Growing a Hydroponic Tower Garden in a Cold Climate

We are Hydroponic Tower Garden growers in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada—elevation 1,037 m (3,402 ft). It’s cold here! The short growing season and cool, short summers were the main reasons we got into Hydroponic Tower Garden gardening and, through the Tower Garden, into other hydroponics methods. We wanted to be able to grow more in a short summer and also grow in the off-season indoors all winter long.

Technically, the Tower Gardens we use are aeroponic because the roots are not submerged in water but suspended in air and watered on a schedule. However, since hydroponics is more commonly known, we name it hydroponics. 

With hydroponic systems gaining in popularity, we decided to update this blog post. The Tower Garden is no longer the only vertical hydroponic system on the market. Check out an enthusiastic Canadian Hope Innovation company here, or various great hydroponic systems on Amazon. 

This blog article will focus on the Tower Garden, which we have used for many years. If you are specifically interested in the Tower Garden, read our review here. Note that we are not affiliated with the Tower Garden; we are just sharing what works and what does not in our cold climate.

Using the Hydroponic Tower Garden in the short summer

In our area, we have about 100 frost-free days in the summer. However, for heat-loving summer crops like peppers and eggplants, this is not enough. Using aeroponics and specially formulated plant food, we can grow up to 30% faster than traditional soil gardening. Simply put, this means we get 30 more growing days with hydroponics, which is huge for us.

Plus, the Tower Garden can be planted indoors and moved outdoors without disturbing plants, adding even more growing time. This way, we can harvest peppers and eggplants here in Alberta from July until the frost ends our growing season, often in early September.

Seedlings can easily be transferred between various hydroponic systems, giving you much flexibility without disturbing the plant’s root system. All resulting in fast growth and abundant production. 

The Hydroponic Tower Garden in cool weather

The Tower Garden allows for vertical growth, accommodating up to 28 plants in less than six square feet of space. Thanks to its small footprint, we can create microclimates in the garden and construct wind braces for the Tower Garden. We placed our Towers against the south-facing wall, sheltered by a glass windbreak, which is the warmest area in our backyard. Since the plants in the Tower Garden receive consistent watering, they thrive even during hot weather. This makes the Tower Garden ideal for warm climates, and in our cooler climate, we don’t have to worry about unexpectedly hot days.

Growing cucumbers has always been a challenge in our cool climate. In the protected Tower Garden they grow amazingly well.

The Tower Garden can also easily be wrapped in a Plant Protection Blanket during cold nights. If sudden snow occurs (which can happen here at any time), we have even placed a heater under the blanket to add additional protection from the cold.

A vertical hydroponic growing system is an excellent option for a greenhouse. In the space of one traditional plant, you can grow more than 20, making better use of the expensive real estate in a greenhouse.

We also use a water heater to prevent the water from getting too cold. Heat-loving plants like to have warm roots, so heating up the soil would not work as easily as heating up the water for the Tower Garden.

The Hydroponic Tower Garden in the Off-Season

Once the summer crop is done, clean the Tower Gardens and take them indoors. Now they can be planted with greens and herbs for winter growing. Use grow lights and the water heater as needed. Greens and herbs grow very well indoors in the Tower Garden all winter.

Over time, we have had the Tower Garden in our laundry room, basement, and Garage Greenhouse. The Tower Garden can be placed anywhere there is about six square feet of space to grow food. If you want to grow mostly greens in the winter, the environment does not have to be very heated. If you want to grow tomatoes, you would need a warm spot in the house.

Would we recommend a Hydroponic vertical growing system?

Absolutely! The hydroponic Tower Garden is excellent for growing plants like peppers, cucumbers, and eggplants during short, cool summers. It also works wonderfully for growing salad greens throughout the long Canadian winters. Find a hydroponic vertical system that fits your space and start growing. It’s a lot of fun, but it is not no-work. 

A common topic of debate in hydroponics discussions is whether it can be considered organic and which fertilizers to use. This blog article addresses these questions.

Starting with one Tower Garden, we evolved into hydroponic growing. Over the years, we have used the Kratky method (great for beginners) and built high-pressure aeroponics and NFT hydroponic systems.

Grow an indoor edible garden

Hydroponics is one of the best ways to grow an indoor edible garden. Have a look at all the posts we already shared about growing food indoors and seedlings for the summer garden.

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