Indoor Garden Newbie

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SamMerlotte Barrie, Canada Jul 25, 2011

So my girlfriend and I started a small garden inside our apartment. Were a ground floor level and due to the neighbouring building we get very little direct sun light, almost none. Im using a common 4ft shop light ballast with T12 "Phillips Plant/Aquarium" bulbs which hangs about 6 inches above the plants. Our seedlings of tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, and herbs all started off well developing into juvenile plants. However they all seemed to plateau and have not grown much in the past month or so. I water the plants with water from my aquarium so im sure enough organics are feeding the plants. All our plants flowers will die, which leads me to believe my bulbs are not sufficient. I have searched google but have not found information on an inexpensive lighting system or bulbs i should use.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. - I noticed a few days back our strawberry plants have tiny tiny white bugs on them that make webbing around the leaves. Any tips on getting rid of these pets without harming the plant?

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1lisac Liberty Hill, TX(Zone 8a) Jul 25, 2011

It sounds like you have a pollination problem and a spider mite problem both are very common on indoor plants. I don't know much about veggie gardening indoors but I'll tell you what I know.

The lights need to be broad spectrum lights meaning cool and warm wave lengths.

There is no insect or wind to pollinate your blooms so you need to shake the tomato and pepper plants. The others need to be hand pollinated.

Spray the Strawberry plants with Neem oil to get rid of the spider mites. You can get this at any gardening store or large grocery store. You may want to spray all the plants just to be on the safe side.

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SamMerlotte Barrie, Canada Jul 29, 2011

Thank you very much for your response, i didnt know about the pollination problem, i guess a fan could work as well?

I will try to find this oil and give it a spray, as well as get new bulbs as well. how shall i hand pollinate?

This message was edited Jul 29, 2011 12:55 PM

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1lisac Liberty Hill, TX(Zone 8a) Jul 30, 2011

First of all most of us agree you dont need "Grow Lights" good old broad spectrum "shop" lights should work.

Since I dont know what's avaliable in your area. I would go to a nursery and tell them you need a mite spray for your indoor plants. Make sure you tell them its for edibles.

A fan would be a great idea. If it doesnt give enough circulation you can shake the plants or take a make up brush and brush all the blossoms with the pollen from the last bloom.

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