Blessing: Hydroponically grown vegetables

I just bought hydroponically grown tomatoes. What Bracha do I say before eating them, since they were not grown in soil but in water is appropriate to recite Ha'damah on them?

Hydroponics is a word of Latin origin meaning 'working water' ('hudor' meaning water and 'ponos' meaning work), as it is a method of growing vegetables without using soil. This method is used around the world as a more effective way of growing vegetables because it requires much less water and space, yet produces a higher yield with less use of pesticides, etc. This method of growing vegetables is increasing in popularity. Just to illustrate how hydroponics does not require any soil, NASA has been using this technology to help them with food production in space!

So we will learn about the Halachic implication to this new invention.

This raises a question about which blessing one recites when eating such vegetables. Generally, we say 'Borei Pri Ha'adamah' to bless Hashem for the vegetables that are grown from the earth. However, can we say this as well with regard to hydroponic vegetables since they are not grown in the earth but rather stacked on shelves immersed in water? Perhaps the blessing should be 'She’hakol,' like the blessing we recite when eating vegetables that are not grown in the earth, like mushrooms, etc.

In order to get a more nuanced understanding of how to halachically address this question, we need to study a piece from the Talmud Yerushalmi where a similar question was asked regarding an unperforated plant pot:

תלמוד ירושלמי - מסכת כלאים פרק ז הלכה ו.

תני עציץ שאינו נקוב .......רבי יוסי בעי מהו לומר על פיתו המוציא לחם מן הארץ

Rabbi Yose asked can one recite the blessing of ‘Hamotsie Lechem Min Ha’arets’ on bread that was made from wheat that was grown in an unperforated plant pot? (since this may not be considered as bread from the land)

Rabbi Yose doesn’t answer however the Sefer “Chaye Adam” writes based on this Yerushalmi “That when eating bread that was made from such wheat that was not grown on the land but in an unperforated plant pot one should not recite The “Hamotsie” Bracha but rather one should say the bracha of “mezonos”.

The Chaye Adam continues the same too, when vegetables were grown in such a kind of plant pot one should not recite The blessing of Ha’domoh but rather “shehakol” since the wheat was not grown on the land.”

What we have learned so far is, that the same Halacha would be with hydroponically grown vegetables according to this opinion one would recite “Shehakol” when eating them.

The Sefer Egley Tal (Melacha Dosh, Seif Katan 3) argues with the Chaye Adam mentioned above, stating that, le’halacha, one does recite the blessing of 'Ha'adamah' when eating vegetables grown in an unperforated pot. He brings a few reasons for his decision, I would like to share with you one of them.

1. There is a difference between the blessing we recite on bread and the blessing we recite on vegetables. For bread, we say 'Ha'aretz,' meaning 'from the land,' while for vegetables, we say 'Ha'adamah,' which means 'from the earth.' Even if we were to say that the Yerushalmi holds that one may not recite the blessing of 'Ha'motsi' on such bread because it is not considered to have been grown from the land, however, when eating vegetables grown in such a manner, it would be permitted to recite 'Ha'adamah.' This is because the earth in an unperforated pot is still called earth, so the blessing would be suitable.

2. The poskim highlight another difference between the two blessings, when we recite “Borei Pri Ha'adamah,” we are not specifically mentioning this particular vegetable but rather the type of vegetable that is generally grown in the land, making it a more general blessing praising Hashem for this type of food that grows from the ground. However, the blessing of “Ha'motsi” refers to the greatness of how Hashem grew the wheat from the ground, it is not a blessing on the end product, the bread, but rather on the making of the bread. Therefore, such a blessing would not be suitable for bread made from wheat that was did not grow out of the ground.

So, to summarize so far, le'halacha, we say that if vegetables were grown in an unperforated pot, the halacha is to recite ‘Ha'adamah,” as of the opinion of the Poskim mentioned above.

When it comes to hydroponically grown vegetables The blessing is Ha’domoh, this is aligned with the opinion of the Poskim mentioned earlier, that it is a more general blessing for this type of food that is generally grown from the ground.

Wishing you well.

Talmud Yerushalmi - Masekhet Kilayim, Perek 7, Halacha 6

Chaye Adam klal 51, 17.

Sefer Egley Tal (Meleches Dosh, Seif Katan 3)