17Nov/110
Indoor Gardening
Indoor gardening is becoming more popular as technology improves and costs decrease for supplies and equipment. Growing indoors can be very rewarding and the results are absolutely fantastic when done correctly, that said, they can also be devastating when things go wrong.
In this article I would like to dispel some myths about indoor gardening as well as give some tips for simple ways to improve your harvest.
Myth #1: You can grow in any room indoors.
Growing indoors even in the best circumstances is more difficult than you would think at first, and depends a lot on "what" you are trying to grow. For this article I will focus on food bearing plants such as tomatoes and cucumbers, and other succulent garden plants, as well as herbs and fresh flowers and orchids. Plants such as garlic and carrots that create bulbs are even more challenging and will not be discussed at this time.
Tip #1: No matter what plants you decide to grow indoors, you will still need to meet its basic requirements for growth.
Mainly, good ventilation from the outside, Light, and fertilizer as well as a exhaust for the heat from the lights and built up oxygen that the plants cannot eat. Plants Breath CO2, but with global warming and all there is plenty of that in regular air, so just make sure your ventilation is good into and throughout the room. Light and fertilizer depend more on what you are trying to grow.
Myth #2: Indoor gardening doesn't involve getting down and dirty.
Cleanliness is close to godliness. Growing indoors can be a messy job. Weather you decide to use hydroponics or soil, there is usually some sort of spills involved.
Tip#2: Plan for the worst! Enclose the growing area in a cheap and easy home-made reserve reservoir to prevent run-off and spills from damaging your home.
Create a wooden frame of 2x4s that sits flat on the ground and lay a giant plastic sheet (available at home depot) that tucks over the board on all sides. Be sure to measure before hand, but often you can get 12 x 30 ft or more. The idea is to create a giant tub below the plants in case of emergency. This is especially important for hydroponic systems that are not on the ground floor.
By: Austin Kerr
16Nov/110
Indoor Gardening Supplies Overcome Weather and Soil Conditions
Indoor gardening supplies make it possible to garden no matter the weather or soil in your locale!
Whether you garden indoors professionally or as a fun hobby,indoor gardening supplies such as grow light kits with the appropriate digital ballast and LED grow lights can be used with soil based or soil-less indoor gardening systems. Gardening without using soil is a practice known as hydroponics. Because typically no soil is involved, this style of indoor gardening with a controlled growing environment can be practiced virtually anywhere--in a high-rise apartment, in the cold North where temperatures dip well below freezing, in the desert with its accompanying sweltering heat, and it even has been tested by astronauts in outer space.
There are some basic indoor gardening supplies common to every style of indoor gardening, including hydroponic systems, that you might wish to pursue. All plants need light in order to survive, so you will want to provide your indoor plants with appropriate grow lights.
What indoor gardening supplies do I need to get started?
One major component of any hydroponics gardening system is the lighting you will use. The appropriate lighting depends on several factors, including the types of plants you are growing indoors and in which stage of their life cycle the plants are.
Young seedlings require light that falls within the blue color spectrum in order to grow and reach maturity. Mature plants, such as flowers or fruiting plants like tomatoes or strawberries, need a light spectrum in the red to orange range in order to get the plants to set fruit or flower. You can find grow lights that offer specific light spectrums, so that you can provide your plants with exactly the correct light that they need to respond in the way you want.
Grow lamps are also used in conjunction with a suitable digital ballast. The ballast is the device that controls the amount of electrical current flowing to the light bulb in order to get it to not only spark, but once lit, to keep a steady light emerging from the bulb. Each ballast is specifically designed to work with its own specialized grow lamp, so it is important to know whether your grow lamp is an LED (light-emitting diode),or is one of the HID (high-intensity discharge) lamps, which can include mercury vapor, low-pressure sodium, zenon short-arc, metal halide and high-pressure sodium.
There are a wide variety of indoor gardening supplies suitable for any type of indoor gardening you practice, whether a traditional greenhouse, hydroponics, or others.
By: Susan Slobac
4Nov/110
Discounted Aerogarden and Cheap Aerogrow – Find One at Below Market Price
Discounted AeroGarden can be found at several online stores, but you have to know where to look. The normal retail price for one is between $160 and $170 Dollars. However, if you know where to look, you can get a cheap one with a free gourmet herb seed kit for nearly three quarters of that price.
For those who don't know what an AeroGarden is, it is an electronic device for indoor gardening without soil. The process is often referred to as hydroponic gardening or just hydroponics.
A complete, even if it is a discounted AeroGarden System comprises:
1. Aeroponic optimizing chamber. This creates the perfect environment for the growth of your plant.
2. Computerized systems. They contain built-in microprocessor and reminder system which ensures the plant gets enough light, water and nutrients.
3. Organic nutrient tablets.
4. Instructions Manual which informs you as to how to go about planting, taking care of the plant and how to harvest the right way.
5. Comes with a compact florescent bulb. This is designed so that the plant is provided with the light it needs to grow and does not need any natural light.
6. The plants are provided with 65 types of nutrients to ensure the plant health is at its best.
How does it work?
It may be used to grow herbs, vegetables, flowers and even strawberries. It is designed to keep the roots of these plants suspended in the air of a highly humidified and oxygenated chamber. These roots are also introduced to the perfect levels of water, light and nutrients, causing there growth speed to be five times more than a naturally grown plant. The unit comes with everything you need to start, all you need to do is add water. The system allows for germination to occur within 24 hrs.
Don't be fooled, a discounted AeroGarden will come with everything indicated above, even if they are sold at a cheaper price. They work the same way, providing you with the same organic produce in as little as two weeks according to the seed kit you choose. The vegetables produced by these units, to my mind and by most users, are much healthier and bigger too.
In Addition, the following accessories you may also get at a discount
1. Replacement bulbs
2. Wall farm shelf
3. Extra nutrient tablets
4. Master Gardener Kit
5. Pods
With your discounted AeroGarden and these accessories you can grow anything of your choice. Buying a cheap one does not mean that it will be less efficient than buying one at the normal retail price. A brand that is highly recommended is AeroGrow. In this age of global food price increases and high cost of living, it is sometime difficult to wait long period for food to grow. Indoor gardening with hydroponic systems is the way to go. So be it a gourmet herb garden or a simple vegetable garden, indoor gardening is the way to go. Safe, more convenient and talk about speed.
By: Karen Xavier
3Nov/110
Hydroponics Kits Simplify the Process of Hydroponic Gardening
There are many advantages to hydroponics, the popular soilless gardening system. It is a way to practice indoor gardening when gardening outdoors is not an options, such as in remote locales like Antarctica, outer space, or even in an apartment building high above your city. Because hydroponics uses no soil, plants are not bothered by diseases that incubate in the soil, and neither are they crowded out by weeds.
Because the environment is strictly controlled in order to produce the best results with the plants being grown, hydroponics gardening usually uses less water, energy and fewer pesticides while requiring less space than conventional outdoor gardening. Hydroponic kits take all the guesswork out of growing indoors, because all of the major components are included.
What are some of the different hydroponic kits available?
1. Deep water culture kits
One method of hydroponics is deep water culture. The crown of the plant is suspended over the nutrient solution by a net. The net is placed in a hole in the center of a plastic lid, which fits on top of a plastic bucket. The roots remain in the solution to soak up nutrients, which is the plant's food. In order for plants to thrive with this gardening method, the solution must be aerated in some manner, because the movement of the liquid helps to bring the nutrient to the plant roots, allowing them to feed and oxygenates the liquid as well.
You can have one bucket or several buckets linked together in deep water culture gardening. When several buckets are used, the water is typically recirculated through all of them using spray nozzles, which helps to aerate the liquid.
2. Aeroponic gardening kits
Aeroponics is a subset of hydroponics where plants' roots, rather than being suspended in the liquid nutrient, are instead suspended in air. The roots are regularly misted with nutrient, as an alternative to floating in solution typically found in hydroponics systems. Plants grow very quickly using this type of growing system.
3. Ebb and Flow kits
This method of hydroponics was inspired by large farms that use irrigation as a means for watering outdoor crops. With ebb and flow kits, there is a pan of nutrient solution and above this pan is a tray that holds plants that are planted into some type of growing medium, such as rockwool or coir. A pump is called into play to fill the tray holding the plants with nutrient solution, and after it fills the solution drains back down into the pan. Because of the movement of the solution into and out of the tray, ebb and flow provides its own means of aeration of the plant nutrients.
By: Susan Slobac
30Oct/110
Why Indoor Vegetable Gardening Rocks
Indoor gardening is continuing to be the latest craze in horticulture. It's a hobby that doesn't take much time and effort to set up. But to get great results you need to put some effort into taking care of your new-found vegetable friends. Take care of them and you'll find indoor container vegetable gardening a worthwhile and rewarding activity. Here are other reasons why indoor vegetable gardening rocks:
Fresh produce is within an arm's reach (literally). One of the perks of growing your own herbs and vegetables is that you can be assured that you're eating veggies that are not contaminated with growth hormones ("plant steroids" as I like to call them), pesticides and preservatives. You'll also have bragging rights. After all, self-sustainability is cool!
Plants are natural air purifiers. Did you know that indoor air is 50 times more polluted than outdoor air? Yikes! What's even more scary is the fact that the average human being spends just over 90% of his/her time indoors. Those facts should be enough to make you set up camp outside your own home. To counter this, grow plants indoors. Indoor plants, whether they be simple flower plants or a variety of indoor vegetables, help keep air circulation at a norm inside your home. They help get rid of excess heat by converting carbon dioxide in the air to oxygen.
It's therapeutic! There's nothing as refreshing as the sight of flora in your own home. There's something about the color green after all. On a psychological level, the color green makes us feel safe. It tells us that we can relax. Just like any other hobby, container vegetable gardening can give you that sense of achievement you so often need. Watching your indoor plants grow and reaping the fruits of your efforts will allow you to feel that.
It's a great way to save money. Fresh herbs and vegetables can be very expensive when you purchase them at grocery stores. You can't even be sure if those veggies are absolutely fresh. If you're growing vegetables or herbs that are not available at any local retail stores, your neighbors might be willing to pay you for that extra parsley or cilantro you have on your kitchen counter.
Even if indoor vegetable gardening is only a hobby for most people, one cannot deny the multitude of benefits that it has to offer. Plus, don't forget the fact that anyone can do it, even your own kids. Indoor vegetable gardening requires a bit of money to get going, but after that, you'll soon see for yourself that it is a worthy investment.
By: Becky Sheldon
30Oct/110
Using Fluorescent Lights For Indoor Gardening
Fluorescent lights are a great lighting choice for you indoor growing. Whether you are growing vegetables, flowers or pretty much anything, these lights should be able to support your plant enough for it to grow strong and healthy. Also, it is advantageous to grow plants with fluorescent lighting since they are very cheap lights. You won't have a huge hole in you wallet like you would if you had to buy Metal Halide or High Pressure Sodium lights. In this article I will discuss the basic process of indoor gardening with fluorescent lighting.
The first step is basically to set up a grow room or grow location in your house. This can be an entire room, or just a small enclosed area within a room, it's up to you. No matter where you decide to set up your gardening area though, it should be cut off from all light sources besides your fluorescent lighting. If you are using a whole room, make sure to cover up the windows so little to no light can get through. Actually, every plant likes a different amount of light, so this may not be necessary if you're growing plants that don't need any dark time.
After your grow spot is set up, the next step is to get all of your materials ready. This means buying pots or growing trays for your plants, depending on what kind you are growing. What I usually do is start a bunch of plants in a large growing tray, and then only pick the ones that are growing the best after a few weeks or so. I discard the slowest growing ones, and then transplant the best ones into large pots. I sometimes do this multiple times also, so I can make sure I get the absolute best growing plants out of the bunch.
Setting up your lights is the next thing you need to do, and this is a very important step. The way I do it is to get some cords to string over the growing area. I make sure they are attached to the walls securely, and then I hang my fluorescent lights from the cords. This works well since you can easily adjust the height of your lights while your plants get bigger. The proximity of the lights to your plants depends on what kind of plants you are growing, but I generally try to keep the lights as close to my plants as possible, without touching them. You need to make sure the lights don't touch the plants or they could get burned, and this certainly doesn't help them grow.
After your lights are set up the way you like, then you are probably ready to let your plants grow nice and big. If you are planning a big grow room however, you may want to look into some ventilation options, but I don't have any experience with ventilation personally. Fluorescent lights are great light sources to use for growing plants, and you will probably find after your first successful grow that you love indoor gardening.
By: Michael Gerritsen
28Oct/110
Cloning and Propagation Techniques For Gardeners
If you are a gardener, there is always one item you would like more of, and that is more plants. If you garden hydroponically, one of the primary hydroponics supplies you will require are new plants on a regular basis. It can get expensive buying them at a gardening center, but it is easy and fun to start your own plants.
There are several ways to make more plants. You could try the cloning and propagation techniques of seed starting, cloning kits, or other forms of plant propagation to create a wealth of plants. Indoor gardening provides the ideal conditions for starting new plants using any of these methods.
What are the differences among cloning and propagation techniques?
1. Seed starting
Seed starting is an excellent way to build the number and variety of plants inexpensively. Depending on the variety, seeds require light or dark to germinate, and they vary in the number of days to reach germination. You can start seeds in homemade containers, or you can use seed starting kits. This is an excellent method to use when growing indoors.
You will need seed starting supplies such as containers and a seed starting mix, which is moistened with water to the consistency of a wrung-out but damp sponge. Place the dampened mixture into your starting trays, and place the seeds on the soil. It is important that the seeds are in firm contact with the soil, so you will want to lightly press them in. Cover the seeds, (or not, depending on their light requirements for germination), and place them in a plastic bag or with a piece of plastic over the top of the trays. This will create a mini greenhouse effect, conducive to seedling emergence. After the seeds germinate, remove the plastic and grow them on under bright lights and feed them regularly with a weak fertilizer solution.
2. Cloning and propagation techniques using cloning kits
Cloning is another method of plant propagation. You place cuttings taken of an existing plant into the cloning kit, and very quickly--in a few days--through repeated applications of rooting hormones, roots are formed on the cutting. The cutting is them removed from the cloning kit, and is grown on in a growing medium under lights. Cloning kits are a great choice when you want to propagate plants quickly, which is common in commercial greenhouse settings.
3. Other cloning and propagation techniques
There are other plant propagation techniques that are also often used. Layering is one easy method. Take a branch which is still attached to the main plant, remove some of the leaves, and place the bare portion of the branch on the soil. Hold the branch down with a rock, and leave it in place. Over time, roots will form on the part of the branch that is touching the soil, after which you can sever it from the main plant and have a new plant to grow on in a container.
By: Susan Slobac
26Oct/110
Growing an Indoor Herb Garden
Even if you don't have a big backyard garden will not stop you from planting an indoor herb garden. There are some advantages to indoor gardening, for instance not having to worry about the weather, and several of the pests which attack plants when they develop outside. This also means that the conventional hoes, rakes, and shovels can be left within the garden shed and gone will be the require to roll-up garden hose by the end of the gardening day either.
To find out still a possibility of annoying uninvited guests on course} seeking out your herb garden you can still experience full satisfaction of raising your own seasonings. In some instances, a patio may be used to provide plants the opportunity to get direct sunshine, which they can at times require, although mostly indirect illumination plus some interior grow lights can provide all the light source they need.
Some of the most popular plants raised indoors such as basil, thyme, cilantro, and oregano can be picked from the vine as a fresh flavor for the dish or meal that you are preparing. Plants that may flourish without much direct natural light is generally much better, nevertheless several grow lights are obtainable to assist plants via photosynthesis.
Exterior herb gardens ought to be protected from wildlife which are inclined to think that the vegetation is there for their pleasure and with outdoor gardening rabbits and other pets are typically locked out from the fresh herb smorgasbord. Fencing or some sort of ohter barrier isn't a bad strategy for protecting your herb garden from intruders.
You possibly can make a number of ornamental interior garden containers and at the very same time increase decor to the house while while growing your personal herbs.
Old boots or empty buckets make intriguing herb containers for indoor herb gardening. Of course a outdoor patio to be able to keep some of your indoor garden equipment can also be useful nevertheless not required.
Pesticides or herbicides in a patio could also be used, although many prefer to use natural items to ward off the insects when the plants are grown indoors. By using all natural and organic products such as fertilizers and pesticides, will reduce the danger to any domestic pets.
By: Carol William
25Oct/110
Indoor Gardening Supplies – Alternative Gardening For Urban Living
Indoor gardening supplies depend on a number of things such as the type of garden you're going to set-up. There are currently plenty of methods in growing plants indoors and you have to choose the one that fits your lifestyle and living space. Whatever is your choice, you need to research on the right indoor garden supplies to ensure the optimum growth of your plants.
Actually, there are two popular gardening systems that you can set-up inside your house: hydroponic garden system and aero garden system. Both systems are inexpensive and effective - they also eliminate the use of soil, which is a good medium for germs and bacteria. However, the differences between the two make them distinctively unique.
In hydroponic garden system, the growth of the plants is supported by pumping vitamin-rich water solution to the plant roots. It uses a long aerated container where the plants are arranged in a row. The feeding process is done once in a while, so it doesn't consume big amounts of water.
The aero garden systems use growing units to precisely separate plants from each other while their lower stems and roots are suspended from the base. Homeowners should be careful not to expose these units from outside drafts because it can contaminate and delay the growth of plants. The system supports plant growth by spraying the roots and stems with small particles of nutrient-rich water and air.
Of course, you'll need the proper indoor gardening supplies to get you started with these projects. Online gardening shops would be good place to start looking for the tools and plant seeds you want.
The first thing you have to consider before buying plant seeds is the housing unit of your plants. It would be a good idea to safely arrange them in a plant rack with a synthetic light source. In that way, you don't have to depend on skylights for sunlight.
The Sun Lighter stand by IGS indoor gardening supplies is fitted with 8-green plant containers (11-inches by 22-inches) - each container comes with 2 GW220WS lamp fixtures. This product comes with a timer, moisture and temperature indicator devices.
An indoor hose is also important in watering your plants. If your budget is not ready yet for sophisticated watering systems, you could always try this because it's rather inexpensive; the typical cost is around $30 to $45 only. Make sure to get indoor coil hoses made from high-grade polyurethane plastics for durability and easy storage.
Depending on your garden set-up and plant breed, there are still other indoor gardening supplies you have to purchase - the ones mentioned above are just a few of them. There are actually many useful gardening tips and supplies available online that will help you get started with your indoor garden.
By: Fay Salmons
21Oct/110
Indoor Greenhouse Gardening For Beginners
For any gardener who enjoys working with their plants, a greenhouse is a welcome addition to expand their hobby. Greenhouse gardening can be as intensive or as low-key as you want it to be, depending on how much gardening you do and how much money you want to invest in the hobby. Serious gardeners wishing to expand their interest into greenhouse gardening may opt for a permanent structure in their backyard, possibly something that incorporates a cement foundation, integrated doors and windows, and an auto-venting system for temperature control. On the other end of the spectrum, we have the beginning gardener or hobby horticulturist who wishes to cultivate plants indoors during the winter months or start seeds indoors in the spring for a head start on the summer growing season. This more basic form of greenhouse gardening will be our focus for this article.
Basic greenhouse gardening usually begins indoors with a temporary structure that can be set up when it's needed and taken down when it's not. An inexpensive shelving kit will work well for this purpose, provided you have space to set it up. Other structures could be a tabletop that's not in use or an old workbench. If you are purchasing something new for the purpose of indoor gardening, look for a structure that's lightweight and that can be easily disassembled for storage. Consider buying plastic, if you have the option, so that you can easily wipe away any dirt or water that accumulates.
Next, you'll need to look around your home and determine where the shelf or table will be placed. If you have a sunny window that receives at least 6 hours of direct sunlight daily, this is ideal. Warm, sunny bay windows facing the west or south will usually meet the criteria. If you don't have such a window, then you'll need to consider using a grow light. This will require a special light bulb that gives off a full spectrum of light similar to the sun's rays. While the light cast from these bulbs certainly won't look like natural sunlight to your eyes, to the plants, it is virtually the same. Grow lights can usually be purchased quite inexpensively from home improvement stores or garden centers, and can then be screwed into your own light fixture at home.
When setting up a grow light, it's important to suspend the light as close as possible to the plants. Particularly if you are using the light to start seeds, you'll want to place the light within an inch or two of the seedlings themselves. If you place the light too far away, the seedlings will grow tall and spindly instead of strong and stocky.
An indoor greenhouse can feature a vinyl cover to help retain heat or moisture, or you can simply use the indoor environment of your home as the greenhouse environment. Ideal temperatures will range from 75 to 85 degrees, so choose a room of your house that is warmer than others. If you're using a grow light instead of a sunny window, you won't be as limited to the possible locations you can choose from your plants. If you're using a grow light and trying to determine a warm location in your house, consider an upstairs room and/or a high up location in the room, vertically speaking, such as on top of a high shelf or a tall cabinet. Heat rises, so the highest place in your home should also be the one with the highest temperature.
If you're a beginning gardener interested in greenhouse gardening, don't be intimidated to give it a try. Getting started indoors is easy and doesn't cost a lot of money. With a little time and a minimal investment, you can expand your gardening hobby, grow more plants, and give your green thumb a workout during cooler months!
By: Ellen Bell