Who needs dirt? Not your houseplants, at least not all of them. Many can be cultivated using a technique called Hydroculture, where soil is replaced with water and a liquid fertilizer, and a clay aggregate is used to support the plant's roots. For people who travel a lot, or for those of us who tend to over or under water our houseplants, Hydroculture may be a good solution.
Plants are grown in containers filled with water and liquid fertilizer. The plants take in nutrients from a water solution through their "water" roots. After continuously being submerged in water, they have adapted by developing a greater capacity to store oxygen. Once the hydroculture system has been set up, a float in the reservoir indicates when it's time to add more solution.
Reduces pests and disease. No soil means no more soil born pests, including those creepy little potting soil gnats. You can also say goodbye to mold spores and mildew-a boon for those who suffer from allergies.
Lower maintenance. Hydroculture is cleaner and easier to maintain. By eliminating dirt, you eliminate must odors and messy spills. You'll need to water less often, transplant less often, and worry less about leaving your plants unattended while on vacation.
This page contains the following solutions.
You don't need to have a green thumb to grow houseplants in water. Even if you've killed every houseplant growing in soil that you have ever had, your success is almost guaranteed when growing them in water.
I began growing plants in water when I was trying to root a plant cutting that I had. I loved being able to see the roots as they grew so I decided to leave the cutting in water instead of planting it.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I've tried many times to get cuttings to sprout in water. They just get slimy. What can I do to have some luck?
You need to change the water daily. Once roots come, you should use rooting hormone and pot it up.
A lot of cuttings don't need to be started in water. Things like wandering jew and baby (or mouse-ear) jew can be stuck in the dirt and will grow just fine. I have purple jew ground-cover growing outside that I started from one cutting over 5 years ago, and it freezes and comes back every year.
I will start ivy in water, but like Judy says, water should be changed every day. I've found that sweet potato vines will grow if I just stick them in the dirt, either outside or in a pot. I even found a small sweet potato growing in a pot in my kitchen a few weeks ago. We used to put sweet potatoes in water to make a plant, but now if a sweet potato sprouts, I'll cut off the sprouts and put them in dirt.
What kind of plants are you starting?
I start spider plants in water. They stay in it for a few days until the roots sprout and then go into dirt that gets watered daily. This short time the water does not get slimy.
Kalanchoes on the other hand, I root directly into dirt and water them daily. They don't seem to root well for me in water.
African violets get set up in a special water rooting method with saran wrap and water changed every couple of days until they root.
Philodendren and pothos can be rooted either way.
The trick when using water rooting is, when you change the water, to wipe out the container and dry it before adding the fresh water. The only time I get slime is when I don't do this.
Happy rooting!
If you are trying to root cuttings in water the process isn't that necessary now. You can use some florist foam to put the cutting in. You will cut a small square of the foam and inset the cuttings in the foam. Now you just sit this in a small dish with some water in the dish. The foam will soak up the water and root the plants. Once they are rooted you can plant them in the ground. This is much easier than trying to put them in a glass of water to root.
Back in the mid 70s there was a company that offered their house plants through home parties. The plants were grown in some kind of lava looking pebbles and did not use soil at all. You watered with their plant food solution each time you watered. The plants grew beautifully! Does anyone know what happened to the company or know what type of pebbles and solutions were used?
Hardiness Zone: 7a
By Daisy from Franklinton, NC
Can I grow indoor plants in water only? What do I do with indoor plants in water when the water begins to smell bad? Other than replacing all the water.
Hardiness Zone: 6a
By marian nelson from Provo, UT
I remember my mom growing sweet potato vines (as house plants) in a mason jar. How do you do it? I'd love to know. Can they remain in the water with some marbles in the bottom, or do they need to be planted? What type of light do they need? If I need to plant them, what do I keep the moisture level at for the soil?
You put the end that is "pointed" down in the water in the jar. You can grow these in your kitchen window or anywhere else in your home, where there is natural sunlight. Once you put the potato down in the jar, only about half of the potato should be in the water. You don't ever have to plant these. From what I could tell, they could live indefinitely in the jar.
I hope this helps.
I grow them every year with my kids in school...they enjoy watching the vine grow
My sweet potato in the jar keeps getting moldy. I just moved it to a window that gets more direct light, but does anyone have another suggestion?
lavell1 @ comcast.net (remove spaces)
hello,
the first thing you do is you get a jar and fill it with water(make sure you leave an inch without water).then insert the root end in the jar make sure that the end was in the water
I have been growing plants in bottled water for over fifty years. Recently we installed a whole house water filter and I now have a rim of scum (?) on the top edge of the water and on the container.
The containers are cleaned thoroughly and the water is changed every month and it does not matter the size of the container or the type of plant.
I have a couple of plants in vases, but the water seems to start smelling bad after a few weeks. What can I do or what should I put in the water to prevent this from happening?
I would like to have a vase on my desk with a plant in water. Which plants will grow this way?
By RL from Basking Ridge, NJ
