Growing In Small Spaces-1

If you want to expand, or start to grow indoors but think you don’t have the space this may just be the post for you

Indoor growers have lots of advantages; first, they can grow any plant in any season. They can acquire intimate knowledge about their plants with the up close and personal attention of watering and adjusting the light. The plants are able to get all the needed nutrients and water in the optimal amounts. And if you have a quality light from HTGSupply.com your plants can grow at their best rate. Furthermore, plants grown indoors don’t need to compete with weeds and if you are careful your plants won’t be attacked and eaten by predatory insects like spider mites, white flies, root aphids, or others.

Growing indoors does have a few limitations; there is the cost of running the light, carbon filter, CO2 generator etc. Heat build up can be another problem. Heat can be over come by using LED or Fluorescents. Space is sometimes the most limiting factor for some people to grow indoors. In the past I suggested building a grow shelf as a way to increase your growing capabilities. While I recommended this for seedlings and cultivating cuttings you can have fruit/flowers in small spaces too.

I have lived in a few different homes and I can tell you every time I looked for a new place to live I always evaluated my choice on whether there was a good place to grow plants. I have been real lucky and I doubt many readers can buy a new home just for a nice place to grow plants. The good news is no matter where you live, if you have a closet, crawlspace or room for a shelf you can grow indoors! The smallest space should be about two feet high unless you are growing African violets, strawberries or other small plants. Fluorescents are the best for small gardens. You should have about 20 watts per square foot minimum. A T5-HO is the best but you can use any fluorescent bulb. If you do use a ‘low output’ bulb from a hardware store you need at least two four foot bulbs per foot of width minimum. The containers you use are also important. With a smaller space you will want to use a smaller container. This will limit the plants size, to the space you have.

A trick to get flowers in a small space is that if your plants get taller than the space you have, you place them horizontally, parallel to the lights. The new growth will grow up to the light and against gravity. If you are going to grow plants on their side, you may want to use plastic bags or other containers that you canput a hole in the side so  that water can drain down through the soil. I did not do this and had to take the plant out from under the light, water it, wait for the water to drain through the pot, and then put it back under the light. If you don’thave a hole on the side and don't take the pot out and saturate it you will get dry spots on the side away from the bottom which will limit plant growth.




Good Growing,
DR. E.R. Myers

There is more on growing in small spaces on the next post