), written Apr 23rd -98

Last modified: Thu Apr 23 22:05:48 EET DST 1998