Do you have houseplants or an indoor plant garden?
Growing plants in water is an excellent activity for the amateur gardener, those who dislike the messiness of dirt, live in small spaces, and forget about watering plants.
Not only does this method require low maintenance, but it’s also pest and disease-resistant.
Table of ContentsShow
Growing Plants In Water: Is It Possible?
Yes, numerous plants can grow in water. It’s a commonly used method to propagate cuttings from a houseplant.
An indoor water yard comprises cuttings from one or more types of houseplants in bottles or jars covering every available surface to a few plants that grow in the water, resting on the kitchen’s window ledge.
You can achieve great success with your water garden with a little patience. Compared to soil-based planting, growing plants in water is a gradual method.
Nonetheless, an indoor water yard can stay alive and healthy for a long time.
What Plants Can You Grow in Water?
You can grow numerous plants in water. Here are five of the most popular plants:
Chinese Evergreen
It’s a carefree water plant that can tolerate negligence and minimal sunlight. These properties make it ideal for those who want a plant with little maintenance.
Also, it’s an exceptional dorm room or office plant. Some Chinese evergreens have leaves with diverse patterns and colors comprising pink, red, green, white, and yellow.
English Ivy
When it comes to growing plants in water, English Ivy (also known as Hedera Helix) is another renowned choice.
Usually, it’s used in landscapes and yards to cover structures and walls or to form a compact cover for the ground.
Outside, English ivy has earned a reputation for invading other plants.
Therefore, you should plant it where there’s room for it to wander so that it doesn’t strangle other plants. Ivies come in numerous types with a wide range of leaf variations and colors.
Spider Plant
It’s an indoor plant known for its minimal care needs and diverse foliage.
The spider plant produces “babies” or “pups” when growing. You can cut and root a baby in water to form new plants.
Also, you can keep the spider plant in water for a long time as it requires minimal maintenance.
Lucky Bamboo
Although it looks like bamboo, it’s a kind of Dracaena.
Usually, it has broad stalks organized in bundles (each with more than two stalks). They’re woven, intertwined, or curled into complex shapes.
The one-of-a-kind shapes of lucky bamboo might make you think that these plants need a lot of care and maintenance, but this isn’t the case. When growing plants in water, they flourish well, and lucky bamboo is no exception.
Devil’s Ivy
It’s also called the golden pothos plant. Devil’s ivy is an active plant with beautiful heart-shaped foliage of yellow and green. As they grow, the stems trail down and it has a climbing habit.
Ensure you put the stems in a tall vase, on a shelf, or in a wall-mounted vessel where they can spill down to take advantage of this hanging plant growth.
Let’s now look at how you can grow plants in water.
Growing Plants In Water: The Steps Involved
If you want to relish greenery in your home, the best way is to create an indoor garden from plants that flourish in water in a simple, fast, and mess-free method.
To get started, here are a few steps:
1. Select A Plant That Grows In Water
Based on the plant type, it’s best to start with a leaf-cutting or a new stem.
You can get a plant cutting from some of your indoor plants or ask a friend to give you a couple of pieces. The cutting will come with many leaves.
Cut the stem beneath the leaf node (where the stem generates the plant’s roots). If it has many leaves get rid of any that are underwater.
2. Put The Leaf Or Stem In Fresh Water
You can use chlorinated tap water but let the water sit out for a day before planting so the chlorine in the water dispels.
Additionally, you can utilize rainwater or bottled water. A liquid fertilizer or plant food can be helpful to keep your plant’s nutrient levels up.
3. Relocate The Vessel To A Place With Indirect Sunlight
Stay clear of areas in your household close to heat, such as a wood stove, fireplace, or vents.
What Are The Ideal Containers For Growing Plants In Water?
You can use any jar, bottle, vase, or glass when growing plants in water.
If you’re choosing a vessel, ensure it corresponds to the plant’s size. A freshly cut stem will only require a small vessel at first, but as it grows, you have to relocate it to something larger.
If you want to start growing plants in water, here are a couple of containers you can use.
Glasses
Don’t just throw away broken glasses. You can fill them with greenery bits instead.
Vases
Vases are available in numerous colors, sizes, and shapes. They can be fabricated from pottery, glass, or any other material.
Ensure that they’re waterproof so they don’t leak. If you have one stem or two, utilize a vase that has a slender neck to ensure the plant stays upright.
Test Tubes
Among the most fashionable methods to showcase plants in water is using test tubes. You can buy them from a science store or online. Also, there are test tube sets meant for plants.
If you want to root cuttings in water, the slender test tubes are great as plant propagators.
Alternatively, you can showcase an assemblage of single items. You can also find similar merchandise with glass bulbs and stands made of wood.
Jars
Perhaps you have an unkempt assembly of mason jars in the basement, kitchen, or pantry. These jars can act as permanent homes for plants or as vessels to root cuttings.
Containers and Wall-Mounted Vases
Since plants growing in water don’t require direct sunlight, you can put them in wall-mounted vessels. There are infinite sizes and styles: from wall-mounted vases, to test tubes, to hanging glass globes.
What Are The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Farming in Water?
When it comes to producing foliage, veggies, and other plants, growing plants in water is a viable option.
On a grand scale, it’s called hydroponic farming. These days, there’s a high demand for locally grown produce, and growing plants in water is an effective method of meeting this demand.
There are numerous factors to consider if you want to grow plants in water. There are benefits and drawbacks.
For you to decide whether to grow plants in water or not, look at the pros and cons.
Benefits
- Compared to soil-based gardening, hydroponics utilizes 20 times less water.
- You can grow your plants anywhere.
- It doesn’t require pesticides because your environment is free from microorganisms.
- You don’t need as much space when growing plants in water.
- You’ll conserve the water as you can reuse it.
- It’s easier to harvest plants growing in water.
- You don’t need to weed, change the soil, mulch, or even cultivate.
- Setting up or testing the soil isn’t required.
- The plants can grow throughout the year when indoors.
Drawbacks
- Setting up a hydroponic system is costly.
- Hydroponic systems are affected by power outages. In case there’s a prolonged power outage that outstays your generators, you’ll have to water manually.
- Water-based microorganisms may crawl in easily.
- Compared to field conditions, production is restricted.
- You have to monitor plants growing in water.
- To grow plants in water, you need technical skills.
- If the system stops functioning, the plants die quickly, as there’s no soil to act as a buffer.
- All the plants in your hydroponic system may be affected if a disease occurs.
Growing Plants In Water: Plant Care Tips
Among the joys of growing plants in water is that they require minimal maintenance. Consistently check for clean water, refill it when it evaporates and change it after a couple of weeks.
Also, it’s advisable to boost your plants now and then by adding a couple of drops of houseplant fertilizer to the water.
You may observe that your plants have roots after a couple of weeks or months. You can then take the plants out of the water and move them to a container filled with a potting mix if your objective is propagating plants.
Generally, you can grow plants in water for a long time. Many of these plants flourish for many years with minimal care.
Conclusion
Hydroponics is the ideal method if you want to grow plants with minimal maintenance, as you don’t need to worry about soil spilling or pets burrowing into your plants.
There are numerous vessels where your plants can flourish.
We hope that you’ve learned everything you need to know about growing plants in water.
