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DMac
31st August 2010, 08:33 AM
I took up indoor gardening this year. I went from 2 houseplants that I had for a couple years to about 15 now. Some reproduced on their own, others I purchased. It's a great hobby and my plants are flourishing. Trouble is that I am using plants that don't require a lot of light (I don't get a lot of light) and I would like to take my indoor gardening to the next level. I have some nice old iron shelving units I am using for houseplants. I would like to start using some grow lights and begin growing my own herbs and veggies on these shelving units.

Does anyone have experience with building a rack style shelving unit for indoor gardening, or even experience with indoor grow lights?

I'm going to check some of these books for starters:
http://homeharvest.com/indoorgardeningbooks.htm

Gardening Indoors
The Indoor Gardener's Bible
(Van Patten)

The Insatiable
Gardener's Guide
(Brackney)

The Complete Houseplant
Survival Manual
(Pleasant)

RUSH.IS.A.BAND
31st August 2010, 01:07 PM
I have found that the 4 ft. "GRO-LUX" flourescent bulbs work quite well. They run about $6-8 a pc. and will fit in any 4 ft. ballast unit. I usually will run the ballast on adjustable chains or ropes, so you can vary the height of them according to the plant maturity. Do you have any outdoor space? Im working on a small lean-to greenhouse for winter myself. I want year round greens that I know where they came from.

Nice avatar by the way! ;D ;D

ximmy
2nd September 2010, 10:54 PM
sooo.. is this like having a greenhouse, or are your plants in the kitchen...???

DMac
3rd September 2010, 08:37 AM
I have some metal racks in the living room with the plants on them now. I am looking at some metal rack/shelving units from Home Depot to build out a more robust indoor garden the office/spare bedroom.

We don't get a lot of sunlight in the apartment, so to keep the indoor garden growing I will need to use some heat lamps.

DMac
3rd September 2010, 08:50 AM
Here is the first good rack I bought from an estate sale (iron for only $40 - I thought this was a good deal)

I plan on using something like this in the back room:
http://common1.csnimages.com/lf/3/hash/404/2559648/1/Heavy%2DDuty+Shelving+Rack%2C+Five+Shelves%2C+36w+ x+24d+x+78h%2C+Silver.jpg

J in AZ
3rd September 2010, 09:34 AM
If you want info on how to set up indoor grow areas go to the experts: cannabis growers. Whether or not you agree with the stuff they are growing they have their methods down to a science and these methods are easily adapted to other plants. This year I had tremendous success starting most of my garden veggies using info taken from cannabis growing websites.

Start here: http://www.icmag.com/ic/forumdisplay.php?f=9

and focus on info regarding grow boxes or small grow rooms and CFL lights.

gunDriller
4th September 2010, 06:04 AM
i visited some friends in San Diego who have a collection of about 100 orchids.

i was surprised at how big the orchids get - 5 feet tall, 3 feet across, some with 100's of flowers. like you see at a plant conservatory - but bigger.

at any given time, most of the orchids are dormant. they keep those at an "orchid-sitting service" ($1.50 a month per plant).

most of the orchids get very little light and are in medium size pots. they feed them nothing special, water with a little orchid fertilizer.

since i have killed several orchids i was surprised at the successful technique - keep them in the dark, don't let the roots get water-logged, etc.

gunDriller
4th September 2010, 06:11 AM
oops

beefsteak
4th September 2010, 07:43 AM
Window Farming http://www.windowfarms.org has caught our fancy around my house. We're gathering the materials to do this. Looks easy enough. Part of the attraction of this is that CFLs can be easily added to the attractive set up. And fruit, veggies, and flowering can all be incorporated easily.

One video spokesperson talks about how easy butter leaf lettuce is to grow in these units and how tasty as well.

Complete and detailed, illustrated instructions also found on the site, if one knows where to look ::)

http://our.windowfarms.org/instructions/

beefsteak

willie pete
4th September 2010, 04:22 PM
At first glance, I though you guys were discussing

http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/3539/gardent.jpg

sweetdeems
7th April 2011, 07:46 AM
I want to start an indoor garden but I don't want to spend a bunch of money on lights.

What plants are you growing that don't need a lot of light?

Serpo
1st June 2011, 11:28 PM
http://www.hydrogrowled.com/50WPenetrator-LED-Grow-Light--P71.aspx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QefgR5YbvU&feature=player_embedded

SHTF2010
2nd June 2011, 02:09 PM
back at GIM1
i started a thread about a rotating window garden

6-7 planter boxes that would rotate into the sunlight like a ferris wheel

can't find the link/pic now

beefsteak
2nd June 2011, 06:02 PM
We're going the "Easy Reach" method...turns out wallyworld, Walgreens, Home Depot and eBay have these things without the "S&H" from the As Seen On TV crowd.

Cheapest we found were $9.88 at wallyworld for a set of 2 per box.

Sandblaster
5th June 2011, 09:13 PM
I use a T5HO 4' 4bulb to start my vegatables inside before planting in the garden. Could easily grow them indoors with the right setup.

DMac
8th June 2011, 08:10 AM
http://www.hydrogrowled.com/50WPenetrator-LED-Grow-Light--P71.aspx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QefgR5YbvU&feature=player_embedded



Damn, cool setup, but not cheap! The volksgarden sells for around $2k.

https://www.omegagarden.com/index.php?content_id=175&product_id=1

beefsteak
8th June 2011, 11:19 PM
The man shown in the video above self-describes as a teacher. That suggests to me that he didn't have to come up with the $2K. He used OPM.

Still, it's a pretty nifty, small footprint, quiet concept. The 504W Penetrator "grow light" wasn't primarily designed for strawberries, plus herbs I'd be willing to wager. This is a schoo/laboratory setting. One of the setups on the near wall, with all the mylar behind it, has many different grow lights being tested--I could see the labeled bulbs. Some even said ebay with a number clearly visible.


beefsteak

lapis
9th June 2011, 09:08 AM
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll59/MeekOneGOP/EatingPopcorn.gif