Growing Indoors is Easy

Growing Indoors is easier than it has ever been. Low cost led grow lights are everywhere. Providing a low wattage consumption led grow lights have given people the ability to supplement their food supply or prepare for next spring. As an avid gardener in a very unpredictable and short growing season I try to do both. Growing indoors is easy, and allows you to expand your fruit bearing plants by taking cuttings as preparation for next spring. One year 5 small strawberry plants resulted in over 30 new daughter plants for transplant in the spring. This fall we have taken grape and blueberry cuttings to root and grow for transplant next spring. Growing indoors is an easy and cost effective way to expand your perennial fruits year over year.

How Do I Start?

Growing indoors is easy but selecting your location is very important. Air flow and temperature can be detrimental to your success. Choose a place that will not chill once the lights go out. Led lights do not produce the same warmth as traditional lights. Some growing rooms range from 2’x2′ upwards of 10’x10′, and come equipped with air intake fans and lights as a kit. The fans replenish the carbon dioxide and oxygen in the room as well as to reduce the temperature (due to their relatively smaller size.) In an open room garden one or two rotating fans provide adequate air movement for most applications.

Grow Lights

Plants can grow under all sorts of lights. Metal halide , high pressure sodium, and even fluorescent bulbs. Fluorescents (T5,T8,T12) work well for plants with low to medium light requirements and are effective enough for starting vegetables indoors.

High Pressure Sodium lights contain more red spectrum light making them more suited to the fruiting stage of development. However they also emit a higher than average blue spectrum light which heavily used during the growth cycle making HPS very versatile. HPS lights use approx 30% more power to operate than conventional LED’s. The heat displaced by the light requires a 2′ space from your light and canopy of your plants.

Metal Halide bulbs typically have been used for the vegetative growth cycle by indoor growers as they mimic the spring and early summer light spectrum well. They become less effective with flowering fruit, making them more useful for leafy vegetables. Just like HPS bulbs they produce heat and should be kept about 2′ from the tops of your plants.

Flourescents are an easily acquired option that is ideal for starting your seedlings in spring. These are not typically used for heavy growth or flowering stages.

A basin or trough to place your plants in allows your water to run out of the pots and stops any mess from escaping the designated area. These are ideal but are not necessary, as long as your pots have something to catch the excess water. Fully sealed pots are not recommended as over watering causing root rot is a concern with sealed containers.