Mint is a popular hydroponic crop, not only because of its various applications and advantages but also because it's quite easy to cultivate. Mint grown hydroponically has a crisp, fresh flavor that's great in the summer heat or by the fire in the dead of winter. It's a popular herb all year, and there are plenty of seasonal market opportunities.
It can survive in a vertical greenhouse and is a hydroponic favorite, which is great news for our farmers! Learn how to cultivate mint with the information given below.
Best Hydroponic System For Mint Cultivation
Because it is so versatile, mint is an excellent choice for those who are new to hydroponic systems. Whatever type of hydroponic system you employ, mint should grow easily in it. Mint will thrive in the following hydroponic systems:
-
Flow and ebb
-
Nutrient film method
-
Bubble Buckets
Planting of Mint
Mint can be cultivated from seed, but it's significantly faster to use cuttings or rootstock, especially on a commercial basis. Mint roots out and develops to maturity in a few weeks from cuttings, or "clones."
-
Choose healthy green sprigs for stem cuttings and simply immerse them in water.
-
For rootstock, When a mature tower becomes overrun, you may simply pull out the media, extract enough root material to fill a new tower, and insert the root material into the new media.
Then replant both towers, one with old root material and one with fresh root material, and you're done! There are two mint towers.
Media Requirements for Hydroponic Mint
Mint, like other plants cultivated in a hydroponic system, needs a supplement of nutrients in the water it is grown to feed itself. Because mint does not require flowers to produce fruits for human use, a nutrient solution designed to boost vegetative growth and strong stem structures is the ideal choice to feed. Mint does not require any nutrient solutions that promote flowering because flowering is not desirable for most mint uses.
Nutritional Benefits of Mint
Mint is undeniably tasty, as well as healthful! While you are unlikely to consume enough to satisfy your dietary requirements, it does contain a variety of vitamins and minerals. A gram of fiber, 12% of your daily supply of vitamin A, 9% of iron, 8% of manganese, and 4% of folate can be found in only half an ounce (about one-third of a cup) of fresh mint. So go ahead and toss some mint in your favorite salad.
Tips for growing Mint Hydroponically
You'll be rewarded with an abundance of fresh, crisp mint leaves after you get the conditions and nutrients appropriate. Mint grows best in the following circumstances in a hydroponic system:
-
Mint requires 14-16 hours of daily sunlight (or grow lights).
-
To boost development, use blue spectrum lights if you're using grow lights.
-
Maintain a temperature of 65-70°F during the day and 50-55°F at night around your mint plants.
-
The pH of your water should be between 6.0 and 7.0, and the EC should be between 2.2 and 2.6.
-
Mint root systems need to be kept moist all of the time, so don't let them dry out.
