The 6 Best Vertical Hydroponic Systems on the Market Today (Buyer's Guide) (2023)

Vertical hydroponic systems are the future of indoor home gardening.

With these systems, you can expect better control of temperature, air composition, light, and pests.

The overall result is faster growth rates, higher yields, and better quality crops.

To make things even more exciting, a vertical hydroponic system allows you to grow most plants year-round, regardless of the season or weather.

With all of this being said, you may be wondering what are the best vertical hydroponic systems on the market.

This article will answer precisely that.

The 6 Best Vertical Hydroponic Systems

What is a vertical hydroponic system?

To better understand the concept of vertical hydroponic systems, we will divide the word into two parts.

vertical farmingis the practice of growing plants in vertically stacked layers. The practice is often implemented inFarming in a controlled environment, that is, hydroponics (among others).

You'll mostly find vertical farming systems housed in structures like buildings, shipping containers, abandoned mine shafts, and tunnels.

In short, vertical farming is the practice of growing crops vertically in stacked layers.

hydroponicis at the same time a kind ofhorticultureand a subset of hydroponics, which involves growing plants without soil. This is done by using solutions of mineral nutrients in an aqueous solvent.

Nutrient solutions consist of fish droppings, duck dung, and various other artificial nutrients.

In short, hydroponics is the act of growing plants without soil.

So I'm sure the concept of a vertical hydroponic system makes sense to you. The system combines vertical farming and hydroponics.

How does a vertical hydroponic system work?

Vertical hydroponic systems use traditional hydroponic techniques integrated into a gravity-fed vertical water system.

Nutrient-rich water is pumped from a reservoir to the top of the system and directed downward by gravity, where it is then collected and returned to the reservoir to repeat the entire process.

The following video shows a detailed guide on how to set up a vertical hydroponic system.

What can be grown in a vertical hydroponic garden?

Vertical hydroponics allows you to grow so many different types of plants, from vegetables to herbs to fruits, all at the same time in the same space.

So what exactly can you grow in a vertical hydroponic garden?

What are the advantages of a vertical hydroponic system?

First of all, the amount of water that a hydroponic system uses is not even comparable to conventional growing methods.

For example, growing 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram) of tomatoes using normal growing techniques requires 110 US gallons (400 liters) of water. Hydroponics, on the other hand, only requires 18 US gallons (70 liters) of water.

If that doesn't make the list one of the main formssmart irrigation, so we don't know what else will happen.

Also, a vertical hydroponic system takes up less space than conventional growing.

Since the plants are built indoors, they can be grown at any time of the year (thanks to artificial lighting). Since these systems are not open to the outside, pests and unstable weather conditions are no longer a problem.

Finally, vertical farming inherently takes up less space than traditional farming and therefore has less impact on native plants and animals, resulting in better conservation of local flora and fauna.

Current Issues Surrounding Vertical Hydroponic Systems

The main issues with vertical farming are the initial start-up costs and the potential to produce more greenhouse gas emissions than traditional farms.

The upfront costs are obvious, you need to have the right structure to make the process work.

For example, a hypothetical 10-story vertical farm would cost more than 850 times more per square meter of farmland than a conventional farm.

Second, greenhouse gas emissions are a real threat considering the amount of LED lighting plants would need in a vertical interior.

However, this problem can certainly be offset by implementing a sustainable energy solution such as asolar systemin your vertical farming theme (we recommend installingmonocrystalline solar modulesto feed your vertical hydroponic systems).

final thoughts

Traditional farming simply takes up too much space and water, and with an ever-growing population, vertical hydroponics will soon become a necessity for our planet.

Instead of waiting for the whole concept to go mainstream, you can invest in a greener, more sustainable planet yourself by building or buying the best vertical hydroponic system to implement in your own smart green home.

If you've built your own vertical hydroponic system, share the details of how you built it in the comments below. We value your real-world experiences, and we're sure our readers will too.

Other reading:

• Understanding pH for Hydroponics
• hydroculture kits
• solar parks