Need guidance for starting a basement garden (long)

Hi all,

This is my first post here, but I've been busy reading through the various forums here and soaking up information the past few days. There seem to be a couple of relevant forums where this post could be placed, so please excuse me if I've picked the wrong one.

Anyway, I've gotten the idea into my head that I should start a vegetable garden in my basement this winter. I have a basic idea of the table I'd like to build for this, but have some questions which I haven't seen answered elsewhere. (it seems that most guides talk about the very basics of lighting and fail to cover anything else)

My questions are as follow:
Compatible Crops and Yield Rate
* From my research, it looks like most non-flowering plants will work for this. Is this correct? I would like to grow basil and lettuce at a minimum. Tomatoes would be a nice third crop, but I would likely wait until I'm successful with the first two before trying the third.

* Strawberries would be a fun forth, but these could not be started from seeds, correct?

* If I consume 1-2 heads of lettuce each week, approximately how many should I have going at once in order to sate my need?

* Can lettuce and basil be grown together in a shared pot with a single light source? Or do they have significant and incompatible lighting requirements? What about water needs?


Soil
* How deep does the soil need to be for basil, lettuce, and tomato?

* Can I simply fill my containers with potting soil from a bag and go from there? Or should I use a mixture of potting soil and [your suggestion here]?


Temperature
* The basement has heat available, but I don't typically use it. During the coldest winter months, the temperature down there is around 55. During the rest of the year, it is closer to the low 60s. I'm guessing these temps are too low for what I wish to grow. How warm will I need to keep the basement during "lit" hours, and how warm during dark hours?


Watering
* Do I need to investigate a watering system, or will watering by hand with a watering can be sufficient - at least as a start?
* Do I need to provide a way to drain water from the base of the containers?


Table Considerations
Are there any special considerations I should be aware of while I plan the table? So far, I am planning on the following:
* Space for 3 individual 3x2' containers
* Soil surface around kitchen-counter height
* Basic frame above the soil surface for hanging lights and wrapping with a light hood
* Lockable casters so I can bring this outside during warmer months, and also for easy cleaning with a hose

Am I missing anything?


Sorry for the monster first-post. Thanks in advance for any guidance you can provide!

--Jeff

Hi Jeff

Just saw your post. I can offer some of my eperiences but not right now. Got to go to bed. Up @ 3.00am for work. I'll post tomorrow. The pic is my romaine lettuce I grow and harvest indoors under a plain old shop light.

I'd be interested in hearing about this too as I intend setting up a grow unit for lettuce & spinach at least - need those greens to get me through an Ontario winter!! I do have a grow light stand - with 2 sets of lights. I do have my office downstairs as well, and work there daily, so at night it might drop to 16º or 17ºC but from 6.00am to 10.00pm or so, its around 20º or 22ºC.

m

Basil and Lettuce should be easy. Strawberries might not have a good flavor. And tomatoes sound optimistic to me except compact determinates.

Hi, here's my indoor garden story: I start my own romaine and bibb lettuce seeds in Parks Bio Dome Seed Starters. After using up the sponges that came with it, I stuff the holes with coco coir and start the seeds in that. They sprout in 2 to 3 days. Once sprouted I leave the seedlings 2 inches from the light source at all times 16 hours a day light on. When they start crowding each other, I transplant them into larger containers, and let them grow until harvest size. I feed them every 3 days with a water soluble fertilizer.We keep our house at 74 Degrees. The lettuce seems to like that temp. I feed them enough so some drains out the bottom. Of course you need some sort of catch. Very simple and fresh lettuce all year round.

BocaBob

When I grew lettuce indoors, I just took one of those 4' x 8" x 6" planter boxes, filled with 40% potting mix, 40% compost, and 20% shredded pine bark, scattered some potting mix on top, moistened it, scattered lettuce seeds, and then misted the top with a spray bottle.

The seeds came right up. No transplanting necessary. I got to harvest about 15 servings of lettuce before the plants got too "leggy".

This message was edited Dec 8, 2008 9:17 PM