I have played with growing stuff hydroponically / aeroponically, mostly lettuce and tomatoes. While I think it is great for such annual crops, particularly leafy crops like lettuce, I am much less inclined to consider it for any sort of perennial plant, much less something with as long of a life expectancy as a citrus tree. Maintaining a hydroponic growth medium long term would be a big challenge.

I am inclined to say Don't. A loss of electricity or a failed pump could leave you with a dead tree with an 8+ year investment down the drain. I considered what you are doing 5 years ago and decided against it for the reasons Ike mentioned. If you go for it I wish you all the luck and smooth sailing. Keep in mind a hobby is for fun and learning and Hydroponics may be the best for you and your interests.

Steve

There are sellers that sell trees presented with pictures like this.

Believe me! No kumquat tree looks this good.

Go for it. You have nothing to loose.

Steve.

The Kratky method works good for crops that mature over a couple of months, I am not sure about maintaining it long term over years, as it provides no way to flush out excess salt and nutritional buildups. Due to concerns about eventual power outage or pump failure, the only method I would consider for something like this is a deep water culture, but even this would have its challenges.

With hydroponics its actually quite easy to flush out salts, just run the system with plain water or you can buy a flushing solution. Pump failures are easy as well, just have two pumps. Redundancy is key and pumps are not expensive. A long term power failure could be a problem, but just grow it in coco coir and it can hold water for a few days. You could always just hand pour as well. Light is your only real concern with a power outage and its not like your light going out for a day or two is going to kill a healthy citrus tree.

Ken, I was referring specifically to the Kratky method when talking about flushing issues, as to pumps, even with redundant pumps you still need some active monitoring system, which is difficult to keep up with long term, year after year, people go on vacation,... As to the power outage issue, the time that a tree can last without pumps running is going to depend on factors like the type of hydroponic system being used, with aeroponic, and thin film being the least tolerant to equipment failure.

Update: I was trying to repot one of my trees and disaster struck. I destroyed my root ball by error. almost nothing is left of the roots from my 2 navel seedings.

I put them in a 3in netpot filled with clay pellets and I'll be trying the crafky method to see how the tree fares. So far its only lost 1 extra leaf this whole week. Currently recovering in a bright northfacing room with temps around 66F and no direct sunlight. We'll see how she fares.

Your doing the right thing. Roots will grow better at 70F. I have put mine in warmer areas to promote growth to remove them in 1/2 hour due to wilting. Keep them out of sunlight at first week or 2 and give them morning and evening sunlight only for a week or 2. You might even want to put a clear plastic bag around it

Steve

I agree with Skip

Skip: You are very right that gritty mix is the closest you can come to hydroponics without the pumps. In bonsai world some even grow in pure pumice which is one step closer to hydroponics than gritty mix. The mix is meant to give the roots to something to hold on to so that it can be kept in a pot and to hold on to water and nutrients temporarily.

Ha. Steve beat me to it :))

If you check into the threads in the container forum about overwintering citrus in containers you will probably find the info you are looking for. Growing citrus hydroponically indoor yearround is going to be challenging and expensive because you will need very powerful or numerous lights (think 400-1000w). Outdoor hydro its a challenge to control the nutrient solution temps, unless you have a huge reservoir.

I think there is a guy on the container forum growing citrus under lights in a basement in Brooklyn. Hes got to have one hell of an electric bill.

You would treat the hydro and potted trees similarly. Regardless of potting medium or soil vs soilless, a containerized tree is going to need either intense artificial light or real direct sun light to fruit and thrive, and it will need the appropriate climate conditions.

The picture of the bucket system you posted has an internal water resevoir which presents its own advantages and challenges.

I grow under lights in Brooklyn, and my bill is cheap. Upper LED 4 footers - 4 bulb - , 13 watt spot lights at base, but NO HYDROPONICS

It's doable. I have seen them at Disney World under the perfect conditions. Very expensive and you'd have to do tons of research to get it just right.

Guy's guy's this isn't so hard. Now you can't grow them from seed hydroponic or by my method of "working water". But once you get it to seedling it's an easy transfer to a "Working Water system. https://sites.google.com/view/thegardensofease2/home

There's a lot of information on how to grow any type of plants in the "Working Water" system, a lot of plants. Even pictures with examples. Even shows you how to build the containers. In fact I have several Ponderosa lemon seedling that need re-potting to their own system. Another thing is trees that require bright light can be train to lower light conditions such as getting light from a north facing or lower light levels. It's all in how you acclimate the tree.