Tag Archives: hydroponics

How to ensure you have Germinated Seed Every Time whether Growing in Soil or Hydroponics

I like to know if a seed has germinated before it ever goes into soil or a piece of hydroponic Rockwool. There’s an easy way to know if you have viable seed and that is through a technique that simply requires a sheet of paper towel, a container with a lid, water and a consistently warm location 72ºF-76ºF. You can learn more about how to set up these pre-germination conditions on our blog here, but if you’re already familiar with this method, here is a quick visual of what you’re looking for with pepper seeds and when to transfer them to either soil or Rockwool (Rockwool is used for soilless hydroponic / aeroponic growing systems).

Example of seed that is ready to transfer to Rockwool or soil

The seed that is circled in green is ready to gently transfer to soil or Rockwool using a sanitized tweezer. (To sanitize your tweezer, simply clean with rubbing alcohol.) The seed circled in yellow shows swelling and indicates that you should probably check it the next day as the root is getting ready to emerge.

The other seeds are slightly swollen showing that they are still in the process of germinating. Do not give up on seeds that are slower to germinate — sometimes they can take up to 10 days even when you are providing ideal conditions. Check moisture daily and if paper towel smells funky, swap out for a new paper towel and rewet and put back into germination chamber container.

Below is a photo showing germinated seed that has been placed into Rockwool (see number one below). If you are growing in a hydroponic growing system such as a Tower Garden or Aerogarden, you’ll want to place your seed in Rockwool instead of soil. (Coco Coir is also a good alternative growing medium for hydroponics or aeroponics assuming it has support to hold material together such as in a mesh net.)

I like to cover my seeds with vermiculite. Some hydroponic growers insist that this step isn’t necessary, but I like to make sure my seeds receive adequate moisture throughout these early stages of growth especially. Strong healthy seedlings, make for strong healthy plants. I use this process for peppertomato, and eggplant seeds and any seeds that are not super small. Remember, some seeds need light to germinate (like lettuce), so be sure to reference our cheat sheet before starting seeds to know if your seed needs light, no light, or if it doesn’t matter.

How to transfer pre-germinated Seed to Rockwool or Soil

Rockwool is a fantastic growing medium as it has air pockets and is good at holding water. Keep moist, but not sitting in water.

Hope that helps! Remember, we have a great assortment of hydroponic-adapted tomato and pepper seed available in the seed store. Be sure to check it out!

Happy growing,

Erin

watering can

Which one will perform the best? 1) Worm castings, 2) Activated Charcoal, 3) Both 4) Neither?

I’m scheduled to give a “Tomato Talk” to a local group of community members who are interested in growing their own tomatoes from seed in the next 10 days and in the process for preparing for this talk, I thought I’d do a little soil test for what makes for a strong seedling and share it with y’all as things grow so that you can grow your health through gardening and learn tips for what I learn along the way. 😉

I took four (4) 4-pack planting trays and used the same batch of sifted soil for all four packs. The control 4-pack is straight up soil only. The second 4-pack I amended the soil with worm castings only. The third 4-pack I amended the soil with activated charcoal from a company I heard about and am trialing their product before bringing it to sell in our store and online. The fourth 4-pack soil is amended with the same ratio of worm castings as the second 4-pack as well as the same ration of the third 4-pack of soil with activated charcoal (so this final 4-pack has both amendments in it.)

A glimpse of our current seedling test subjects.

I then repeated the same amendments in another batch of similar soil, but put it in a soil block and amended certain soil blocks with worm castings only and activated charcoal castings only and a mix of both worm castings and activated charcoal. I also included rock wool just to compare growth of seed in this substrate as well. The rock wool will need to have kelp diluted and added to it as the seedlings grow as the rock wool is pH neutral and is devoid of nutrients.

For plants, I chose seed that was from the same lot, same harvest, same parent plant. All seed is our homegrown line of seed that we’ve saved and developed season after season, so I am confident that we have good strong seed stock to run the test. I chose to plant microdwarf tomatoes, because we are in the middle of winter here in Atlanta, Georgia and I can grow micro-dwarf tomatoes indoors under lights and evaluate results before our busy season of the summer harvest begins. We selected different micro dwarf tomato cultivars including Florida Petite Microdwarf Cherry Tomato, Rosy Finch Microdwarf Cherry Tomato, Aztek Microdwarf Cherry Tomato and Venus Microdwarf Cherry Tomato.

Rosy Finch Micro Dwarf Tomato Seedlings pop out of the soil ready to reach for the light.
This is a Fiskars Soil Block that is a plunger style and easy to use. You can make soil blocks of four or one larger soil block.
Setting the first soil block with the other four 4-pack trays already finished and planted.
Small bits of Activated Charcoal in equal parts and mixed thoroughly in each 4-pack of soil as well as equal parts of worm castings mixed well in 4-packs of soil keeping things as consistent as possible. We are testing to see if the activated charcoal makes any significant difference before carrying a product in our store. Stay tuned!

To gauge results, we will weigh all produced fruit and count the number of blossoms and the number of final fruit set by each tomato plant. I will do my absolute best to give equal amounts of water by first measuring what each plant is given and offering the same amount to each plant.

My hypothesis is that the air pruning action of the soil blocked starts will produce stronger seedlings for transplanting in the long run because when that root hits the air, it will signal to the plant to produce roots on the interior of the soil elsewhere. More roots will mean the plant has more opportunities to take up moisture and nutrients in the long run. I also think the soil block with BOTH worm castings and activated charcoal will perform the best because the worm castings will further any biological activity that may be happening within the soil and “cling” to the activated charcoal which the plant can tap as it needs.

That’s my best guess, but I could be wrong! We shall see what plays out in our little science experiment. What do you think will perform the best and why? Tell us in the comments below!

Happy Growing!
Erin

Warning to those purchasing kale from Kroger

I just read this announcement (which I will also share with you, because it could affect anyone purchasing these items from the produce aisle…), but before I share, let me just say that there is no reason in my opinion on why individuals cannot grow their own greens. Enlighten me — tell me in the comments below why greens cannot be grown. My inquiring mind wants to know.

I literally just planted a tray of kale seeds yesterday to grow out into our cool fall days. In fact, fall and winter here in Zone 7B is a fantastic time to grow kale, because there is less pest pressure.

If you have never grown kale, you are missing out on one of the most convenient and easiest plants you can grow. You just harvest leaf-by-leaf from the bottom of the stem upwards as it grows and it keeps giving more-and-more leaves to nourish you week-after-week through the cool season.

When we get down to freezing temps, just cover with a row cover material of some sort or if in a planter, roll it in at night into the garage and back out in the day time. Some kale actually tastes sweeter it seems with frost. Or, like me, you could invest in a Hydroponic vertical garden growing system with grow lights like the Tower Garden and grow kale or greens 24/7/365.

Self-sufficiency is not only the healthiest option for you and those you love, but it’s a wonderful feeling to just enjoy the work of your hands. If you have a moment, check out EWG’s Dirty Dozen list. Notice what is on it? And if you’ve been purchasing produce from Kroger — specifically kale — take note of this important announcement just released moments ago from the Georgia Department of Agriculture Food Recall:


The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) is recalling its 16-ounce Kroger bagged kale product, produced by Baker Farms, due to possible listeria monocytogenes contamination. This action is being taken in cooperation with the US FDA. To date, no illnesses related to this product have been reported.

This recall includes 16-ounce bags of Kroger branded Kale (see picture below), with the UPC 11110-18170 with a best by date of 09-18-2021, which is printed on the front of the package below the light blue bar. All affected products were pulled from the Produce departments on Sept. 16, 2021.

Baker Farms is recalling their Baker Farms, Kroger & SEG Grocers brand names of Kale, 1 lb plastic bags with BEST BY 09-18-2021107020-21832 due to contamination of Listeria monocytogenes. Products affected by this recall can be found here

On 9-15-2021 the firm was notified by a customer that the product test positive for Listeria monocytogenes. The products were distributed between 8/30/2021 – 9/1/2021. These products were packaged in clear plastic and sold primarily in retail stores located in the States of: AL, AR, FL, GA, LA, MO, MS, NC, NY & VA. No illnesses have been reported to date. 


So in summary, grow kale. Especially now. And eat what you grow. You might just fall in love with growing your health gardening in the process.

Kale harvest from kale grown in our hydroponic/Aeroponic TowerGarden growing system.

Happy growing,

—Erin

Beauty Lottringa — stunning on the vine and on the plate

Beauty Lottringa growing on the vine. Such a pretty tomato!

We are loving eating BLTs (Bacon, Lettuce + Tomato with Mayo on a slice of bread) fresh from the garden with tasty hydroponically-grown heirloom tomatoes! (So juicy!)

And this rare variety from Russia called Beauty Lottringa makes a tasty AND beautiful plating! Can you believe that each tomato has less than five seeds in it?! WOW! I personally love how each slice looks like a red flower.

Slice of Beauty Lottringa on a BLT Sandwich.
This variety only has about 5 seeds or less on average in each tomato!
BLT Sandwich with Black Passion and Beauty Lottringa featured in photo above. To shop all our hydroponic-adapted exclusive line of seeds visit store.growyourhealthgardening.com

I’m still debating on whether to sell this variety because of the low seed count, but I may end up doing a giveaway, so be sure to visit store.growyourhealthgardening.com and sign-up for our email updates and tips to be the first to hear when our new hydroponically-adapted line of seeds release or if we do a give-away on this particular variety.

Do you love BLTs as well? What is your favorite slicer variety?

Happy Growing!

—Erin

Coming soon… Exclusive line of GYHG hydroponically grown using organic methods herbs and seasonings

Y’all! We are SO EXCITED about our new line of hydroponically grown herbs and seasonings grown using organic methods and coming soon (this week) to our store!

Research at The University of Minnesota found that hydroponically-grown herbs have 20-40% greater amount of aromatic oils when compared to herbs grown in conventional fields. This translates into higher quality herbs with a more robust flavor versus soil-grown herbs.

If you haven’t already, go to our store and sign-up for our emails to get the big announcement when they all release! http://store.growyourhealthgardening.com

🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃

Hydroponic-Adapted Seed vs. Soil-Based Seed

Same variety (Cherokee Purple), but the two on the left and right are soil-based seed. Our hydroponic seed is in the middle. We think there’s not only DNA Epigenetic differences that you can’t see, but also a noticeable visual difference.

Copyright 2021 Grow Your Health Gardening

Tomato World Guinness Record holder, Charles Wilber, talks about the importance of starting with good seed stock. Do you know who grows your seed?

Check out our exclusive line of hydroponic-adapted seeds — direct links in our Facebook shop and here… https://store.growyourhealthgardening.com/products/cherokee-purple-tomato-seeds-hydroponically-adapted

You can Grow (and save) Some Green This St. Patrick’s Day!

It turns out that we have some Irish in our lineage (about 20% they say), so as one of my oldest sons played his bag pipe I thought to myself… hey! We should offer a 20% off sale on our seeds in honor of our Irish heritage and the work that St. Patrick did to influence his world for the better those many years ago!

From today, Wednesday March 10, 2021 through midnight on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2021, you can save 20% when you spend $17* on all heirloom seeds in the shop. (And if you spend $25, you still get free shipping for a limited time.) That includes our exclusive line of hydroponic-adapted seeds that are perfect for hydroponic / aeroponic / aquaponic growers (that’s just for you Tower Garden, Farm Stand, and Aerogarden, Bato Bucket, and DIY Hydroponic home growers!)

https://store.growyourhealthgardening.com/

Be sure to check out our growing line of micro-dwarf tomatoes as well! They’re very popular so buy now before they are sold out!

Hope you have a fantastic growing season ahead!

Erin

How to Have Your Own Personal Produce Aisle in Your Own Home

This time of year, many a gardener will begin breaking out their seeds from storage and gather up their recent purchases in preparation for the upcoming growing season. With earnest, one cell tray or by one rock wool at a time, life will begin inside the gardener’s abode, protected from the cold weather outside.

Seed starting, used to be an annual event for me until I realized the importance of succession planting. If I wanted to have a continual supply of greens or move from one season to the next seamlessly, a little bit of planning was all I needed to do the trick.

If I was going to do succession planting, I needed to make it part of my everyday planting and tending tasks (even if all it means is a quick glance to check moisture levels or that your “babies” (as I affectionately call them) are growing as they should was the only task that day.) And as an everyday task, it needed to be part of my environment. The end result to succession planting throughout the year? A seed starting station.

If you’re only planting seeds one time a year, I encourage you to read on and challenge yourself to look at seed starting in a whole new light (pun intended). We want to set you up for success for the ENTIRE growing season ahead!

What is a Seed Starting Station?

Okay, I’m probably being “Captain Obvious” here, but a Seed Starting Station contains everything you need to start seeds. If I may recommend a few tips as you consider setting up your own Seed Starting Station:Your Seed Starting Station needs to be in a location where you walk by it at least once a day; two times or more a day is even better. Why? Seedlings need nurturing. Watching that they have proper light, temperature, moisture, and humidity levels are all key to successful strong seed starts.

Your Seed Starting Station need to have the proper temperature.

Temperatures do matter with germination and each seed / plant has different temps they prefer to germinate at and a “sweet spot” temperature range. For example, warm season plants typically prefer to germinate at temps above 65ºF. On the flip side, cool season plants, typically prefer to germinate at cooler temps. Spinach, for example, can be started in a container between two wet paper towel sheets in the refrigerator and after about 7-10 days you’ll see the root emerge. At this point, you can move it into soil or a wet rock wool and allow it to continue to grow into a young seedlings under bright light while maintaining high 60º-low 70ºF temps.

Seed heat mats can be a great tool for warming soil or rock wool when you set a tray on it. Just be careful to not overheat the young seeds. A thermostat on your heat mat can keep it in the proper range. Below is a quick cheat sheet for common veggies of optimal temperatures seeds typically germinate at:

Minimum (F)Optimum Range (F)Optimum (F)Maximum
Beet40º50º-85º85º85º
Cabbage40º45º-95º85º100º
Cauliflower40º45º-85º80º100º
Celery40º60º-70º70º85º
Chard40º50º-85º85º95ª
Cucumber60º60º-95º95º105º
Eggplant60º75º-95º90º100º
Lettuce35º40º-80º75º85º
Melons60º75º-95º90º100º
Onion35º50º-95º75º95º
Parsley40º50º-85º75º90º
Pepper60º65º-95º85º95º
Pumpkin60º70º-90º90º100º
Spinach35º45º-70º70º85º
Squash60º70º-95º95º100º
Tomato50º70º-95º85º95º
Source: PennState Extension. Adapted from Kemble and Musgrove (2006)
(Soil temperatures should be taken by inserting a soil thermometer
3-4 inches deep into the soil surface and noting temperature.

Your Seed Starting Station Needs Bright Light

Seedlings need a lot of light once they emerge — a nice bright strong light. If you don’t have a green house that can be temperature controlled for heat and cool air, you will need to grow your seedlings indoors. That means you will need artificial lighting intended for growing plants. Lighting could get real technical quick, so I’m going to try to keep it simple. When it comes to lighting and seed starting you need to keep three things in mind to make adjustments as needed to ultimately save money on seeds:

INTENSITY: You need to have enough lighting.
LED bars: 8–10 inches apart from each other
T5 fluorescents: 4–5 inches apart from each other

COVERAGE: You need to place lighting in the sweet spot — not too far from seedlings.
LED bars (like Phillips): 8–12 inches away from seedlings
T5 fluorescents: 5–6 inches away from seedlings

DURATION: You need to leave lights on long enough.  14-18 hrs a day

Your light needs to be bright (this is like the one we use) and you need to have a way to adjust the light so that it is the correct distance from the seedling. And if you’re planting into a hydroponic growing system where your seedling will mature into an adult plant, you’ll want lights that can be adjusted distance-wise from the plant (closer when they are young and further away about 8″-10″ when they are older). If you’re using a Tower Garden HOME or Tower Garden FLEX, these are the lights you will want to invest in as they can be adjusted from the plant as it grows and they have a built in timer making it easy to set it and go about your life never having to worry about the lights turning on and off again.

Don’t rely on a window with sun coming in as it will make your seedlings “leggy” where they stretch for the light and ultimately that makes them weaker plants as they mature. Today’s windows have a UV rating which actually blocks the essential UV light that seedlings crave. The window is designed to protect your home interior textiles such as the furniture, drapes, and carpet from fading — it is not taking into account seed germination needs at all.

Some love to say “You can just start your seedlings in your Tower Garden — I do it all the time.” A couple of cautionary words are needed when you hear or read this advice posted in social media groups. Simply, don’t do it. Seedlings started in this manner often become leggy and are overall weaker plants when they mature. Secondly, you can “burn” your tender seedling with high levels of nutrients that other mature plants may be getting within your growing system, as seedlings don’t require as much nutrients when they are teeny tiny. Remember to, instead, start your seedlings off strong in a Seed Starting Station under bright grow lights. Look for a light that has all the color spectrum of the sun and avoid cheap $20-$30 grow lights as they are just not strong enough for seedlings to thrive. We recommend a grow light like this that has a full-spectrum. A decent grow light for seedlings will cost between $60-$100. I’ve also used my Aerogarden Harvest as a light for seedlings when I don’t have anything growing in the ports.

You’ll want to keep a quick reference to the needs of different seeds.

Not all seeds need darkness or to be covered to begin the germination process. Some require light to germinate like lettuce. Some need to be scarified (slightly chipped) or go through a cold period before they will germinate. We recommend printing off our Seeds That Require Special Treatment Reference Chart and laminating it or sticking it in a 3-ring binder sheet protector to use as a quick reference (or just bookmark our reference page and come back to it as you need to).

Click above screen shot to access full list of seeds that have special requirements to germinate.

Your Seed Station needs to have supplies relating to starting seeds and nurturing stored nearby

Here’s a list of some common supplies I use for soil and a list for common supplies I use for hydroponics.

Hydroponics:
1.5″ rock wool
• bowl for soaking rock wool
• vermiculite for seeds that need to be covered
(see our list here if you’re unsure)
liquid kelp (I add a TBSP to my water soak)
seeds you intend to plant (those that are not in the freezer)
plant tags
permanent marker
• access to a water source and/or some sort of watering can to “water in” seeds
• and a tray of some sort (I use an old cookie sheet) to rest your starts upon under lights for easy moving around from under your grow light to outdoors as temps allow or to your indoor growing system.
heat mat with temp gauge
grow light

Soil:
• Seed starting tray cells, recycled containers that can be repurposed as small pots, or small paper pots
• potting mix or screened peat moss
worm castings (to mix into your potting mix) (Note: don’t purchase and ship during hot months as temps of 85ºF in shipment will begin to kill beneficial bacteria in castings.)
• access to a water source and/or some sort of watering can to “water in” seeds
seeds you intend to plant (those that are not in the freezer)
plant tags
permanent marker
• and a tray to rest your seed starts on and move them easily from under your grow light to outdoors as temps allow.
heat mat with temp gauge
grow light

Now to the best part. Your own personal produce section!

To have a continual harvest, you’ll want to implement a sequential planting system. Pick a day that you are at your leisure (i.e.: Sundays are usually a restful day for most folks) and put a reminder on your calendar to plant at a certain time every week or every two weeks paying attention to your growing conditions (i.e.: indoor, cool season, warm season) and available space.

Let’s say you want to have a continuous supply of Bibb Lettuce. If you have a 28 port Tower Garden, you can plant 4 rock wools with Bibb Lettuce seed making sure to include a couple extra seeds per rock wool of which you’ll thin down as they germinate to the strongest one. You’ll repeat this process, planting several lettuce seeds into a single rock wool cube, filling four cubes total. As shown in the below planting chart, by week 4, your week 1 seedlings will be ready to transfer into your system. With each passing week, you’ll put the four seedlings that are ready from previous week plantings into the next row up of your vertical hydroponic / aeroponic Tower Garden. By week 10, you will have harvested your row 1 Bibb Lettuce (four ports = four heads of bibb lettuce to feed a typical family of four for a week). Once your lower lettuce has been harvested (pulled out of the port), the following week, replace the net pots and wipe down the port entrance with a cotton ball with alcohol on it and put a new clean net pot in it’s place. You are ready to plant the next set of four seedlings in these empty ports. As you continue to harvest up the vertical garden, you will clean each port and then plant the next seedling into it.

Note, if you are growing outdoors, sequential planting will get trickier, because temperature will be a variable. As temps raise towards summer time, bibb lettuce will begin to bolt (or go to seed) quicker or go limp if it is not a heat tolerant variety. This type of sequential planting works best if growing greens indoors and if the green has a 6-week grow cycle. This could work for Bok Choy and most greens. Consider putting some herbs like chives in the top row… these are cut and come again meaning that once they are a certain height, you can start cutting them 3″-4″ from the base of the plant and they will continue to grow from the center. Keep in mind that at some point, you will need to clean your system and restart the process, but in theory, if growing indoors, plants should continue to grow at a steady rate if you get in the habit of planting enough to fill four ports each week.

BIBB LETTUCE OR BOK CHOY EXAMPLE OF SEQUENTIAL PLANTING SCHEDULE FOR 1 TOWER GARDEN WITH 28 PORTS:

Week
1
Week
2
Week
3
Week
4
Week
5
Week
6
Week
7
Start
4 cubes
w/seeds
Start
4 cubes
w/seeds
Start
4 cubes
w/seeds
Start
4 cubes
w/seeds
Start
4 cubes
w/seeds
Start
4 cubes
w/seeds
Start
4 cubes
w/seeds
Trans-plant into Tower Garden…Week 1 seedlings Btm Row 1 of TGWeek 2 seedlings Btm Row 2 of TGWeek 3 seedlings Btm Row 3 of TGWeek 4 seedlings Row 4 of TG
Copyright 2021 Grow Your Health Gardening
Week
8
Week
9
Week
10
Week
11
Week
12
Week
13
Week
14
4 cubes
w/seeds
Start
4 cubes
w/seeds
Start
4 cubes
w/seeds
Start
4 cubes
w/seeds
Start
4 cubes
w/seeds
Start
4 cubes
w/seeds
Start
4 cubes
w/seeds
Week 5 seedlings Row 5 of TGWeek 6 seedlings Row 6 of TGWeek 7 seedlings Row 7 of TGWeek 8 seedlings Row 1 of TGWeek 9 seedlings Row 2 of TGWeek 10 seedlings Row 3 of TGWeek 11 seedlings Row 4 of TG
Harvest off of btm row 1 lettuceHarvest off of btm row 2 lettuceHarvest off of btm row 3 lettuceHarvest off of btm row 4 lettuceHarvest off of btm row 5 lettuce
Copyright 2021 Grow Your Health Gardening

No matter what you want to grow, evaluate about how long the plant(s) you want to grow take to get to maturity for harvest, calculate when it will be ready for consumption, and enjoy your bounty continuously throughout the season with weekly seed starting in your own personal Seed Starting Station.

Happy Growing!
— Erin

PS: Be sure to post your pics of your Seed Starting Station on social media and tag us at #gyhg and maybe you’ll get featured on our Instagram or Facebook channels and get some FREE seeds!

Grow Guide: Growing your own Arugula in a Hydroponic or Aeroponic Tower Garden

Learn how to grow your own arugula at home hydroponically / aeroponically from certified hydroponic grower, Erin Castillo of Grow Your Health Gardening and GYHG Seed Co.

Quick Links:
• Jump to Starting Arugula from Seed
• Jump to Arugula Hydroponic Growing Guide
• Jump to Arugula Nutritional Information
• Jump to How to Use Arugula
• Or continue to read the article… enjoy!

Why you should be growing your own arugula instead of buying from the grocery store or Big-Box Retailer

You know how you go to a fancy restaurant and they bring you your salad course and before they leave your table they offer fresh pepper for your salad and with your permission proceed to grind cracked pepper onto your salad? Think of arugula as your cracked pepper of the salad world.

Why Grow Arugula and How To Use It

I wanted to feature Arugula, because I just don’t think people understand how versatile this plant truly is and that it is beneficial in so many ways. It is chalk-full of beneficial nutrients (which we will cover later in case you wanted to know) while also being low in calories.

It is ideal for new home gardeners in building confidence of gardening skills as it grows quickly from seed (aptly nicknamed “Salad Rocket” in some countries) and can begun to be harvested off of and tossed into salads with other greens when the leaves are still young and small at 2″-3″ in length. (Note: If you leave the center 3-4 leaves, it will continue to produce as a cut-and-come-again plant.) Arugula is often found in the produce aisle in salad greens mix and called “mesclun”.

Mature Full-Grown Leaves and How to Use Them

I as a mother of five know that life can get busy, so if you fall behind on harvesting leaves when small and the plant gets more mature, that’s okay! It will be “spicier” or “peppery” in taste as a mature plant. Take these 6″-8″ long leaves and slice them from tip to base into 1/4″ or thinner strips and sprinkle over your salad or mix in (think of it like your freshly ground peppercorn). Diced leaves can even be added to dishes that call for cilantro or parsley, or mixed into pastas, side dishes, put on top of sandwiches, in wraps and/or added to soups. Its flavor compliments goat cheese, balsamic vinaigrette, tomatoes, olive oil and garlic, making it perfect to blend into dips or spreads.

fresh cut vegetable in bowl in kitchen
Photo by Anete Lusina on Pexels.com

Arugula can also be added to your basil pesto as added flavor or if you like the peppery flavor, you can substitute arugula in place of basil and make an entire pesto out of arugula leaves. We like this happy medium of a pesto recipe in particular over at PCOSbites. It’s great if you are looking for something that isn’t the same ol’ pesto recipe, but full of nutrients while still tasting delicious. We think of it as the new “elderberry syrup” as an immune-boosting meal for our family.

Healthy Pesto in a Mason Jar
Photo by: PCOSbites: Healthy Pesto Recipe


We also love to add arugula baby leaves to our sun-dried tomato, goat cheese, and pine nut mini pizzas! The kids don’t bat an eye-lash at the greens on their personalized pizzas because these taste so good!

Mature leaves can also be cooked or sautéed much like you would cook collards. With a TBSP of sherry, soy sauce, minced garlic, and vegetable oil + 1/2 tsp of salt and granulated sugar you can have a quick healthy side dish to accompany your sun-dried tomato mozzarella chicken. YUM!

faceless man showing appetizing pizza with arugula in restaurant
Photo by Valeria Boltneva on Pexels.com


If you don’t plan on eating a salad and just want to move it out of your system to put something else in, simply clean harvested leaves with water and pat dry with paper towels and spread out on a dehydrator. Dehydrate at 110ºF for 6 hrs until it breaks crisp (no moisture left in leaves.) Do not crush leaves, but place in a glass jar with an oxygen absorber and put in your spice and seasoning cabinet. When a recipe calls for pepper or if you’re making a soup, simply add in your dried arugula. BAM! (As Emeril would say…) or YUMMO! (As Rachel Ray would say…) You will get a hint of that pepper flavor as well as all the amazing nutrients that this little power-packed leaf holds.

Tip: After you dehydrate your arugula, don’t crush the leaves. Store the leaves as one piece as much as possible. When you “crush” or break up the leaves, it releases the flavonoids and other beneficial nutrients. We want those to stay in tack until we are ready to consume it in our cooking, so I always encourage folks to hold off crushing your leaves for this reason. This is also why you may notice your home-grown herbs and spices have so much more flavor than the crushed and processed ones from the grocery store.

—Erin Castillo, Owner Grow Your Health Gardening and GYHG Seed Co.

Nutritional Benefits You’ll Get from Eating Arugula

So, we’ve covered how to use arugula. Let’s briefly touch on why you should be eating this green. According to the USDA, a half cup (approximately 10 grams) of raw arugula has about:

  • 2.5 calories
  • 0.4 gram carbohydrates
  • 0.3 gram protein
  • 0.1 gram fat
  • 0.2 gram fiber
  • 10.9 micrograms vitamin K (14 percent DV)
  • 237 international units vitamin A (5 percent DV)
  • 1.5 milligrams vitamin C (2 percent DV)
  • 9.7 micrograms folate (2 percent DV)
  • 16 milligrams calcium (2 percent DV)

In addition, this leafy green contains some iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and choline. It also is rich in phytonutrients offering 1,424 mg of Beto-Carotene B

Did you know that one cup of Arugula can meet over a quarter of the daily recommended value of Vitamin K? Vitamin K is essential to blood clot formation and bone formation. Some researchers even believe that vitamin K may be a key factor in bone development, more so than calcium. I want my children to have strong bones as they grow and I encourage them to eat salads daily. One way to help provide their bodies with what they need is to mix in some arugula into their daily salad.

Tip: If you’re having difficulty getting your children to eat greens, involve them in the growing process. Give them a garden that is completely their own area to tend and help them grow plants from seed. As they feel more connected to their food, their natural curiosity will kick-in and they will willingly try the food they have patiently waited for to grow.

—Erin Castillo, Owner Grow Your Health Gardening and GYHG Seed Co.

How to Grow Arugula in a Hydroponic System

In this article, I’ll focus on growing it hydroponically, because that’s my preferred method of growing, but a lot of the same tips can be applied to growing in soil.

You can grow arugula in any hydroponic or aeroponic system. In a vertical garden growing system like the Tower Garden or Farm Stand, you’ll want to place this plant towards the top as you will most likely be harvesting from it continuously and keeping the plant size small.


Starting your arugula from seed:
Choosing your arugula variety

If you’re growing in a hydroponic / aeroponic system, we strongly recommend you opt of seed that has already adapted to these growing conditions. Can seed from soil-grown parent plants grow hydroponically? Absolutely, but plants adapt epigenetically each growing season, so you’ll have a stronger healthier plant if you start out right with seed that has already adapted to the growing conditions you want to match. According to growers at the Seed Savers Exchange, seed DNA can hold 5+ years of growing seasons in which it can tap to survive and thrive. Choosing your seed stock source is more important than most realize.

Our arugula seed has been grown outdoors in the cool season of the Southeast in Zone 7 (not mentioning the zone here because it’s a perennial, but to help you get an idea of where the seed is grown so you can best match it to your own growing conditions.) GYHG Seed Co arugula seed can handle heat and humidity to a point before it bolts, but definitely plan on growing this during the cool season and start your seedlings 2 weeks before your last average frost date with the intention to move it outdoors as a transplant.

How many plants should you plant:

If you are wanting arugula on hand to pick fresh and mix into salads, I recommend planting four plants on a rotation (see below charts.) Place in upper level of Tower Garden or Farm Stand.

This is also a seed that you will want to plant on a continual basis on a four to five week cycle, so if you don’t have a Seed Starting Station set up already, you will want to read up about how to get one set up here. We recommend to plant four plants and keep them in your upper level of your Tower Garden or Farm Stand vertical garden growing system.

Week 1Week 2Week 3Week 4Week 5
Start 2
rockwool cubes
Nurture
Week 1 seeds
Start 2
rockwool cubes
Nurture
Week 3 seeds
Start 2
rockwool
cubes
Transplant
Week 1
Seedlings
into TG
Transplant
Week 3
Seedlings
into TG
Harvest
baby
leaves
Harvest
baby
leaves
Copyright 2021 Grow Your Health Gardening
Week 6Week 7Week 8Week 9Week 10
Nurture
Week 5 seeds
Start 2
rockwool cubes
Nurture
Week 7 seeds
Start 2
rockwool cubes
Nurture
Week 9 seeds
Pull Week 1 Plants.
Transplant
Week 5
Seedlings
into TG
Pull Week 3 Plants.
Transplant
Week 7
Seedlings
into TG
Continue
pattern
of pulling
older plants
and
transplanting seedlings
Harvest
baby
leaves
Harvest
baby
leaves
Harvest
baby
leaves
Harvest
baby
leaves
Harvest
baby
leaves
Copyright 2021 Grow Your Health Gardening

Arugula needs light to germinate. If you’re ever unsure of what a seed may require for germination, we have a handy resource on our Web site that lists out seeds that require special treatment that you may want to download or bookmark the page.

Outdoor planting in a hydroponics system: If planting in the spring, you will want to start your seeds indoors or in a greenhouse so that your seedling start will be about two to three weeks old by the time your last spring frost date rolls around. If planting in the fall, you’ll want to factor in your harvest date range and count backwards 4-6 weeks from your frost date.

Arugula likes to live around 45° to 65°F (10-18°C). Plant arugula so that it comes to harvest in cool weather. It may fail to germinate if it’s too warm. Use a UV light system of some sort to grow your seedlings indoors keeping the light source 8″-12″ if LEDs and 5″-6″ away from seedlings if fluorescent lighting.

LED-vs-Fluorescent1-bigger-1080x410


How many seeds to plant per rock wool: We recommend planting about 3-5 seeds per rock wool cube. Arugula typically germinates within 4-8 days. Be sure to use seed that is packaged for the current growing season as it will aide your ability to germinate the seeds. You can always remove any excess seedlings down to two plants as the plants mature if you are concerned about crowding. Our philosophy is start out with more and thin down as needed (but don’t toss those microgreens you pull — they are healthy for you to eat as micro-greens).

How much nutrients you should give your seedlings:  Keep rockwool moist to the touch but not drenched. When you see a sprout, you can add a tsp of kelp to your water and water the young seedlings while giving them bright light from a grow light.

Thinning out your seedling starts: As the seeds germinate and grow, you will want to pull (or also called “thin out”) the weaker seedlings from the rock wool. (Remember, this is not a wasted plant — you can simply enjoy eating it as a microgreen.)  You will want to leave leave 1-2 plants per rock wool to grow to maturity.

Transplanting your seedlings into your hydroponic system:  Seedlings should be ready to transplant to your Tower Garden or hydroponic system about 2–3 weeks after sprouting. Seedlings plants should be about 1-2 inches tall, with 3-4 true leaves, before they are ready to leave the nest and enter into the hydroponic / aeroponic Tower Garden or other related system.

Finally, remember that arugula plantings should be staggered in roughly 2-3 week intervals in order to ensure a continuous harvest. If doing a spring planting, your growing season will be longer than a fall planting. You can extend your fall outdoor planting season by adding a professional grade heater to your Tower Garden reservoir keeping water temps in the 50-65º F range for the root zone to continue to uptake nutrients — just be sure to cover your Tower Garden outside with a weather protection blanket like this when freeze warnings appear.


delicious pasta bolognese with arugula and pink salt
Photo by ready made on Pexels.com

Nutrient levels for optimal growth throughout the growing season for arugula:

Nutrients:
EC:
 0.8 – 1.2
(We recommend Tower Tonic Mineral Blend™ for a well-balanced nutrient solution to feed your plants the proper N-K-P and micro-nutrients. You can purchase a 1 gallon set of Part A and Part B here.)

PPM: 560 – 840
(We recommend Tower Tonic Mineral Blend™ for a well-balanced nutrient solution to feed your plants the proper N-K-P and micro-nutrients. You can purchase a 1 gallon set of Part A and Part B here.)

pH:  5.5-6.2
(pH is essential to help the plant uptake nutrients.)

Light: (Amount of sun or light exposure throughout the day)
Hydroponic arugula should get between 10 and 14 hours of light per day.

Arugula Temp Tips:
(Root zone temp is essential to help the plant uptake nutrients)

  • Maximum Temp 75º Degrees Fahrenheit
  • Optimal Day Cycle Temp  65º – 70º Fahrenheit
  • Optimal Night Cycle Temp  60º – 65º Fahrenheit
    (Note: arugula can handle some frost so long as the root zone stays above 50ºF, so use a water heater in your reservoir if you want to try pushing the limits on it growing in the cold.)
  • Seed Storage  40º to 70º degrees Fahrenheit
  • Germination  60º to 75º degrees Fahrenheit

Companion plants:

SOIL Growers: Note — Do not grow in soil with pole beans or strawberries. Good companion plants are bush beans, celery, carrots, nasturtium, mint, dill, lettuce, cucumbers, onions, rosemary, potatoes

HYDROPONIC Growers: See first chart on Cool Season Plants on this page for reference of what grows well at similar PPM ranges and pH ranges in a hydroponic / aeroponic system.


Harvesting your arugula:

Make a note of how many days to maturation on the variety of arugula you are planting and mark your calendar or in your gardening journal. When your plants have reached the baby leaf stage, take a sanitized clean pair of hand trimmers or scissors and cut the outer leaves of your arugula plant, leaving at minimum three center leaves to continue to grow. The plant will continue to produce leaves for you but will become spicier as the plant matures. If you don’t want spicier leaves, simply pull the mature plant at 5-6 weeks of age and replace the plant with a new transplant (see chart above). Ideally, your arugula should be eaten within a few hours of harvest; however, if storage is necessary, the correct conditions to prolong shelf life are rapid cooling down to 34°F (we accomplish this with an ice bath of water) and then spin the leaves dry and place between dry paper towels in a sealed lettuce container with and 95-98% percent humidity.

How to store arugula that is not consumed right away:

If you have more arugula producing faster than you can eat, there are a couple of options: dehydrating or freezing.  To dehydrate your arugula leaves, place on a dehydrator rack at 110º F for 6-24 hours. When the leaves are crunchy (you can break them in half), remove from the dehydrator and place in a tightly sealed pouch or Mason jar with an oxygen absorber. Dehydrated arugula can be used in soups and ground into a powder to add to pestos, soups, or even on meats for additional nutrients.

You can also freeze your crop in an air-tight bag or container and use in smoothies or defrost and use in recipes that may call for herbs.

Let us know if you have any questions in the comments below and happy growing!


Sources:

Grand Opening of GYHG Seed Co!

We are excited to announce our Grand Opening of Grow Your Health Gardening (GYHG) Seed Co.!

As committed Seed Stewards, we understand the importance of good quality seed, because strong seed means strong plants that can better fight-off pest pressure and diseases … and strong plants also mean the best nutrition possible for your body. It’s important to know where your seed comes from because the plant that seed came from has adapted to its growing environment — and if it’s different than your environment, that plant may struggle which means you struggle.

But it doesn’t have to be a struggle to grow your own food — in fact, we think it is FUN to be connected to your food from seed to harvest! Our seed for sale has been cultivated from seed and nurtured using organic growing methods on through to harvest by our family of seven. We take great pride in our seed stock knowing each generation of plants we grow only strengthens our exclusive line of seeds. We are thrilled we can now share our extra seeds with you!

We are unique in that we have thoughtfully chosen heirloom and open source varieties of vegetables, herbs, and greens (and sometimes extremely rare seed) and have grown these varieties out in one season adapting them to hydroponic, aeroponic, and aquaponic growing conditions in the Southeast region of the United States.

As a friend of GYHG and follower, enjoy today through November 14, 2021, 21% off your first seed order! Enter code: GYHG-LOVES-ME-21 when you check out.

Thanks and we hope that this year is the year you especially grow your health gardening!

— Erin & Jesse + Joshua