How to grow the contents of your salad bowl indoors – for fresh crops all year round

Hydroponic growing – meaning growing plants without soil, and usually in water – is a big trend for apartment living and other growing situations without access to conventional gardening methods. But it’s also good if you simply want to grow your own fresh produce all year round, and it’s particularly well-suited to salad crops.

The latest hydroponic smart units sit on kitchen countertops, and are easy to set up and maintain. Alternatively you can make your own hydroponic growing system, which can be as simple as a row of Mason jars sitting on a kitchen windowsill.

In theory, any plant can be grown hydroponically but in practice it tends to be most widely used for crops often grown in greenhouses, such as the salad bowl staples of lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers and sweet peppers, as well as herbs and other leafy greens like spinach. We’ve asked the experts for advice on how best to grow these delicious vegetables, so you can try your hand at hydroponics, too.

How to grow salad crops indoors