How to convert potted plants to hydroponics | Farming Hack

You read that right — it is possible to repot soil plants in a hydroponic system! This is an ingenious technique that I’ve used to hack potted plants over and again. Working as Truly Local Farms, I use this method regularly when setting up home farms for my clients. Transferring potted plants from soil to water is a great way to get the most out of your indoor hydroponic system.

This technique works best if you have a hydroponic system in place, full of lush plants already. If not, ensure that your new system is all set up and ready to receive and house new plants. Before we get into the simple 5-step process, I want to answer a few common questions I get regarding preparation and repotting. It’s important to go over these considerations, so you are fully informed about converting your soil plants before you go about the process.

❓ How do I prepare my plants for the transfer? 

It is a surprisingly simple process. All you need to do is take the plant out of the pot of soil, wash off the dirt, and expose the roots. Once clean, your plant is ready to be transferred to the new system.

❓ Which plants can handle the change?

Based on my own experiences and experiments, I have repotted many plants to hydroponics systems — and they all seem to work with this technique.

❓ How will the conversion affect my plants?

Of course, when you remove the plant from soil and put it into water, the plant experiences shock from the environmental change — much like a person experiencing culture shock when uprooted from home. Note that the larger the plant, the greater the shock, so when you perform the transfer, it is important to know what is happening to the plant. 

It is vital that you move the plant to the water as quickly as you can, which would enable the plant to adjust and adapt as soon as possible. It would be best if you have an established hydroponic system, however, a new system works too; you just need to make sure that it is set up first before you do the switch. 

What you will need

• a dark space
• newspapers or rags
• 2-3 buckets
• clean water
• hydroponic system

5 steps to convert from soil plants to hydroponics

1. Set up an area for this. It will get messy so make sure you are in a place that you can easily clean up before you start. Lay down newspaper or rags to line the floor and remove any electronics or valuable items from the nearby area.
2. Find a dark environment and perform the transfer during nighttime. The night is best because the plant will not be photosynthesizing and so will be able to put the immediate energy into making the change.
3. Have two or three buckets of water set up, depending on how stubborn the dirt is. There will be a lot of soil collected, so it works to have the first bucket set up to remove the large chunks of dirt. You do this by dunking the plant’s root in water and gently shaking off the soil. Use your hands to massage and remove the dirt from the roots. 
4. Once most of the soil is removed, go to the next bucket of water to clean off any residual dirt from the roots.
5. Place the cleaned roots into your hydroponic system.

⚠️ Things to look out for

• Bugs and pests. If you are taking your outdoor plants and moving them to an indoor system, you must be careful of bugs and pests that have latched onto the plant. Take care to remove any inects before you conduct the repotting process, ideally at the cleaning stage. Even if your system is outside, it is easier to contain the pest problem on a single plant than all the plants in your system. 
• Stress and shock. If your plant is having trouble acclimating to all of this, you might have to harvest any fruit on the plant and trim back leaves that are not getting enough light.