I want to grow some strawberries inside my house during the winter, but I don't know much about indoor plant growing(or outdoor).
Will any kind of LED light bulb work for indoor growing? What kind of thing should I look into for an indoor green house? I don't want something really large. I just want two or three strawberry plants that can survive indoors in Vermont.
Also, will all I need is some pots for the plants to sit in and lights? And would I need a really hot light?
The closest thing I had to a project like this was 1/4th of a rotten potato that I stuck in half a coke bottle full of dirt and placed at the window last winter. He grew to be a very large mess. I named him Fred. My room mate threw him out for not paying rent. :/
Depending on the space you have available, and the amount of light you get during the winter, Window Farms can be an excellent way to grow veg and small fruit. I've heard that tomatoes and stawberries grow well in them year-round.
[img]http://homegrown.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/window-farm-iconic3.jpg[/img]
Website and general concept. You suspend 'em near your windows and set them on a nutrient enriched water drip, and whammo! Hydroponic window garden. There are guides on how to build your own, as well as plenty of other info on the subject, on the website.
I'll take a look at it, thanks!
Dat stuffs too damn expensive!
Any friendly pot growers available to share experience on lamps?
Um, what? It's plastic bottles, clay pellets, and a bit of string. You can't really get much cheaper than that.
If that stuff is too expensive you're not ready to hear what a proper lighting setup will cost.
Grow lights are not chosen by heat output but rather light color (wavelength often in the 5k range for veg) and wattage or power consumption/lumen output.
I thought about growing strawberrys a while back but I think once I looked into it I found that its far from as simple as it may seem. Are you planning on starting from seed or going to clone a developed plant?
Chances are, the police will drop by if your electricity bill is constantly that high as they could think you have a weed farm.
I meant their products were expensive. Not bottles.
I'm almost ready to begin building my green house. I've began planning out a grow box and will utilize mylar for the reflective and insulating properties that way I can grow out on my back porch when winter rolls around.
I have selected an [URL="http://www.1000bulbs.com/product/8254/FC85-S50OD.html"]85 watt E26 CFL bulb[/URL] for my project, but need help locating a socket for them.
Does anyone know where I can purchase a light socket that is rated atleast 85 watts and 120v online? My local shop has nothing except fire hazards.
Oh and what's that malleable wire mesh stuff that's flexible but won't bend over on itself without at least a little force? I want to hold up the mylar with it.
[QUOTE=Tw34k;41906992]If that stuff is too expensive you're not ready to hear what a proper lighting setup will cost.
Grow lights are not chosen by heat output but rather light color (wavelength often in the 5k range for veg) and wattage or power consumption/lumen output.
I thought about growing strawberrys a while back but I think once I looked into it I found that its far from as simple as it may seem. Are you planning on starting from seed or going to clone a developed plant?[/QUOTE]
I'm going to grow from seeds. Since I will be growing them inside I've chosen Alpine strawberries.
I am going to try and germinate 3 dozen seeds and pick the strongest 4 to continue growing. I think the hardest part will be soil pH and nitrogen levels. But Alpine strawberries are supposedly hardy little bastards so I'll see how that works.
Also, as a side project, I plan on producing my own organic compost.
Have you googled growing strawberrys from seed? Its quite the chore to get them to produce fruit apparently.
Yes I have. That's the reason I'm going with Alpines since it's really difficult to fail with them.
[QUOTE=false prophet;41948707]Yes I have. That's the reason I'm going with Alpines since it's really difficult to fail with them.[/QUOTE]
I seem to remember growing them from seed as a kid in the garden and they produced really crap tiny strawberries :(
Tiny but amazing. Main reason I want to grow about 4 plants so I can have mouthfuls of the berries heh.
So I ordered a bunch of my junk today. Got all of this order for free. Didn't pay a penny out of my pocket :)
I still need the light bulb, but I have it picked out. Unfortunately the website I want to buy it from doesn't accept paypal, so might have to do it through my bank or something. Lame-o Vermont doesn't seem to sell prepaid visa's anymore.
My box is built and my seeds have been sown.
The mylar encasing is working incredibly well. It's much warmer inside of the box than outside in my home. I also have a smaller warming mat in case I need it, but currently don't.
I've set 12 seeds in some soil, in two weeks if they haven't sprouted I'm going to do the tried n true method of sandwich baggies.
Probably no one cares about this poop, but I dug up 3 of my seeds(the rest have been lost forevers... probably see them sprout in my compost this spring, maybe) about 2 weeks ago.
Tossed the 3 I had into a sandwich baggy plus another 10 because I just don't know how well they were getting watered and I wanted to keep them moist at all times. 3498453 weeks later I finally have 1 seed sprout. I feel as if I conquered the mighty strawberry plant.
Also I got bored between waiting and got some bell peppers started because I like them and they taste good. Those damn things germinated nearly the same night I put them into my grow box.
Good luck with that!
I'm thinking in doing a indoor greenhouse in a close future, i got entertained following your topic.
Keep updating! :smile:
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