38 replies to this topic

[Necie]

Actually, the more *complicated* you get, the less space you need. To grow one tomato plant in conventional medium (soil) you need at least a 5 gal bucket. To grow one tomato hydroponically you need one 3" (YES-INCH) square of rockwool. It does seem daunting until you learn the technique. It really is rather simple and less work, although initially the cost is greater.

If you are going with soil, then you need a 5 gal bucket for each plant (with holes drilled in the bottom for drainage). You need to start with smaller pots to start your plants and transplant when they get larger. You need to also set it up to lift the buckets off the floor and place something under them to catch drain off water. Hang your lights so that they can be adjusted-raised as the plants grow-it's easier than trying to lower the plants.

Get your soil. Get your seeds. Get your pots and lights. Get everything set up and THEN start your plants. This makes it alot less frustrating.

Let me know if ya got any more questions.

[veggiecanner]

I would start out with some greens like chard first then work up to fruiting plants. The shop lights work well with green leafy veggies. But no matter how hard I try the fruiting plants only winter over with little or no prodution, and quite often have a bug infestation of some kind.

[Necie]

Greens do well if you keep your *days* fairly short-hours of artificial light at 12-14 and your grow room cool. Greens will bolt (go to seed) as days get longer and heat increases. For tomatoes, peppers, beans, etc..(fruit setting plants), you need to start with longer *days* (18-24 hrs) and when they aquire enough vegetation, then decrease the *days* to 12 hrs. These type plants go to 'seed' due to shorter days and cooler temps. It is the same in the outdoor garden, but with the indoor garden-YOU are Mother Nature. The ultimate goal is to mimic outdoor conditions as closely as possible.

[anyala]

Jeepers--this is starting to sound like it is more trouble then it is worth. I think I'll stick with my trusty glass canning jar and my sprouting wheat berries!

Anyala

[Dee]

Anyala, last year I started tomato seeds in Sept (maybe Oct?). I transplanted them as they got their true leaves and then once more, much later in the winter, into larger containers. They were so tall we had to support them and finally in March started getting tomatoes to eat. I've attached a couple of pictures (I posted them somewhere here last year) for you to see.

It's a lot more wait than work but if you've got the time and want to try it (not this year obviously) it's kind of fun. It was fun for me last year but this year I didn't even bring any flowers in to over winter. My mood varies yearly on what I enjoy doing.

Attached Files

•  117934-proppedtomatoes74-03-06.jpg   104.88K   293 downloads

[Dee]

Here's another with ripe tomatoes.

Attached Files

•  117935-Ripetomatoes23-22-06.jpg   78.65K   263 downloads

[westbrook]

Quote:

I go back to the basic 4 - wheat, sugar, salt, powdered milk and always water!

Westie-that's 5. And I am always so confused about the whole dairy thing-why it's considered so important. But just WHY is it considered so essential?

yes, never could count!

powdered milk.. makes more food! cake, cookies, ice cream, cheese.. oh wait.. calicum, some protein. Serioulsy, many recipes need milk... like cake, cookies and cheese what would cocoa powder be with out milk? certainly not milk chocolate!

it is very important for us as it also contains Vit. D which is needed if we are inside!

ok, back to indoor gardening.. wheat sprout and wheat grass juice. If it is not possible to grow vegetables indoors due to lack of space, seeds, lighting, water.. always turn to wheat sprouts.

[PoorMusician]

Ok, newbie question.... wheat sprouts? I am the person westbrook talks about with "If it is not possible to grow vegetables indoors due to lack of space, seeds, lighting, water". So what are wheat sprouts, how do I grow them, and how do I use them?

[pa & ma steel]

get a sprouting jar and place seeds in them to sprout. alfalfa, wheat, mung beans,radish ... ect. Almost all seeds can be sprouted. When they first start to grow the shell opens and the first little bud type leaves appear they have sprouted. They are very nourishing to eat and easy to start on a counter top.

[JCK88]

LOL..to do it right you need to slice the onion itself leave at least a quarter of an inch of onion in addition to the green part--the part where the green shoot is coming up and you plant that in a pot like you do the green carrot end and then have it sprout. (ever do that in kindergarten?) Then she cuts the green shoots for green onions....At least that's what I think is going on. My mother used to do this. (no, you don't get new onions this way unless you plant them outside later and wait forever...but you get plenty of green things)

Have any of you in warm parts of the country ever tried to do this with pineapples? My mom lived in Florida and she would cut off the top of her pineapple from the store, leaving about an inch or more of fruit and stick it in the ground. In three years, she would have more pineapples as long as she protected it during any cold times. It was kind of fun to see them, like a little pineapple farm, and the baby pineapples growing on them. You southern Florida types might try this--a fun and frugal type of farming.

[nmchick]

Hey ya'll. I've got an eggplant plant growing inside right now with an eggplant almost ready to pick. This is one I dug up from last summer's garden. (Couldn't leave it. It was such a pretty plant.)

I'm not using supplemental lighting because it's BRIGHT here, but the plant hasn't bloomed since November. Maybe that's why? I think it might have to do with the cool nights or the aphids. We had to fight aphids for a while. The plant has diatomaceous earth all over it.

We started lettuce two days ago. I'll let you know how that goes.

[JCK88]

My neighbor grows veggies indoors (going back to topic, LOL) He uses grow lights but has large windows in the back of his garage as well. He doesn't seem to use his garage for his truck. His garage is a greenhouse and workshop. And, I think he's a prepper but won't tell me. He lives alone, doesn't appear to work, and has a large garden, invents weird contraptions and tells me he mainly keeps to himself. But he did stress that in an emergency he would help his neighbors. I assured him we would do the same. He also knows how to can. But he's not not into being social very much despite that he is gracious and talks to me at length whenever I walk by and he's outdoors. He grows salad greens inside in the winter and radishes. At least as far as I know that's it.

[Staceyy]

I have not tried it yet, but I bought an earthbox off of Amazon which is a container gardening system. Most of the reviews are good. I first saw this on the QVC or HSN shopping channel. It is small but people swear one container can grow up to 50 lbs of tomatoes at one time.

[cootie]

What about pollenation for the plants with blooms...like your tomato, pepper, etc. I know that outdoors the wind and the bees do this, but what about indoors? The paintbrush technique maybe?

Cootie

[dogmom4]

Using a paintbrush could work. I have done it with squash outdoors because we are seeing fewer bees in our area. Here's a link to how it's done.
http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/cornuco...3258013975.html

[dogmom4]

Originally Posted By: nmchick

I'm not using supplemental lighting because it's BRIGHT here, but the plant hasn't bloomed since November. Maybe that's why? I think it might have to do with the cool nights or the aphids. We had to fight aphids for a while. The plant has diatomaceous earth all over it.

We started lettuce two days ago. I'll let you know how that goes.

You know, I've never tried squash indoors because we have such a long growing season here. I would think you would need suplemental lighting because they require full sun for a long period of time. Let us know how it works out ok?

[Amishway Homesteaders]

Necie,
I have about 1/2 of a small room to devote to raising plants indoors in containers on the floor. It is part of my larger laundry room, and since I hang up all my clothes to dry in there as well, the environment is nice and humid / damp. Perfect for growing plants. I have open, wire shelving in there too to help with the growing process as well.

I do not have the space to get any more complicated than this....I would like to keep it as simple as possible, using as little equiptment and items as possible. I am just waiting for the stores to get seeds back on their shelves so I can start (will buy extra next year so I don't have to wait), and I think that if I learn about saving seeds from heirloom plants, I won't have to buy seeds anymore. (Don't want to order the seeds--I have a bit of a problem with "big brother" knowing and tracking every one of my purchases--then profiling me).

Thanks for the advice and for the help. I really appreciate it.
Anyala

time to get this
= = =bumped = = =

[CrabGrassAcres]

I can't grow so much as a house plant here without fire ants in the pot. Got tired of fighting them.

[dogmom4]

Bump