May 30, 2008
· Filed under Indoor gardening · Tagged Gardening, indoor plants
Growing food indoors can be a cheaper alternative to buying organic foods from your local store. It does, however, take a certain degree of knowledge to make it work for you.
One of the easiest vegetables to grow indoors is the tomato so this presents an excellent starting point. You will still need an area where your plant can get the minimum 6 hours of sunlight so a windowsill is probably best. Windowsills do tend to colder and you will need to ensure that the temperature is kept to a bare minimum of 75 degrees or a little warmer.
It is advisable to use a soil-less potting mix as it prevents soil related diseases and pests. Your vegetables can still be affected by bugs, but won’t be affected by cutworms and the like. Water regularly, but don’t over water or it will cause root rot.
You can get your tubs from just about any gardening centre. The more ecological amongst us can recycle large containers that once contained food you bought from the local super market
May 6, 2008
· Filed under Grow lights, Indoor gardening · Tagged Grow lights, grow tent, Indoor gardening
There are many products available for indoor gardening. One of these is the Aero garden which costs over $150 and is a stylish hydroponic system that lets you grow fruit and vegetable without natural sunlight.
When it comes to indoor gardening, the grow lights is just about the most important acquisition you will make in an indoor growing situation and you can be guaranteed that ours represent the very best there are on the market today.
There are cheaper (and I believe more fun) ways to grow food indoors however. One of the main reasons I have started my windowsill allotment is to save money on my weekly shop, so why spend lots of money on equipment? You will need compost, seeds, pots and water. Also needed is a very sunny windowsill. I spent $10 on my original shop, which was enough to get started with terracotta pots and saucers and plenty of seeds. A similar article could be a find about grow systems with a key emphasis on how hydroponics can help you jump-start you indoor gardening and extend your growing season.
I am currently growing basil, chives, spring onions, rocket, carrots, coriander and peppers. Fill a pot with compost; sow the seeds as per the packet instructions and water in. Then leave on a sunny windowsill and keep watered. Within a week you will find that some things have already started to sprout. Basil is probably one of the easiest things to grow indoors and started sprouting within 4 days, with everything else bar the peppers and coriander within 7 days.
There are many different varieties of seeds available for container growing. These are generally a different size or shape. The carrots I am growing are golf ball shape as the trough I am growing them in does not have the depth to grow long carrots. Not many of these say suitable for indoor growing, however as long as you create the right environment it is possible to grow lots of things indoors. I am yet to see how easy these are to grow over winter however, but hopefully I will be able to sustain the yield throughout the year.
