Growing Hydroponic Herbs In Mason Jars

I was just watching this tutorial on YouTube, and it explains an easy way to set up a canning jar (or any quart jar like a mayo jar, etc) and make a small hydroponic growing system.
It looks fairly simple to do, and I am really thinking about starting some of these, in addition to the aerogarden starts.
I have had a challenge starting plants every year because the birds and squirrel eat the seeds; but perhaps if I can get them started inside, then i can set the out once they have a good start on growing.

 

I have started an experiment with using gallon milk jugs for passive hydroponics, and so far, it seems to be working just fine.
I took one of the lettuce sprouts from the aerogarden and placed it into a milk jug filled with water and plant food 2 days ago, and so far it is still growing and doing well in there.
I am starting some cucumber seeds in the aerogarden, and once they sprout, I am going to put those in another milk jug. I think that cucumbers would look pretty cascading out of the gallon jug, and I can paint them in colorful colors if this works well.
The jugs will be easy for me to move if I need to do that so I can put them in places where they get plenty of sunshine, too.

 

My little lettuce is still growing great in the milk jug, and I am going to start more of them soon; but not until I watch this one for a few more days. I just ordered some little “net pots” (little plastic growing pots with open sides) and some Jiffy pellets from Amazon.
These will also fit right inside the lid of quart canning jars with the small lids.

I found an article that looks like it would be a real good way to grow more lettuce at once,@Kate Ellery , and it is by using one of the large rectangular storage tubs, and then you make 2” holes in the lid, insert the net pots, and fill the tub up with water and the nutrients. (I am adding a link to a webpage that shows how to do this.)

I have been thinking that maybe some of the styrofoam coolers would work really well for this because it gets so hot here that if I had the tubs sitting out in the sun, the water might get too hot for the plants if they were outside. I am still in the planning part, reading and watching videos; but i think that tthis might work a lot better for me than trying to dig holes in our hard-packed clay and grow anything.

https://steamykitchen.com/33957-grow-how-to-make-tub-hydroponics-garden.html

 

What about growing sprouts, @Kate Ellery ? Nothing is simpler to grow and sprouts are ready to eat in 2-3 days , depending on what kind you grow.
I use a mason jar with one of those plastic-screen sprouting lids, and my favorite sprout is fenugreek sprouts. If you have never tried them, they are kind of like alfalfa sprouts on steroids. They have a bit more spice in the flavor, and they get to be a beautiful green color when you leave them in the window to get sunshine.
I also like lentil sprouts, which grow really fast and taste something like mung bean sprouts (like are in Chinese food), and I like those better when they are lightly steamed or mixed in with a scrambled egg.
There are a whole variety of sprouters available, so you could make them in whatever quantity that you use them in, and enough variety of things that can be sprouted that you do not have to make the same thing over and over.
Here is a picture of my cream cheese and sprout sandwich. You can also grow the sprouts a little bit longer and use them as micro-greens. These sprouts are almost micro-greens, and longer than I usually grow them as sprouts.

 

My hydroponic experiment is coming along well, and I have several kind of plants growing now besides the lettuce that I started out with. I have a cucumber start, some parsley, some kale, and some basil , all growing in little hydroponic containers.
I saved our cottage cheese and yogurt containers, and cut little holes in the top for the net basket to fit in. I ordered some 2 inch net baskets and some of those little peat pellets that expand, and have been using those in the yogurt containers.
We found some old quart jars over at the house where Bobby has been working, so I can get some lids for those and Bobby will cut the holes in the lids for me to put the little baskets in.
I want to try tomatoes, but they will need something bigger than a milk jug, so maybe a five gallon bucket will work better for those.
I also joined a facebook group for Kratky hydroponics, so I can getideas from what other people are doing.

 

Here is the thread and my last year’s experiments with the canning jar hydroponics, @Shirley Martin .

 

I had decided that I was not going to garden any more, because working out in the yard is just harder because there are so many obstacles to get around out there and I am afraid of falling and hurting myself.
Now, I am thinking that I can at least grow some things in the aerogarden, and maybe do some of the kratky hydroponics instead of actually planting a garden this year.

I found a book on the kratky method, and I am going to save the coffee cans and Bobby’s protein powder containers and use those for the hydroponic gardening.
I have some seeds started in the aerogarden, and I am thinking about getting one of the aerogarden-type of planters to replace one of my really old aerogardens. I think that the water pump has quit, and nothing grew in it last year, but it is well over 10 years old, because it was used when I got it , and that was around 2016.

I still had enough gift card points left from doing surveys ; so I used that an ordered one of the aerogarden type planters, and it should be here by Monday.

 

The aerogardens and the look-alike ones are actually hydroponic gardening, @Marie Mallery . You have probably seen how much @Beth Gallagher has been growing in her aerogardens, as well as what she is growing in her container gardens outside.
When you buy one of these hydroponic gardens, they come with about everything you need to start growing food in them, and the regular Aerogarden ones come with seeds preplanted in the pods, so all you have to do is fill them up with water and plug the aerogarden in.

The kratky jars can be anything from a quart jar to a 5 gallon bucket, or one of the large tubs with lids from walmart. Then, you put in something to grow in the little basket, make holes for the baskets in the lids of the bucket or the jar, and let them grow.
There are lots of kratky videos on youtube if you are thinking of doing this.