38 replies to this topic

[Bookworm]

Do any of you grow veggies indoors and if so how do you go about it? We have a very short growing season here and winters can be quite cold, at 20 to 30 below (thankfully I've never experienced anything past 20 below).

I'm guessing you'd have to have some grow lights, etc. How has this worked for you?

[veggiecanner]

some inexpensive shop lights will grow lettuce inside. Start a few pots every few days.
what I do along with lettuce is started sprouting. I sprout lentle, mung, alphafa, wheat and other seeds. All you need for that is a small jar(s) and some cheese cloth. Any whole seeds from a bulk food store makes very nutricious sprouts.
You can buy more expensive sprouting kits, and sprouting lids for canning jars also.

[Dee]

Last winter I grew lettuce and tomatoes both. The lettuce, of course, grew much quicker than the tomatoes and was very good. Actually, I prefer iceberg lettuce but since I couldn't grow it I grew the leaf lettuce.

The tomatoes took all winter but they were fun to watch and good to eat about March. I planted the little grape tomato seeds in Sept. and fooled with them until we ate them in March. Soooo good and really fun to play with.

Don't tell Darlene about this because I tried last winter and she can't seem to understand it But, when you cut the tops off your onions you can put them in with flower plants or just dirt and they will grow the green onion that you can cut and eat for green onions. I do it all winter long when I cut the tops off the onions I use.

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[Dee]

I am not good at adding these pictures. I don't know how to get them both on one page so, here's the lettuce.

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•  99960-Lettuce210-05.jpg   106.66K   449 downloads

[Phatkat1956]

Dandelion is so easy to grow...like leaf lettuce. If you feed your tomatoes, they should continue to give and give. Onions don't even need to be planted...you can take the onion and sit it on top of a shot glass and allow the water to sit just below it...it will send down roots into the water and sprout fresh onion greens that you can cut back and use, and it will grow more. Herbs of most types can do very well inside during the winter and make your cooking more interesting.

[Bookworm]

Those pics were beautiful - made me hungry and I just finished dinner. We prefer leaf lettuce so that's fine by me! I appreciate the info from both of you

[Pixie]

if i bring my tomato plants inside for the winte, will they keep producing fruit? hoe about potatoes? can i plant some , say, this wweek, and then when it gets colder, just bring the plants inside untill they are ready?

[Darlene]

Quote:

Don't tell Darlene about this because I tried last winter and she can't seem to understand it But, when you cut the tops off your onions you can put them in with flower plants or just dirt and they will grow the green onion that you can cut and eat for green onions. I do it all winter long when I cut the tops off the onions I use.

BUSTED!

So Dee, what you're saying is that you cut then end off the white part of the onion and throw that into the dirt and that grows new onions? Or are you saying that you take the green part and stick that into the dirt and then cut the green part off like a chives thang? Or are you saying that you cut off the end at the white part and throw that into the dirt and that'll grow just new green stems but no more white part?

I'm still so confused...TAKE A STUPID PICTURE!

SWAT!

ROFL!

[Bookworm]

I think I had a clue as to what Dee was saying until you posted - now I feel like I look like this guy

[anyala]

I have heard of many preppers growing necessary plants right in their homes (tomato, herbs, other veg., etc.) I want to do this too, but I am unknowlegeable about the special needs the plants may have while growing indoors, such as flourescent lights and heat lamps.

If anyone could help me with some advice on how to do this I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you!
Anyala

[cookiejar]

You'll get some real replies from people with a clue. I just wanted to show what I was looking into trying, container gardens to start.

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/gr_indoor_container/0,2028,DIY_13849,00.html

I'm also looking into miniature trees! Called patio or conservatory trees. Alas, I am in FL. with the no citrus tree import rule.

http://www.treesdirect.co.uk/patio.htm

I will be eagerly watching for the replies with real-life experience.

hugs to you chica!

[evidentjoy]

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/

Have fun, you could spend hours on this site. Read the directions on how to do searches and you will find gobs of practical advice from the posters.

samantha

[cookiejar]

Also!!

Go to the opening page of Urban Homesteading. Go 6 pages back in time to see *Building a Hydroponic Garden* and *Hanging Garden Posts*.

Go 7 pages back to see *Wading Pool Garden* and *Growing veggies inside*

Hope that helps!!!

[anyala]

Thank you very much everyone! All of your advice and sites will give me a great jump-start on starting my indoor gardening.

Thanks again!
Anyala

[cookiejar]

This isn't container gardening but it does include rooftop gardening and city planting.

http://www.raingardennetwork.com/

[westbrook]

Learn to sprout! wheat has all the nutrition needed when sporuted.

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

[Necie]

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. Little known fact: Humans are the only mammals that continue to consume dairy after being weaned. Think I could live without it-(wouldn't like it-grew up on a dairy farm and LUV my milk-Kahlua and Cream anyone?). But just WHY is it considered so essential?

[anyala]

Yes, I have mastered sprouting. It is easy, quick and produces a highly nutritious live food within days. I was hoping to move on to figuring out how to grow some tomatoes, peppers and beans indoors over the winter.

Necie-
Dairy is really not as healthy as our society makes it out to be. It's the calcium you want. Okinawa, Japan has been reported to have the longest living and healthiest people on the planet due to the fact that they do not consume dairy, and get their calcium from their water source--water that is washed onto shore after filtering through the coral reefs. It is loaded with coral calcium, and is an excellent source of calcium. I take coral calcium (from Okinawa actually...or so the label claims) in a tablet form.

Anyala

[Necie]

anyala-

How much room do you have for your 'indoor garden'? You can start out with buckets and potting soil and florescent lights. Some kind of fertilizer is a must. Usually the biggest pest problem is aphids. If you want to go bigger, then you can go to hydroponics-this involves using a 'soilless' medium-such as small pebble size rocks, rockwool, etc.., setting up a water system-usually by tank with a pump and adding nutrients. There are better lights than the fluorescents, also. Halide (usually 500-1000 watts), and high pressure sodium (these are usually used for flowering), then there's co2 systems, cloning, etc, etc,... I believe the most important thing about growing vegetables indoors is lighting. The more, the better. You want to start your plants out at 18-24 hrs of light for vegetive growth and then turn 'em down to 12 hrs to promote flowering and setting of fruit. If you have a place where light can be controlled, then essentially, you could produce a perpetual crop.

There are many good books on this subject and I'm sure many, many websites.

[anyala]

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