Container Gardening

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dealrocker CA, United States Dec 23, 2009

I have never grown plants indoor but now I want to plant some over the winter. So wondering what kind of lights I need for them and which veggies are good for indoor containers?
Well, I found an average fluorescent tube light bulb at Amazon. Is it OK or do i need UV lights?

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3jsmom31 zone 6a, KY Dec 23, 2009

Mostly you can go with regular fluorescent tubes, like for kitchen, maybe called cool whites. The plant bulbs cost quite a bit more and the benefit they provide is negligible. If you are starting veggies indoors, probably make sure that the tubes are close enough to the plants, or they will begin stretching (too big of a space between leaves and weaker stems).

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trinawitch Canton,IL &Dent Coun, MO(Zone 5b) Dec 24, 2009

let's see tomatos are good, hhhhmmm still thinking

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3jsmom31 zone 6a, KY Dec 24, 2009

Peppers might work out :)

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Plants4myPots Palm Bay, FL(Zone 9b) Dec 26, 2009

Unless you've got some serious space and a whole lotta lights... the only vegetable I can think of is green onions, or an herb garden. Vegetables take up a lot of space... even if they're "miniature" varieties. I'm sure you could grow a few veggies on shelves or in nooks around the house with lights on them, but your "harvest" would be a novelty than a dent in your supermarket bill. 'Cuz it's true you can grow a head of lettuce under a light, but it will probably cost a minimum of $13 in electricity to grow it. (That's not counting the money you spend on the light fixture, planter, seeds, soil... etc.) A head of lettuce at the supermarket usually costs less than $2.

This page I found Googling has a short list of things should work inside, but the author also notes, "If you have a bright room which is more or less unused, it might make a good place to grow some of these plants. Likewise, an enclosed, sunny porch where temperatures will not dip down to freezing would be a good place to grow leaf crops and root crops as well."

http://gardengal.net/page44.html

You say you've never grown anything indoors before... I really recommend you start with a small herb garden and taking care of some regular ornamental houseplants first, before you dive headfirst into trying to grow vegetables from seeds indoors. It's how I started! Plus, there are some really lovely ornamental pepper plants available to play with over winter while you dream about planting real veggies outside in the sun later in the year...

Welcome to the Garden!

Rose

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