Can U grow vegetables indoors under lights in the winter? If so, what kinds of vegetable are good for growing indoors, and do you know of any good books on the subject?? I need step by step instructions. :) Thx!!
Can U grow vegetables indoors under lights in the winter?
Hi Glenda, I am not sure since I have never done it but you might be able to grow some winter veggies such as lettuces and also some hebs such as parsley, I don't see why they would not do well. I have also seen people growing determinate tomatoes inside for the winter time frame, as long as they get light they will probably thrive.
As far as books try the 4 season harvest, I do not own it but have heard great reviews from it.
Also if you have enough space to have a couple of raise beds in your backyard this will help you a lot, you can build a cold frame and cover all your veggies and you can grow veggies that can take a little colder weather under the plastic, I have seen people do that.
Check Garden Girl on youtube she lives in Boston and she uses this method of gardening in the cold winter months.
I grow lettuce indoors under the new T5 florescent lighting system
Ditto..BocaBob...for me. Only tried lettuce & It worked!
I only start veggies and annuals indoors.. I'd imagine you could but would need fairly large pots and lighing system.. if they can do cannabis in attics you can surely get tomatoes in your living room.. wouldn't the resources for anything other (hardier) than lettuce, herbs and maybe dwarf cabbage in a window .... far outweigh the benefits...
I have a book called hoophouse gardening.. we have cold winters too cold for much from oct - may but manage to have something to harvest almost all year under an inexpensive and home made hoophouse we put up at first frost and pull down by memorial day... or perhaps a cold frame...
if you have the space you may be better serves with some pvc - plastic and a small heater...
what would you like to grow?
Bocabob that really looks like great lettuce! But I am confused, with your great weather why in the world would you want to grow lettuce under grow lights, don't you have a 4 season harvest in your area?
This message was edited Oct 13, 2009 9:25 AM
I agree with jjconcepts, if I was in your situation I would probably try to grow under hophouses, i think it might be cheaper than running a grow light system. I do however use my grow lights to start seddlings they seem to be much happier when I start them this way.
I suspect BocaBob grew lettuce indoors during the summer - too hot for lettuce outdoors that time of the year.
Oh I see, O.K now I understand. What about all the heat resintant lettuces can these grow in the summer heat?
our summers are not as hot, but I used to grow a greenhouse lettuce mix under the cucumbers and butternut squash during the summer with decent results.. just never really used it. I expect growing it down there isn't so much the problem, but will you get much off it before it bolts?
Ok, well, a funny thing happened to my container pots! I grew peppers outdoors this summer in containers...they are the sweet green bells. About a week ago we got a nasty frost. It was more like ice. Fortuneately for us, we were up before the sun and was able to hose them off and save them...now they are in the house in my laundry room, where else, under lights....I dont know how long they are gonna live, but a gal from waaay down south said she winters her peppers in the ground and they come back the following year.
Well I had never heard of wintering peppers in the ground, but of course I am from mid states zone 5 so we get nasty winters here and peppers are known more for being an annual and do not survive. But anyway her and I figured if she could winter them in the gorund, I can winter them under lights in the house in a pot...after all, they grow those ornamental peppers for house plants so now, why not the bells?
So, we are gonna see how long my sweet bells are gonna ring indoors and under lights!
These plants wer started in a greenhouse. I figure they are about 10 months or so old. They are now 2-3 feet tall from the base of the pot to the top of the plant. Ihad tostake them they were getting heavy with peppers and are still loaded.
Here they are!
Oh and BTW, I have blooming annuals in the house now too....begonias,baby sun roses, some herbs, coleus, marigolds, dianthus, snapdragons, allysum and a few others! Tomorrow I am cutting the coleus.. they are too big now and need a trim.. anyone interested in the cuttings can d-mail me! There are some begonia cuts and baby sunroses too.
Um, never mind the boa in the peppers, hes a vegitarian...! LOL!
This message was edited Oct 20, 2009 7:40 PM
peppers seem to respond to heat more than light.. i don't recall the temp. but I do know too much sun can scald the pepper. if you han get them into the 80-90 dedreee range and perhaps between, if not inder other plants ( in the garden, I grow peppers under eggplant and raspberries)... to not have pepers by now is foraign to me... but is is a strange year.
i expect you will get an accruate response shortly. try it, let us know. as I often say, I didn't know we could not get sweet potatoes in Ct. weather and clay soil until I grew them and gave some to some fellow gardeners that filled me in....that was several seasons of sweet posatoes ago...
i am interestes in your results
-joe-
yeah, in the hot heat, the peppers suffered. These seem to like a cooler temp and so far the lights are ok, regret they are too tall to get all the way uinder them, but there is another light above that fixture. They have new growth and have been in the laundryroom for almost a month now!
And yes, mine have peppers!
And yeah, temperature is relative as is humidity and light.
My house right now is cool. I am not running any heat... yet....things may change drastically when I go to fire up the furnace.
Sounds like you are doing a great job.. Every now and then I think of throwing some grow lights in the laundry room ballasts and throwing in a few sweet potato and bean pots.. just can't think of what to do with the laundry.
COMPOST IT! LOL! HOUSE WERK SUCKS! LOL!
Hmm I have not tried beans in a pot. Gonna have to investigate that. Although the smell of a bean plant really has me staved off of that idea, but summer grown containers....now thats an idea!
Here are what my peppers looked like when I bought them.. (Yeah, I cheated... but it was a deal Icould not resist!) so ok, we can start them under lights too. How big you wanna go is I guess up to your space. I just brought mine in on a fluke becasue I had potted them for the summer.
I left the cell paks in my GPS until they were good and root bound then I bumped them up to these huge pots and thats where they sat all summer until I had to put the maters in! Then the big pots got moved!
Mid summer....July 17th!
