GROWING DWC VEGETABLES KITCHEN GARDEN AMAZING GROWTH

I am growing DWC vegetables and here is an update on my DWC kitchen garden. Things are going well. The growth rate is amazing.

If you want to grow large plants that grow fast and yield more than soil-grown plants give DWC a try.

Deep water culture or DWC is a hydroponic method of growing that uses no soil. Instead, roots are suspended in an aerated nutrient solution. Roots have continual access to nutrients and growth is extremely fast in this system.

GROWING DWC VEGETABLES IN MY KITCHEN

Things are changing really fast in my DWC garden. I wanted to share an update on what is happening in my deep water culture system.

EARLY GIRL DWC TOMATO PLANT

Probably the most notable change is in my Early Girl bush tomato. This is a determinate plant so most fruit sets at about the same time.

This plant was put in my DWC bucket the first week of  February and it was just a seedling it only had two leaves on it.

It had just sprouted and didn’t even have its first true leaves yet. I actually thought it was a pepper for a minute.

But in a couple of weeks, it was about 8 inches tall with about 4 sets of leaves and there was no mistaking it for something else.

At this time it is about six weeks old. From there it really took off in this deep water culture bucket.

I  only saw one stem that had flowers on it and I was pretty disappointed because I thought the yield would be really low.

But more have popped up almost from nowhere. Actually, some side branches started to flower. That’s why you don’t prune determinates.

So actually I thought this plant wasn’t going to yield very much but it looks like it’s going to do very well after all.

Because it is a determinate tomato they’ll all be ready pretty much at the same time so I might be really flush with tomatoes.

MY BUSH  CHAMPION CUCUMBER

I have a bush cucumber called Bush Champion here. This plant didn’t go in until the end of February.

So it has been in here about a month and already we have the first runner. And there’s a second one coming up through the leaves.

I don’t know how many it’s going to make but I’m going to try and train them along the edges of the net.

This plant has really been a big surprise. Seeds were very easy to sprout and the plant is very vigorous.

It has also made a lot of pretty white roots. Very large leaves but the plant so far is very compact.

BUSH BELLE HYBRID PEPPER

Then we have a Bush Belle Hybrid Pepper. Germination on these seeds has not been great.

My first sowing failed to sprout so it had to be replaced so it is behind everything else in this grow.

I’m going to guess that this plant is about three weeks old now. It actually started to flower last week.

I did prune off the first flowers that were on it along with a few leaves that were way down on the stem.

I did this because I want to give the plant a chance to get larger before it started setting fruit.

I was afraid of letting it fruit while this small might stunt the plant permanently. I want it to gain some size so I can train it.

If you look at the picture I think you can see that it is developing a nice wye shape with 2 main branches.

This is what you want and she’s going to really start to take off pretty soon. It is still trying to make new flowers and I need to remove them.

This is called a bush Belle but the fruits are shaped differently from most bell peppers.

It makes an elongated blocky pepper that turns red. So I’m kind of excited to see what it does. They say it can get three feet tall.

BUTTERCRUNCH LETTUCE HARVEST BEGINS

I also just harvested my first head of Buttercrunch lettuce too. I wish I had my own tomatoes and cucumbers to go with it. Not this time.

So everything you see here is in a DWC system.

GROWING DWC VEGETABLES FAQ

DWC systems are easy and cheap to build. Deep water culture is the best hydroponic system for large plants like tomatoes or peppers.

How do you start a deep water culture system?

One of the great things about DWC is how easy it is to set up. Really all you need is an air pump and a container with a lid.

You will need a net pot or net pots depending on your setup and a little bit of hydroton to hold your plants in the net pots.

Because plants are always in a nutrient solution you can use a good brand of hydroponic nutrients at half strength.

But ideally, you should have a TDS meter and pH pen to measure and adjust your nutrient solution.

Here is an article about the initial setup of my DWC garden:
https://www.indoorvegetablegrower.com/apartment-kitchen-garden/

If you use a tote instead of a bucket you can grow multiple plants like lettuce or other greens. https://www.indoorvegetablegrower.com/growing-lettuce-indoors-kratky-vs-dwc/

Does DWC increase yield?

Yes DWC not only yields faster but it produces higher yields. Because the roots are in a nutrient solution they are being fed 24/7.

This also means the plant does not have to spend energy looking for food so it can put all its energy into growth.

What veggies can you grow hydroponically in DWC?

You can grow almost any vegetable in hydroponics with the exception of root crops. Potatoes, carrots, and beets are a no go in DWC.

How deep should DWC lettuce be?

Lettuce does not have a large root system. It can easily be grown in a container 8 inches deep. The tote below is about 9 inches deep.

DWC lettuce is a fast-growing hydroponic plant that can be done in 45 days. It is very easy to grow and makes a great first DWC project.

DWC Kitchen Garden Day 60 Update

Here is an update on my kitchen garden at 60 days.

Growth has been great considering this garden was started with freshly germinated seedlings and not transplants.

I think I will be harvesting tomatoes and cucumbers in a couple of weeks.

The lettuce finished off this week and I haven’t decided what will go in that tote yet. I also started some hydroponic strawberries last week.

I have chili peppers in my AeroGarden just starting to come up and I hope to get some extra plants from them and they may go into my empty tote or I could start more lettuce while I am waiting on them. Decisions, decisions.

Final Thoughts On Growing DWC Vegetables

I would recommend trying DWC for amazing growth and yields. Here is some more information on deep water culture:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_water_culture