Growing Hydroponic Tomatoes Indoors Using the Kratky Method

Success! This was my first hydroponic tomato experience. I rescued these seedlings from the Aerogarden, the pods there germinated more than one plant per pod, so I decided to transplant the thinned out plants from the Aerogarden into the same setup I use for my hydroponic lettuce and other leafy greens, using the Kratky method. It worked! BUT, I did make one very rookie mistake, although I was still rewarded with a nice crop of cherry tomatoes for my efforts. And next time I will grow my hydroponic tomatoes in a BIGGER container!!! I hope you try this too! Thank you for watching.
UPDATED VIDEO GROWING TOMATOES IN A 5 GALLON TOTE:

You can find the items I use in this video on Amazon here:

[sharshar]

This is the best video on growing tomatoes indoors that I have seen. Sometimes people don't update what happens at the end of the experiment but you showed everything from start to finish. Well done.

[FIERY_FLYNN]

You are the only start to finish, intellectual, sincere, honest kratky video maker I've found. You have no idea how much you are helping not only my family, but eventually our community. I'm starting small grows of everything prior to larger productions for any issues I run into. However, I am very confident that my issues will be minimized because of your awesomeness.

[mannylozano]

OMG. You single handedly convinced me to switch to hydro. Thats it. Im done with soil.

[bbowen]

The world needs more honest sharing of clear, concise, and thorough information. Well done.

[amybusch]

I have two remaining Kratky tomato plants, the others have been transplanted into soil as it is April and they are ready to "harden" as long as temperatures won't go below freezing, one is over 6 feet tall. Her problem is fairly simple, she allows her plants to grow too many leaves. Pruning with the Kratky method is very important. Yes you CAN easily transplant to soil, however, you can also just keep the tomato plants growing kratky in hydroponic solution BUT you need to think about the GOAL. If you don't prune, especially bottom leaves, you have a plant that is always thirsty and also becomes droopy very fast. The goal is FRUIT. Kratky Method is a science almost but intuitive, keeping branching leaves too a minimum so the plant doesn't waste its energy. The rest of the plants energy goes towards fruiting (tomatoes). The Kratky plant has roots that seek nutrients (hydroponic solution) and roots that seek oxygen ('oxygen roots") and should not be drowned by the solution through overfilling.

[amber_Forever]

Walmart and many stores sell gallon size jars of pickles, they work great for kratky and you get pickles!

[SmalltownRebel]

If you ever damage roots in thinning them, you can dip the root area in honey and put them in soil or hydro. They will use the honey to encourage roots galore. Hope this helps anyone else who may have damaged a few roots when moving them around. Also, after you have the third set of leaves appear, you can snip the lowest (baby) leaves off the plant and insert the plants 2nd leaf set to top of grow cube or soil. Gluck growers

[Carl-euns]

Best YouTube instructional video I have seen in a long time.

[gagaklumayung]

If I ever had teachers who talk like Tikki, I would never fall asleep, learn a lot

[dontbanmebrodontbanme]

This is my first year experimenting with hydroponics. I've already gotten kale to grow in a 27 gallon tote and 3D printed 2 hydroponic towers and want to make sure I can get cherry tomatoes for my salads. Great video. I learned a lot.

[JMaxwell]

Tikki's videos on home gardening in hydro are simply THE BEST videos you'll find anywhere! I am so impressed by her incredible knowledge and excellent communication skills! Thank you, Tikki, for your amazing presentations. Now I can't wait to try this.

[LightTapStomp]

I really liked your video and your narration reminded me of a well written and interesting book that held my attention.

[peggyanderson]

I really love your videos! I like how you let us see mistakes too and how you do experiments. I’m relatively new to gardening and this is day 1 of hydroponics and I’ve not only learned how to do stuff but also that failures and mistakes aren’t the end of the world ( I’m so hard on myself). I’m a teacher and I love how clearly you explain things. Thank you!

[KodiKodak]

Of all the videos I have watched about hydroponics, you are a blessing to all of us beginners! Thank you!

[davidascanio]

This video is a jewel! Congratulations! I am from Caracas, Venezuela. I am trying growing plants indoor for the first time. It is a complete new affair for me. Your video plus your unique and crystal clear way to show and explain everything is already a how-to-do-it impossible to miss! Thanks a lot to share all of your experience. It is so useful and also very encouraging for people like me: beginners with no experience on the field! Thanks so much! Stay well and healthy! God Bless You and yoyr family! By the way: your plants and the beautiful tomatos show all the care and love you just felt doing the whole process! It shows in the video!!!! Thanks again!

[bonnieball]

Great job. I am currently growing 3 kinds of tomatoes in home depot buckets with an air stone in each. They are doing great.

[evajohnson]

My family and I loved this video. Informative, creative, and clearly presented.

[pxlbarrel]

I have used your video for my cherry tomato (and pepper) experiments. LOL I started the cherry tomatoes in the mason jars but after watching your video, I moved one to a large container that used to contain cheese puffs from Costco. Thanks for a very informative and educational video.

[Kyaide]

It's so nice that you showed and explained each stage of the growing process. Really shows it from start to finish. Thank you for sharing

[PRog-zxvh]

I have found that amber colored plastic whisky bottles make great hydoponic containers. I use yogurt cups for net pots. I have also used spray painted plastic juice jugs.