×
  • Home
  • Daily
    • Buyers Guides
    • Composting
    • Container Gardening
    • Easy Healthy Recipes
    • Food Preservation
    • Garden Design
    • Garden Tools
    • Gardening LIfe
      • Animals in the Garden
      • Funny Business
      • Gardening History
      • Gardening Humor
      • Gardening Mishaps
      • Gardening Poems
      • Gardening Romance
      • Gardening Science
      • Gardening with Kids
      • Healing Gardens
      • Joy of Gardening
      • Mystical Gardens
      • Ornamental Gardening
    • Growing Fruits & Berries
    • Indoor Gardening
    • Pests & Diseases
    • Seeds & Seedlings
    • Soil & Fertilizer
    • Spice & Herb Gardening
    • Vegetable Gardening
    • Watering & Irrigation
  • Freebies
  • Videos
  • Magazines
    • Food Gardening Magazine
    • GreenPrints Magazine
    • RecipeLion Magazine
  • Books
    • GuideBooks
    • Cookbooks
      • Beverages
      • Bakery
      • Breakfast
      • Appetizers
      • Salads & Dressings
      • Soups
      • Entrées
      • Side Dishes & Sauces
      • Desserts
    • Story Collections
    • StoryBooks
    • Recipe Collections
  • Kits
    • Garden Calendars
    • Garden Plans
    • Recipe Cards
    • Greeting Cards
    • ArtPrints
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Affiliate Program
  • Sponsor Program
  • Give a Gift
  • Privacy Policy & Terms of Use
  • Authors
  • GreenPrints Writer’s Guidelines
  • Keyword Index
  • Join
Celebrating 5 Years of Food Gardening

Food Gardening Network

Growing food, fun & more

Give a GiftJoin
Mequoda Publishing Network
  • Daily
    • Buyers Guides
    • Composting
    • Container Gardening
    • Easy Healthy Recipes
    • Food Preservation
    • Garden Design
    • Garden Tools
    • Gardening Life
      • Animals in the Garden
      • Funny Business
      • Gardening History
      • Gardening Humor
      • Gardening Mishaps
      • Gardening Poems
      • Gardening Romance
      • Gardening Science
      • Gardening with Kids
      • Healing Gardens
      • Joy of Gardening
      • Mystical Gardens
      • Ornamental Gardening
    • Growing Fruits & Berries
    • Indoor Gardening
    • Pests & Diseases
    • Seeds & Seedlings
    • Soil & Fertilizer
    • Spice & Herb Gardening
    • Vegetable Gardening
    • Watering & Irrigation
  • Freebies
  • Videos
  • Magazines
    • Food Gardening Magazine
    • GreenPrints Magazine
    • RecipeLion Magazine
  • Books
    • GuideBooks
    • Cookbooks
      • Beverages
      • Bakery
      • Breakfast
      • Appetizers
      • Salads & Dressings
      • Soups
      • Entrées
      • Side Dishes & Sauces
      • Desserts
    • Story Collections
    • StoryBooks
    • Recipe Collections
  • Kits
    • Garden Calendars
    • Garden Plans
    • Recipe Cards
    • Greeting Cards
    • ArtPrints
  • Sign In
  • Search

Choosing Plant Food for Hydroponics That Keep Fruiting Plants Happy

Choosing Plant Food for Hydroponics That Keep Fruiting Plants Happy

Learn how to choose plant food for hydroponics so your fruiting vegetables can thrive.

By Amanda MacArthur | February 25, 2022

plant food for hydroponics

Plant Food for Hydroponics

When you’re looking at plant food for hydroponics, things can get a little confusing. Typically, in gardening, we think about oxygen, water, soil, and sunlight. But the entire equation is different with hydroponic gardening. 

Our “sunlight” usually comes in the form of grow lights. And, of course, you can generally arrange those to provide the perfect amount of light for whatever you’re planting. If you get fancy enough, you can even program the lights, so you don’t have to worry about timers or turning them on and off. 

The oxygen is a pretty easy one, since your plants’ roots aren’t buried in soil, and, therefore, have easier access to oxygen. But, as far as your plants are concerned, the thing that’s really different in a hydroponic system is that all the nutrients and moisture they usually get from the soil and water now comes in a solution. 

How much does plant food for hydroponics matter? Is there one kind that’s better than others? Here are some tips for choosing. 

Discover 7 top tips for growing, harvesting, and enjoying tomatoes from your home garden—when you access the FREE guide The Best Way to Grow Tomatoes, right now!

Inside of greenhouse with cucumbers

How to find the right plant food for hydroponics

From looking at typical fertilizers, you already know that plants need nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK). These are the “big three.” Many of the additional nutrients that plants need can usually be found in healthy soil, like boron, copper, magnesium, and so on. Though most plants only require these in small amounts, they’re still important. 

Obviously, if you’re thinking about plant food for hydroponics, you need something that supplies all of a plant’s nutritional requirements. If you want to get deep into details and explore topics like nitrogen feed rates, ammonium and nitrate nitrogen calculation, and the chemical properties of growing media, feel free to check out this information sheet from Purdue Agriculture’s Horticulture and Landscape Architecture program. 

My goal here is to make this as easy and straightforward as possible. And for most of us home gardeners, that much information can get overwhelming. So here’s the easy approach to choosing plant food for hydroponics. 

First, make sure you get a formula specifically designed for hydroponic systems. Fertilizer intended for soil just won’t work. 

Second, go with a liquid fertilizer that’s simple and easy to use. Dry or powdered plant food is generally better for large-scale systems. That’s not to say that you can’t use dry fertilizer, but again, we’re trying to make this easy. 

Third, the more mixing you do, the more chance there is for something to go wrong. If you do get a plant food that requires mixing, follow the directions closely.

Lastly, make it easy on yourself. (Noticing a theme here?) There’s a good chance that wherever you purchased your hydroponic system also sells plant food for hydroponics. Some, like Rise Gardens, even offer subscriptions. Of course, there are also plenty of online shops. For example, Hydrobuilder sells dozens of brands and formulations of plant food for hydroponics. And while that sounds like a lot to sort through, you can filter your results with options like OMRI certification, price, and nutrient material (liquid, powder, or granular). Full disclosure, I haven’t shopped with them, but they have good reviews and comments everywhere from Facebook to Glassdoor. 

Now then, with all this talk of plant food, I think I need to go take care of some of my own veggies.

Do you have any hydroponic nutrient products that you’d recommend? I’d love to read about your experience in the comments.

Discover 7 top tips for growing, harvesting, and enjoying tomatoes from your home garden—when you access the FREE guide The Best Way to Grow Tomatoes, right now!

 

« The White House Vegetable Garden: 10 Fascinating Facts
The Best Compost Ingredients for Making Black Gold »

Related Posts

  • 7 Solutions for Improving Garden Drainage in Vegetable Gardens
  • Is it Safe? How to Test Soil Quality Before Growing Edible Plants
  • 5+ Soil Additives to Improve Drainage in Soggy Gardens

Tags

fertilizer, hydroponic system, hydroponics, liquid fertilizer, plant food for hydroponics

Comments

Click here to cancel reply.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Give a Gift

FREEBIE!

With your FREEBIE, you’ll also receive regular email messages from the Food Gardening Network. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Your email address is private. We promise never to sell, rent or disclose your email address to third parties.

Freebies

  • Worst Best Gardening Jokes Calendar
  • 5 Easy Healthy Carrot Recipes
  • 5 Easy Healthy Lemon Recipes
  • 5 Easy Healthy Salsa Recipes
  • 5 Easy Healthy Apple Recipes
  • 5 Easy Healthy Chicken Breast Recipes
  • Top 11 Food Gardening Tools You Need to Succeed
  • A Printable Companion Planting Chart
  • Plants for Bug Control Chart
  • Printable Seed Germination Temperature Chart
  • Printable Tomato Garden-to-Table Chart
  • Planning Your Perfect Food Garden
  • Printable Butterfly Garden Planting Chart
  • The Best Way to Grow Tomatoes
  • Printable Composting 101 Charts
  • How to Master Spice and Herb Gardening at Home
  • Printable Monthly Gardening Calendar
  • 10 Best Garden Poems of All Time
  • Vegetable Garden Planting Chart Freebie
  • Printable Flower Garden Companion Planting Chart
  • 10 Things You Can Grow That Your Pet Will LOVE To Eat!
  • Rose Garden Planting Chart Freebie
  • Printable Kitchen Garden Planting Charts
  • Sunflower Garden Planting Chart Freebie
  • Seasonal ArtPrints Collection Kit Sampler
  • Sampler: Gardening Humor
  • Sampler: Wit, Wisdom, & Learning
  • Gardening in Every Season
  • How to Start a Freedom Garden
  • Recipes from Your Garden
  • Sampler: Animals in the Garden
  • Sampler: Healing Gardens
  • Sampler: Joy of Gardening
  • Growing Vegetables Indoors for Beginners
  • 15 Easiest Fruits to Grow at Home
  • How to Grow a Vegetable Garden

Browse Topics

  • Buyers Guides
  • Composting
  • Container Gardening
  • Easy Healthy Recipes
  • Food Preservation
  • Garden Design
  • Garden Tools
  • Gardening Life
  • Growing Fruits & Berries
  • Indoor Gardening
  • Ornamental Gardening
  • Pests & Diseases
  • Seeds & Seedlings
  • Soil & Fertilizer
  • Spice & Herb Gardening
  • Uncategorized
  • Vegetable Gardening
  • Watering & Irrigation

Buyers Guides:

  • 9 Automated Garden Tools for Effortless Growing
  • 12 Cool Gardening Tools and Gifts for the Plant Lover in Your Life
  • Choosing the Best Shovel for Your Gardening Needs
  • 10 Gardening Tools for Seniors That Actually Make a Difference
  • This Countertop Compost Machine Turns Scraps into Compost in a Few Hours
  • 10+ Food Gardening Gadgets We Love
  • 15 Adaptive and Accessible Gardening Tools and Raised Beds
  • 13 Canning Tools, Supplies & Equipment You Need
  • The 3 Best Gardening Shoes
  • 5+ Best Bird Deterrents for Gardens
  • Shop Our Amazon Store

Authors:

  • Bill Dugan
  • Amanda MacArthur
  • Mike McGrath
  • Don Nicholas
  • Norann Oleson
  • Christy Page
  • Becky Rupp
  • Beth Rush
  • Pat Stone
  • Diana Wells

Enter Your Log In Credentials

This setting should only be used on your home or work computer.

  • Lost your password? Create New Password
  • No account? Sign up

Need Assistance?

Call Food Gardening Network Customer Service at
(800) 777-2658

Food Gardening Network is an active member of the following industry associations:

  • American Horticultural Society
  • GardenComm Logo
  • GardenComm Laurel Media Award
  • MCMA logo
  • Join Now
  • Learn More
  • About Food Gardening Network
  • Contact Us
  • Affiliate Program
  • Sponsor Program
  • Give a Gift
  • Privacy Policy & Terms of Use

Food Gardening Network
99 Derby Street, Suite 200
Hingham, MA 02043
support@foodgardening.mequoda.com

To learn more about our Email Marketing and Broadcasting Services, Exchange Program, or to become a marketing partner with any of our publications, click here to contact us at Mequoda Publishing Network.

FREE E-Newsletter for You!

Discover how to grow, harvest, and eat good food from your own garden—with our FREE e-newsletter, delivered directly to your email inbox.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Powered by
Mequoda Publishing Network
copyright © 2025 Mequoda Systems, LLC

Food Gardening Network®, Food Gardening Magazine® and GreenPrints® are registered trademarks of Mequoda Systems, LLC.

Go to mobile version