Indoor Garden?

hoosier

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Has anyone grown leaf lettuce on a window sill?
 

tortoise

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I had some lettuce in my unheated greenhouse. The potting soil was frozen and they werent growing. So I brought a couple in and put them in a cold, south window. They havent done well. 😂
 

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Britesea

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This forum has me wanting to try again, as seeds are so much less expensive than plants from the nursery :)
Not only less expensive, but so much more varieties available. I'm excited that I may have finally found one that will grow in our short season without babying-- This summer a couple of volunteers popped up in places where I had planted Betalux Tomatoes the year before. They showed their heads after the starts I brought home from the nursery were put out, but still started producing ripe tomatoes before the nursery plants by a couple of weeks. They were the only ones that gave me vine-ripened tomatoes before our extra early first frost this year. I saved the seeds, and we'll see what happens next year.
 

R2elk

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I have just had zero success with indoor growing. I'd love to have it work but there just doesnt seem enough light and Im not going to add to the electric bills when I go to town once a week anyway. Maybe I could look into solar light because they are cheap but im not sure if strong enough. Are there any issues with mould? Thats my other concern.

I have a very large back patio i wanted to set up aqua/hydroponics on but just havent been able to make any progress on it. The mozzies are brutal this season so I dont even want to spend time out there right now!
If you go with the new fluorescent LED fixtures with a daylight bulb, they are relatively inexpensive to operate. When I was using a standard fluorescent bulb, it cost me $5 a month to operate an 8' unit with two bulbs. With the LED unit, the light is even brighter and costs even less to run.

The 3 1/2" to 4" diameter tomatoes I was picking in my living room in January were worth the cost.
 

patandchickens

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hoosier said:
Thanks for the info.

I was thinking of trying it in front of a basement window that faced south. I think the temp in front of the window would be about 55.
Do you think I have a chance?
Anything has a *chance* :) You may as well try! I'd hang a sheer curtain behind it (to reflect back light that would otherwise be lost to the rest of the basement), and possibly even hang a shoplight over the lettuce to give it some extra supplemental lighting if it starts looking sad as it grows. See what happens, let us know :)

Good luck,

Pat
 

hoosier

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I am going to try it. Fresh lettuce sounds sooo good.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I will let you know if I have any success.
 

tortoise

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This conversation is renewing my interest in growing microgreens. My previous attempts were growing on a fiber mat (some kind of leftover quilt batting, it was too water-resistant and floaty too!), and then on soil. They grew just fine on soil, but my pets and kids would tip them so much I never got a harvest. I think it might be time to suck it up and buy some growing mats for microgreens.
 

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