Frequently asked questions

Hydroponics is growing plants in a nutrient solution instead of soil, so the roots get exactly what they need with less mess and faster growth. Getting started is easier than most people expect. A simple bench-top system, a bag of nutrient and a grow light will get you growing herbs or leafy greens in a week or two. The trick is starting small, learning how your plants respond, and building up from there rather than trying to run a full room on day one.

You can grow in almost any space, from a corner of the kitchen bench to a spare room or garage. A small countertop unit needs about the footprint of a chopping board, while a vertical tower or a tent setup makes good use of height if floor space is tight. The main things to plan for are a power point for your light and pump, and somewhere you do not mind the occasional splash of water. Tell us your space and we will match a system to it.

Because there is no soil, you feed the plants a balanced nutrient solution that carries everything they would normally pull from the ground. Most growers use a two-part or three-part nutrient that covers the major elements plus the trace ones, mixed into your water at the right strength. Leafy greens want a lighter feed while fruiting plants like tomatoes and chillies want more as they mature. We stock nutrients for each stage and can show you how to mix them so you are not guessing.

Sunlight is great when you have it, but indoors or through a New Zealand winter it is often too weak or too short to grow well. A good LED grow light gives your plants a strong, consistent spectrum for the exact hours they need, which means steady growth all year round. Modern LEDs also run cool and use far less power than the old lights, so they are cheaper to run and safer in a small space. Picking the right light for your area is one of the biggest things we help people get right.

pH controls whether your plants can actually take up the nutrients in the water, and EC tells you how strong the feed is. If either drifts too far, plants stop feeding properly even when everything looks fine. Most home growers check both every couple of days with a simple meter and adjust as needed, which takes a couple of minutes once you have the hang of it. We sell the meters and the pH adjusters, and we are happy to walk you through your first few readings.

Leafy greens like lettuce, spinach, rocket and a huge range of herbs are the easiest and fastest, often ready to pick in weeks. Once you are confident you can move on to fruiting crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, capsicums and strawberries, which take longer but reward the effort. Some people grow flowers and seedlings to plant out later too. If you have a plant in mind, come and ask, because there is usually a way to grow it well indoors.

Less than most people fear. A small LED light running a bench of herbs might draw about the same as a couple of household bulbs, and even a decent tent setup is modest compared to a heater or a dryer. Running your lights on a timer for the hours the plants actually need keeps the cost sensible and the plants happy. We can size a light to your space so you get strong growth without paying for output you do not need.

You top up as the plants drink, and give the reservoir a full change every week or two depending on the system and the crop. Keeping things clean is mostly about starting with fresh nutrient, wiping the tank between changes, and stopping light from hitting the water so algae cannot take hold. A clean system runs itself with very little fuss. We stock everything you need to keep a reservoir healthy and can show you a simple routine that works.