In my own opinion just about every plant is suitable for hydroculture – cacti and succulents included. But I’m going to be conservative on this page and stick with the most recommended.

The plants that are truly the greatest candidates for hydroculture are ‘foliage’ plants or ‘tropicals’ or what you may call ‘green’ plants. Examples of these are Ficus, Aglaonema, Dieffenbachia, Pothos, Philodendron, etc. I think you get the picture. Along with these there are also flowering plants that do extremely well in hydroculture such as Spathiphyllum (Peace Lily), Hibiscus, Euphorbia (thrives in hydroculture!) and African Violets. There are a lot more plants that love the hydroculture system but I will include them in the list below.

        

My favourites in this hydroculture-loving bunch, by far, are Dracaena, Aglaonema and Dieffenbachia. These three groups thrive beyond my expectations in this alternative method. Not only do they inevitably adopt the system, they adopt it readily. Almost every Dracaena, Aglaonema and Dieffenbachia that I’ve converted has shown minimal signs of stress; some have shown none. In fact, the speed and effortlessness in formation of water roots is remarkable.

You don’t need to limit yourself to just a handful of common, durable plants. All the plants I own, including my cacti and succulents, have been converted to this method. And every new plant I buy is introduced into the system within a day or two, sometimes within an hour of its arrival. I’ve even added flowering bulbs – Amaryllis, Calla Lily, Narcissus, Begonia, Lilium - to the hydroculture setup. The success rate is high; everything has faired wonderfully. As far as I’m concerned, there’s no limit to what you can grow in hydroculture once you’ve learned and understood how the system works.


Where do you get plants from?

There are a few ways to build up your hydroculture plant collection:

1. You can purchase plants from a garden shop that has prepared houseplants for hydroculture. This will save you time in transplanting from soil to water. You will receive a plant that has already adapted to hydroculture, possibly a guarantee to go with it and perhaps even an encouraging exchange policy should something go wrong within a certain period of time. Above all, you’ll probably receive a quality plant if it’s a reputable company. It may be a little pricey depending on where you shop from.

2. You can take cuttings from your houseplants, root them in water and then transfer them into a hydroculture set-up

3. You can convert plants yourself. If you’re not very confident about transferring your soil-based plants to hydroculture, perhaps you can do a trial run with a small, inexpensive ($2 - $3) houseplant that you can pick up from a local shop. Or you can convert a lesser favourite from your houseplant collection and gain some experience. The process is simple, the success rate is high; it’s worth the effort. After you’ve successfully converted one, you will realize just how easy it is and you’ll be on to your next one before you know it.

Yes. Below is a list of some of the plants that are suitable for the Hydroculture system. A lot of these plants have been compiled from a wide variety of sources of information on the internet along with my own conversions. The list is not final - there are many, many others.

Plants that are underlined have been personally tested and grown in hydroculture by me; the rest are referrals.

Adenium Obesum – Desert Rose
Aeschynanthus Radicans - Lipstick Plant
Aglaonema (Excellent Choice)
Alocasia
Aloe Vera
Amaryllis Hippeastrum
Anthurium - Flamingo Flower
Aphelandra Squarrosa - Zebra Plant
Aralia
Araucaria Heterophylla - Norfolk Island Pine
Dracaena Thalioides
Avocado
Beaucarnea Recurvata – Ponytail Palm
Begonia
Bromeliad
Calathea
Cephalocereus Senilis - Old Man Cactus
Chlorophytum Comosum – Spider Plant
Codiaeum Variegatum - Croton
Coleus
Cordyline (Excellent Choice)
Crassula - Jade Plant
Crossandra Infundibuliformis - Firecracker Flower
Ctenanthe
Cycas Revoluta – Sago Palm (Excellent Choice)
Cyperus Alternifolius – Umbrella Plant
Dieffenbachia (Excellent Choice)
Dracaena (Excellent Choice)
Epipremnum Pinnatum – Devil’s Ivy, Pothos
Euphorbia Milii - Crown Of Thorns
Ficus
Fittonia
Ferns
Gardenia
Gynura Aurantiaca - Purple Velvelt Plant, Purple Passion
Hibiscus
Hoya
Hypoestes Phyllostachya - Polka Dot Plant
Impatiens
Iresine Herbstii - Chicken Gizzard Plant
Ivy
Ixora Coccinea - Geranium
Kalanchoe Blossfeldiana
Lilium Longiflorum - Easter Lily
Maranta - Prayer Plant
Monstera Deliciosa – Swiss Cheese Plant
Musaceae - Banana (Dwarf)
Nematanthus Gregarius – Goldfish Plant
Orchids
Pachypodium Lamerei - Madagascar Palm
Palms
Peperomia
Philodendron
Pilea
Poinsettia
Saintpaulia – African Violet
Sansevieria – (Surprisingly Excellent Choice!)
Schefflera
Schlumbergera Bridesii - Christmas Cactus
Solanum Pseudocapsicum - Jerusalem Cherry Plant
Spathiphyllum – Peace Lily
Strelizia - Bird of Paradise
Strobilanthes - Persian Shield
Stromanthe
Syngonium Podophyllum - Arrowhead Plant
Tradescantia
Tradescantia Pallida - Purple Heart
Yucca
Zamioculcas Zamiifolia - ZZ Plant
Zantedeschia - Calla Lily