Hydroponic Greens Yield

[Joe Riggs]

Hi all -

Planning a winter break project as a Christmas gift for my parents - I am designing an indoor hydroponic setup using mason jars, five gallon buckets, and LED grow lights. Does anyone have experience growing hydroponically?

The four must-grows:
- Kale
- Romaine
- Swiss Chard
- Spinach

Ideally I want to figure out a crop rotation pattern that can yield a nice amount of greens each week, essentially creating what I call the "infiniti salad". Anyone have experience with indoor leafy green harvests? Ive been doing heavy research on what yield I should expect, and someone with firsthand knowledge would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Durgan]

My efforts are on sprout growing at the present time. I have done hydroponic growing in the past and consider is a useless effort in a small scale at home. Microgreens have a bit of merit, but probably not much better than sprouting.

Anyway welcome aboard. It is a commendable endeavor. There is a fair amount of BS on the internet about the methods. The equipment is minimal. But growth takes a lot of experimentation.

Getting viable seed can be expense and difficult, due o modern processing. Most bulk food grade seeds are not viable.

Spouting only needs warmth. and a glass jar. And a lot of luck.
A hydroponic set up is hardly necessary.Usually the greens are harvested before many nutrients are required.
Microgreens, a sort of miniature growth, is being attempted now. But not widely practiced.

After the plants grow, which can be a major effort. How the produce is utilized is most important. Feast or famine- meaning too much of none.

The competition is severe. Processed commercial food is the norm in NA and most developed countries.
.