You’ve made it to the fruiting stage of hydroponics! Now it’s time to gear plant nutrition towards producing some tasty fruit.
Here’s what you need to know about the fruiting stage of hydroponic gardening!
What To Expect During The Fruiting Stage
Your hydroponic plants have flowered, they’re pollinated and you’ve been waiting what seems like forever. One day you go to check the flowers on your hydroponic plant, when you touch the flower, the petals fall off. Then you see it, the butt of the fruit!
As the flower transforms into a fruit, you will see the petals begin to fall from the flower, or they pay all fall off at once. This should expose the butt of the developing fruit.
As the size of the fruits grow, make sure to check your water level in your reservoir often. Plants that produce large fruits will take it a good amount of water to produce them. This is amplified when growing outside since fruiting coincides with the hottest months.
There’s still a few weeks left in the growth process as we need the fruit to no only grow, but also ripen.
Nutrient Needs During The Fruiting Stage Of Hydroponics
The types of nutrients used during the fruiting stage don’t differ much from the nutrients used in the flowering stage. The difference is in the amount of each nutrient used.
Recommend One Part Nutrient Regimen For The Fruiting Stage Of Hydroponics
For those looking for a one-part nutrient solution, I recommend Dyna Gro nutrients. When you’re ready to switch your plants to the flowering stage use Dyna Gro “Bloom” formula. The same formula is also used during the fruiting stage of hydroponics.
Recommended Multi-Part Regimen For The Fruiting Stage of Hydroponics
My go-to 3 part nutrient solution is General Hydroponics Flora Series. This nutrient regimen can be customized for any stage of plant growth so you will just need to follow the recommended dosing for the fruiting stage.
Hydroponic Supplements For The Fruiting Stage
If you haven’t added any supplements to your nutrient regiment by now then you definitely want to when transitioning to the fruiting stage.
There are many different supplements to boost flowering, aroma, taste and overall quality of your harvest. While these do work, most of these are not necessary for the average hobby hydroponic gardener. With that said, there are some supplements that will come useful, especially during the fruiting stage.
Some plants like tomatoes and peppers are more susceptible to deficiencies affecting their fruit. Both plants are susceptible to blossom end rot due to the lack of calcium during the fruiting stage. While it’s still edible and you can just cut the spot off, it doesn’t look very appetizing. Pepper are also prone to magnesium deficiencies.
Both deficiencies can be prevented by adding CALiMAGic to your nutrient regimen.
Final Thoughts…
You’re in the home stretch when you’ve reached the fruiting stage of hydroponic gardening, but you’re not home yet. Make sure to monitor your plants nutrient needs and add supplements when growing plants with high nutrient needs.
May 29, 2020 at 11:36 pm
Even with the larger plants, i.e. Tomato, do you clean out the reservoir weekly, during its fruit bearing stage? And what is the recommended pruning of tomato plants? Just learning, have not done anything yet. Also. Do the tomato plants need bee activity to pollinate?
May 31, 2020 at 6:04 pm
I’m guessing you’re talking about using DWC? It depends on the size of the reservoir, but I would recommend doing a nutrient change at least every couple of weeks no matter the stage of growth. Here’s a link to my article about growing hydroponic tomatoes.
August 20, 2020 at 6:18 pm
I have Brandywine tomatoes and they have blossom end rot. Using Hydroponic Maxi Bloom while in blossom and current fruiting stages. How many calcium citrate with D3 tablets should I use in 20 gallon hydro. container and how often?
August 22, 2020 at 9:30 pm
I’m not familiar with those tablets but I do have this article on solving blossom end rot.