Indoor Garden?

eggrookie2010

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Someone mentioned a grow light. Any idea on the cost of running one of those? I was considering tryin tomatoes. I have some very bright south facing windows (well when the sun is out anyway.) Not really cold here. Its 65 today. Sometimes as low as 45 in the daytime.
 

moolie

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Well, most grow lights are fluorescent, so pretty low-cost to run--sorry, no idea on real numbers though.

Tomatoes need the light pretty darn close or they get leggy--no more than 4-6 inches above the actual height of the plants.

I've grown tomato seedlings indoors with a grow light, but it's been a few years--will be starting this year's batch at the end of March so I'll post photos and results as they grow. I did it for about 4 years in a row, then lost a whole batch of seedlings to damping off (a kind of rot) and didn't bother for a few years. This forum has me wanting to try again, as seeds are so much less expensive than plants from the nursery :)

We had our grow light on a chain hanging from a hood in the ceiling over the kitchen counter-top (chain like for swing sets, we just bought a chunk of it off the roll at Canadian Tire, I'm sure most hardware stores have similar). I would raise the light up as the plants grew taller just by pulling up the chain and hooking into another link. We're in a different house now, so I'm still trying to decide where I'm going to do this, and how to keep the cats out :rolleyes: :lol:

I should add that we had the light on a timer as well, so I didn't have to remember to turn it on every morning and off every night. Still have the timer, so it will be getting a workout again soon!
 

Wifezilla

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Don't bother with a light specifically labeled as a grow light. They cost more and don't put out enough lumens. Just get the highest wattage CFL you can find.
 

frustratedearthmother

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Oops! Maybe they'll recover? If I had a cold frame I could 'probably' have some decent success. Hmmmm....
 

tortoise

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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.
You make a really good point. I wonder which lettuce varieties are more tolerant of lower light?

I see a lot of variety of light requirements in my African Violet collection. A couple will bloom in my basement under weak artifical light that is enough the others are barely kept in "suspended animation" .... plant coma? :gig others need direct light plus additional artificial light.

Any ideas where to look for lettuce varieties that perform in lower light? Could breed to improve upon it if we had a starting point of lettuce that stays alive. :gig
 

frustratedearthmother

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I did grow some sprouts earlier this year - or was it last year? LOL! I used an organic seed starting mix and it worked pretty well. (No kids to knock 'em over here) I need to get some going again. I had radish sprouts, corn sprouts, broccoli sprouts and pea sprouts. I loved 'em! I had planned to start some again a while back and got totally sidetracked. Go figger, lol. I need to add it to my "get off your behind and get it done" list.
 

Lazy Gardener

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Depending on climate/growing zone/latitude, you can have fresh greens all year long. Check out Elliott Coleman's book: Four Season Harvest. Depending on what other projects I have going on, I do hydroponic gardening in the winter. Check out Kratky hydroponics. To be successful, you need lots of light. Even a shop light will suffice. Sprouting is an even easier way to have winter greens without much effort.
 

Daisy

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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!
 

Daisy

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Mozzies? In your climate, I'd not bother with indoor growing. You should be able to grow outdoors year round... unless your summer season is too hot to grow things.

Yeah I agree. Its probably not worth the hassle. Mozzies = Mosquitoes. That was the only reason I tried indoor gardening cos my house rabbits cant eat much from the outside garden without getting the runs due to the variation in quality and disease risks. I go to town every week anyway, so while I have my ultra sensitive man bun, I'll just keep buying hydroponic grown from the store.
 

Lazy Gardener

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Growing your own hydroponic is not difficult, though it may be hard to keep up with a Bun. How much greens do you feed them? You might try growing oat fodder for them.
 
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