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Another FAQ: “Dina, Hydroponics grown vegetables is it lower in nutrients compared to soil?”

There is no definitive answer to this. If we google this, different sources will say different things. Firstly, there must be proper experimental design to compare. It is already not easy to determine fairly as the microbes in one soil to another soil is also different. And we are looking at thousands of different crops to test and compare… *who is willing to pay and get these done to every single crop?

I am listing some here just so you have some idea. Studies by Premuzic 1998 showed that tomato fruit grown in healthy organic soil contained more Vitamin C than the same fruit grown hydroponically while other studies by Buchanan, 2013 showed that hydroponically grown lettuce contained more Vitamin C than soil-grown varieties. In this latter study, no reference was made in the exact type of soil that was used other than remarking that it was a “noncommercial soil enriched by natural composed material”. Interestingly, in many of these peer-reviewed comparison studies, the levels of sugar (fructose & glucose) were higher in the soil grown fruit which might explain why hydroponic produce is sometimes characterised as “less tasty” than soil-grown.

For me, I am lucky to be able to do both soil and hydroponics. Hydroponics at home, as unfortunately, I get no proper direct sun all year round. Soil based under NPark Allotment Garden.

Over the years, I have learned which kind of crops i prefer to do hydroponics and which on soil.

My Top Picks for hydroponics are:

– All kinds of Lettuces (over 20 kinds),

– Nai Bai

– Kale

– Kailan

and my take is whichever has higher nutrients, make sure to hve 7-9 servings of greens or lesser if you add in Microgreens

Part 2 of 3 on Hydroponics