Help with indoor vegetable gardening?

[belle99]

I hope someone can help me. I need some advice on the most inexpensive, effective way to set up a vegetable garden indoors.

I also am a bit concerned about my electric bill with all the lights.

I'm a bit overwhelmed with googling this, so I thought I would pitch it to all the good people here.

Thanks!!!! Hope someone has some ideas!

[Tarkus]

Indoor lighting/Gardning

Belle: You may want to rethink your need to do it in the house, some very tried and true methods have been used over the decades for green houses, cold frames and hot bed gardening.
If you need to do it in the house, check into the solatube type skylights that can pipe light in.
Many of us are working on getting off the grid or at least less dependent on it and self generating electricity is one of those projects, so maybe soon the indoor farming will be feasible with lights.

Good luck and God bless
David

[future pather]

Belle,

I have never tried this myself but have heard marvelous things about it :

The Official Site of Square Foot Gardening and Mel Bartholomew, Originator and Author


Jessica

[future pather]

This too :

EarthBox - Home

[Keoi]

Hi Bella,
I had not seen this thread when you originally posted it. But I want to add my two cents in here, because this is a topic I love!

First I want to add that I have a very green thumb
But I didn't always have a green thumb, I got it when I decided that I did! Since that time I am known for making dead sticks grow in the dark.
Once while living in Santa Fe New Mexico in winter I grew sunflowers from seed in the winter inside a bedroom in my house that faced North. They grew just fine big beautiful with just using a overhead 100 watt bulb and 1 desk lamp with 100 watt bulb in it.
Now, you might think this is silly but it works, I talked to them or rather I thought to them. I told them that they were beautiful, big, healthy and strong.
They agreed!
Try it, it works!

[Glenn]

Growing Indoors

Hi Belle, all,

I found this indoor hydroponics system recently and have had great results so far. It is very easy and they supply everything you need!

We are currently growing basil and catnip (gotta take care of the kitties!). Next we'll try tomatoes and wheatgrass. Can't grow outside in southern Arizona (at least until we get a proper greenhouse...)!

This system is practically fool proof (even I can do it! LOL -- I once killed an indoor cactus in my youth...). The supplied nutrients are all natural and free of pesticides and other harmful chemicals.

Sunlight Sheds

Good Luck!

[Tishatang]

Hi Belle99 and All

Here is a solution that may seem off the wall. If it works, it solves your problem. I have not tried it. From Rexresearch.com link here:

Thomas G. Hieronymous: Eloptic Energy... US Patent # 2,482,773, &c...

"Conducting Chlorophyll Energy over Wires"
by Dr. T. Galen Hieronymous

About 1930, I decided to try an experiment of conducting Chlorophyll Energy over wires. I had been conducting Eloptic Energy over long distance via wire.

A wood platform was installed on the south side of the house about six feet above the ground in order to get the desired potential of energy which increases with distance above the ground.

Having some wooden cigar boxes available, I cut boxes apart and cut pieces and made eight boxes that were 2" X 2" X 4" although any size boxes will work.

Aluminum foil was placed on the bottom of seven boxes inside so as to be in contact with the soil.

Similar pieces of foil were placed on the underside of the lid of each box.

Wires were connected to each piece of foil, the wires from the lids were extended to the sun plates, the wires from the bottom foils were connected to the water pipe and thus grounded.

See Figure #2 (on the right) for details of the box construction.

Refer to Figure #1 which shows a 'side' view of the installation.

Figure #3 shows the system of connections.

Seven plates were placed on the platform so as to pick up energy from the sun and a wire was connected to each plate and extended down into the basement, each box having the top foil plate connected via wire to a plate out on the platform in the sunlight. The eighth box had no connection to the outside, it being the 'control'.

The plates on the platform were all different in size. The smallest was 2" X 4", the next 4" X 8", the largest was about 8" X 10" and one plate was copper screen wire.

Some dirt was screened and 1/2 inch of dirt placed in each box. Oat seeds were selected, all of uniform size and planted in two rows of 5 seeds spaced in each row, the 1/2" of dirt was placed on top in the box. The same amount of water was added to each box as needed from day to day.

All of the seeds sprouted about the same time. Then we noticed that there was no chlorophyll in the 10 plants in the control box. All of the boxes connected to outside plates had plants with much chlorophyll.

We were quite surprised to note that the plants in boxes with large outside plates seemed to look as if they had been subjected to heat. Apparently the large outside plates were bringing in an excess of energy compared with the effect of the small size outside plates.

Very soon, the plants grew too tall for the small amount of 'head room' in the boxes so each box was equipped with a spacer to raise the top of each lid up about 3/4".

The boxes were placed on a shelf in the end of the basement where there was little light, with no windows at that end. Also, the shelf was kept dark by a board placed in front and another on top to exclude all light. The plants were dark all of the time except when they were examined by a flashlight.

A friend tried to duplicate the experiment, but did not follow all instructions. Their basement was only about 3 feet from the basement floor to the ground level outside.

Instead of placing the outside plates above ground 6 feet, they laid on the ground, thus they did not have the potential differences between outside collector and inside boxes and the experiment was a failure. Also, there was a window near that let much light into where the boxes were placed.

Anyone who expects to duplicate an experiment should be sure they know all the factors and that they follow the instructions exactly without any substitution or change. And as to changes, if you are trying to get a special result and are trying out several methods or ideas, one of the cardinal points to doing good work is to make just one change at a time.

Then you know just what the results are. If you make two changes and the result is a failure, you do not know but that one of the changes and the results is a failure, you do not know but that one of the changes may have been alright.

**************
Sorry the images did not copy. But evidently, using this method you can grow things in the dark without lights!

Chris

[anut]

Check out this site:

Best Plants for Container Gardening

According to this site, you should be able to plant any of the following vegetables/fruits in a container:


Apple
Cucumber
Cherry
Fig
Eggplant
Lettuce
Squash
Tomato
Spinach
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Bean
Radish
Blueberry
Potato
Turnip
Plum
Corn

I am planting vegetables inside my apartment. If my understanding is correct, the biggest problem of indoor gardening is how we can get enough UVB light, which is the only thing that consumes electricity.

[samanthajohn71]

try some modern tactics!

it is good to see that you are going for indoor vegetable gardening! but a piece of caution don't forget natural conditions and pre-requisites that outdoor garden needs! just in case! secondly gardening tool selection can be a bit messy! for instance during transition i contact several times with my local ryobi tools dealer!

[Sun Fusion]

Its a great idea to plan indoor gardening. But do remember that even though some plants grow well indoors, still they will need sunlight to stay healthy. Make sure that your plants get sunlight atleast for some time in a day

[sucahyo]

Its a great idea to plan indoor gardening. But do remember that even though some plants grow well indoors, still they will need sunlight to stay healthy. Make sure that your plants get sunlight atleast for some time in a day

There are some people that experiments with indoor that use fiber glass to transfer the sun light, but there are also people who get green plant with LED and also sun "electricity", where the sun "radiation" is transfered via copper wire and plate.

[katewil]

Everyone loves to garden because it means fewer trips to the store for fresh food. In fact, you can get a cash advance to help pay someone else to take care of anything. Your entire crop will be determined by the amount of pruning and preparing you do in the spring, so you need to make sure to begin getting prepared right now.

[Adi Nayak]

Indoor Gardening

Hi,

Cheers!! Happy to know the interest for the gardening. Even i am also into indoor gardening. I have cultivated tomatoes, some green leaves etc. Its really interesting to do the gardening. Let me introduce you to Purna organics they are addressing this important need by pioneering and promoting innovation using which you can grow your own vegetables in small spaces in your homes. These gardens can be setup in our self watering planter boxes making use of spaces of different sizes available in your balconies or terraces.

Hope this will help you out!!

Thanks & Regards
Adi Nayak