Indoor Gardening for 2017

9 years ago

My wife and I are moving into an apartment from a house for a job relocation. My absolute favorite part of living in a house is they backyard gardening. I've never done indoor gardening but have a green thumb for outdoor gardens. I'm hoping to get some advice on lighting and also how to keep my indoor growing look great and function well. I use Amazon for supplies so links to Amazon Prime products would be perfect for getting equipped. The plants I'm most interested in growing would be Basil, Rosemary, Spring mix lettuces, and possibly peppers and cucumbers.

In essence I'm looking for recommendations on the following:

Seeds that do well indoors
Lighting recommendations
Housing/racks for storing and setting up a place to grow indoors
What products to add to spaghnum peat moss for growing media (We have plenty of spaghnum already, so ideally I would ammend the media with recommended additives)

I'll be doing manual watering - and I have light timers that can keep at least that portion of the process automated.

Thank you all so much for your help ahead of time. I'm fine with maybe try type answers, you don't need to be an expert to help a fellow indoor gardener!

Here's a photo of an aquarium I'll be moving. I use the waste water from water changes on my current house-plants and they love it!

Featured Answer

halocline

9 years ago

H I Bit,

I don't think this particular forum get's that much action, I think you could find much more info on the "Container Gardening" forum; although I can give you some examples of what I use/grow.

For the plants you mentioned, I think 2-4 foot T5 6400K Fluorescent bulbs and fixtures would work great, and they're very economical. Here's the fixtures I use (they come with bulbs). https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NMX5EGC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I only grow vegies outdoors in the Summer, but I grow Bonsai & Adeniums (Desert Rose) indoors year around. I also use HPS (High Pressure Sodium) bulbs/fixtures to get the benefit of the full spectrum of light. 6400K Fluorescents cover the Blue end, and HPS covers the Red end of the spectrum. Here's a link for HPS fixtures; which also come with the bulb. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KM1EXXW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Light Hangers - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M398UJ4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My favorite grow setup is using two of these tables placed side by side, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XW5G4W/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and putting a shallow Hydroponic Flood Tray on top of them. https://www.amazon.com/Botanicare-Low-Tide-Tray-4-Feet/dp/B007FNQ1JY/ref=pd_sbs_86_29?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B007FNQ1JY&pd_rd_r=V0T3K8GBAC34AYB8RSKY&pd_rd_w=dU0nY&pd_rd_wg=N8sw4&psc=1&refRID=V0T3K8GBAC34AYB8RSKY

(You can find these cheaper at Hydoponic Grow Shops. Shop around.)

The Hydro Shop will drill a drain hole for you; then you need to purchase a length of tubing, and an open/close valve. Mine drains into a five gallon bucket beneath the tables.

Another way you could go is growing on "Baker's Racks" (which I bought at Target). I place two together. One in front of the other, not side by side.

Using the Baker's Racks; you can use hooks to hang the lights right on the shelves. With the Flood Tray setup; you have to hang the lights from the ceiling using "Swag Hooks". (Planning the placement, and using correct measurements Is very important.)

My Living room -

Here is a link to a thread that's all about container soils. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/2842847/container-soils-water-movement-and-retention-xxii?n=812 (Very informative.)

This is in the "Container Gardening" forum, and is written by "tapla" (Al). At the end of this thread; are links to other threads that he has written on various other subjects. (Highly recommended reading.)

I hope this has been of some help.

Rob

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Comments (9)

ewwmayo
9 years ago
Quite the living room! I like the laptop on the stand so you can hang out with your collection. I have similar racks, just not quite so tall. =)
Bit Brush thanked ewwmayo
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BettaPonic SuperRoots
9 years ago
I reccomend dwarf Tomatoes.
Bit Brush thanked BettaPonic SuperRoots
Bit Brush
Original Author
9 years ago
@halocline, exactly what I was hoping for. If I have any more questions I'll head to container gardening. Thank you so much for the suggestions and sharing your experience! Love the photos :)
Bit Brush
Original Author
9 years ago
Want to give everyone an update - I followed the soil recommendations @halocline posted and my plants are doing INCREDIBLE. I have never seen such a positive reaction from any of my plants - even when I tried last summer to make my own compost soil. I highly recommend others follow the guidelines established in this post for success.

Container soil water movement and retention

Growing lavendar, rosemary, basil and got our succulents potted into this soil. Planning on setting up grow lights on our baker's racks from IKEA this fall once the sunlight in my window boxes subdues.
halocline
9 years ago
Bit - I went ahead and copied your above comment, and pasted it on the "CSWM&R" thread. Hope you don't mind.

Best of luck this Summer!

Rob

(French Lavender)
Bit Brush
Original Author
9 years ago
Not at all! Hope my testimonial steers other green thumbs in the right direction :)
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
9 years ago
Great post upthread, Rob. Strong work! I can see you put a lot of effort into it and packed it full of info and first hand experience(s).

Al
halocline
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks Al. As you can see from the picture of my living room, I get a lot of inspiration for what I write here on the GardenWeb; by my immediate surroundings. It's a constant reminder of what I've learned, and how I've applied that knowledge.

(You can see my chair & computer less than 2ft from where the magic happens.)

(Location, location, location.)

It also help's me answer peoples questions right off the top of my head (like you do) lol, rather than rooting around through books and notes, or doing some quick google searches.

Rob