Seasonal Indoor Gardening as Part Time

These are the ones that live in an area with cold winters, too cold for their outdoor plants to survive in. By transplanting or bringing the plants indoors, they can survive the colder months and add greenery inside the home. There are part-time indoor gardeners.


Photo: IzaD™

There are some considerations and preparations that should be made before you decide to become a part-time indoor gardener. The most important point to think about before bringing a plant indoors is whether or not it will survive being an inside plant. If the plant has high or very high light requirements and your house does not get a lot of light in the winter time, it may not be a good solution.

As a back-up you can invest in an artificial light source to supplement the natural light the plant will get. How will you get the plant indoors? If the plant is already in a pot that will fit inside it is easy enough to move it indoors. But if the plant is in the ground you need to find a pot large enough to contain the root system and one that will not be too difficult to move.

Keeping in mind that when a large plant is transplanted, re-potted or put in a pot for the first time, it may go into shock. Although with careful attention, you can nurse your plant through this. Most likely you have been taking care of your plants outdoors and they do not have any pests or bugs on them. But it smart to double check. By bringing an infested plant indoors you are putting all of your other indoor plants at risk of becoming infected too.


Photo: 1withnature

Either forgo bringing the plant inside or treat the pest problem before the cold weather arrives. You may enjoy having your plant inside all winter that you decide to keep it there come springtime.

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Safety Deliberation For Indoor Gardening

It is most likely that your indoor plants will be safe from hard other than the odd garden pest. But if you have young children or pets in the home, the danger can be for them. There are many plants that are not recommended for indoors or outdoors for that matter when children or pets are present. Some plants are poisonous, even fatal if ingested. Listed below if a few of the more popular plants that aren’t safe to have around.


Photo: dinesh_valke

The seeds of Rosary Pea and Castor Bean plants are lethal. Fatalities have been reported from the ingestion of just one seed. If a young child or cat chews on one of the leaves they are sure to get sick. You can purchase necklaces that are made from the seeds of this plant.

These are not meant for children and can cause skin irritations in adults. Parts of the Oleander plant are also poisonous. It is not worth the risk to have these in the house. Even with due diligence children or pets are bound to get into a houseplant at one point or another.

It is hard to safeguard against falling leaves or other unavoidable events. The bulbs of certain flowering plants are considered poisonous too. Even if you are planning on planting the bulbs outside, be careful they are stored in a safe out of the way area that is not accessible to little heads.


Photo: shisuka25

The flower bulbs in question are from the Hyacinth, the Daffodil and the Narcissus flowers. If you own any of these plants and don’t have little animals or children running around to get into still use caution.

Be conscious of what plants in your house are potential hazards to humans. In addition, be a considerate host or hostess and put the dangerous plants in a safe way when young visitors are coming over.

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Weather and Soil Conditions

Indoor Gardening Supplies Overcome Weather and Soil Conditions
By Susan Slobac

Indoor gardening supplies make it possible to garden no matter the weather or soil in your locale!


Photo: organicgardening365.com

Whether you garden indoors professionally or as a fun hobby,indoor gardening supplies such as grow light kits with the appropriate digital ballast and LED grow lights can be used with soil based or soil-less indoor gardening systems. Gardening without using soil is a practice known as hydroponics. Because typically no soil is involved, this style of indoor gardening with a controlled growing environment can be practiced virtually anywhere--in a high-rise apartment, in the cold North where temperatures dip well below freezing, in the desert with its accompanying sweltering heat, and it even has been tested by astronauts in outer space.

There are some basic indoor gardening supplies common to every style of indoor gardening, including hydroponic systems, that you might wish to pursue. All plants need light in order to survive, so you will want to provide your indoor plants with appropriate grow lights.

What indoor gardening supplies do I need to get started?
One major component of any hydroponics gardening system is the lighting you will use. The appropriate lighting depends on several factors, including the types of plants you are growing indoors and in which stage of their life cycle the plants are.

Young seedlings require light that falls within the blue color spectrum in order to grow and reach maturity. Mature plants, such as flowers or fruiting plants like tomatoes or strawberries, need a light spectrum in the red to orange range in order to get the plants to set fruit or flower. You can find grow lights that offer specific light spectrums, so that you can provide your plants with exactly the correct light that they need to respond in the way you want.

Grow lamps are also used in conjunction with a suitable digital ballast. The ballast is the device that controls the amount of electrical current flowing to the light bulb in order to get it to not only spark, but once lit, to keep a steady light emerging from the bulb. Each ballast is specifically designed to work with its own specialized grow lamp, so it is important to know whether your grow lamp is an LED (light-emitting diode),or is one of the HID (high-intensity discharge) lamps, which can include mercury vapor, low-pressure sodium, zenon short-arc, metal halide and high-pressure sodium.

There are a wide variety of indoor gardening supplies suitable for any type of indoor gardening you practice, whether a traditional greenhouse, hydroponics, or others.

Master gardener Susan Slobac shares her experience with indoor gardening and hydroponics. Get the details on how a few basic indoor gardening supplies can overcome the poor weather or soil conditions of any area.

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Grow Lights Guide

By Susan Slobac

If you are starting out with indoor gardening, there is a lot to learn. One of the important environmental factors that you will need to provide for your plants is appropriate light. Plants need light for photosynthesis. Plants have the amazing ability to change light energy through photosynthesis into glucose and oxygen, which they need to thrive and grow. You will want to consider the grow lights you use in your indoor growing area very carefully, because it is a major aspect that will affect the success of your gardening venture. There are several new grow lights, and very popular ones include HID lights, HPS grow lights, LED grow lights, and MH grow lights. These are all hydroponic gardening grow lights, and all can be used with plants grown in soil as well.



Photo: plantlightinghydroponics.com

HID lights go by the full name of high-intensity discharge lights. MH grow lights and HPS grow lights are also high-intensity discharge lamps. HID lights produce a great deal of light that more closely resembles sunlight than the light produced by either incandescent or fluorescent light bulbs, which is better for plant growth and reproduction. The way light is produced by HID lamps is when you turn the electricity on, the current runs through a ballast, which regulates the electrical flow to the electrodes, which are inside an arc tube, along with various gases and metals. When an electrical arc is produced, the gas in the tube helps start the light bulb, and the metals, once they reach the appropriate temperature, evaporate and produce the light that you see.

HPS grow lights make excellent hydroponic lights. HPS stands for high-pressure sodium, and these are used by professional growers to produce vegetables and flowers indoors commercially. HPS lamps use mercury in the arc tube, as well as sodium, and this makes for good color rendering, or colors showing up accurately when lit by the bulb. The spectrum color that a bulb gives off is important, because plants thrive under different colors depending on their stage of maturity. If you are trying to grow lettuce, for example, you will want to use the blue light spectrum under which it thrives. If you have mature tomato plants that you want to produce fruit and flowers, then you will want to use a red/orange spectrum to induce the plant to behave appropriately.

LED grow lights are called this due to a light-emitting diode that allows the lamp to produce light. These lights are handy because they come in an array of colors used in growing plants, and they produce a lot of light that is easily focused where you need it. They have a very long life as well.

MH grow lights are metal halide lamps. The arc tubes of these compact and efficient bulbs contain argon gas, mercury and a mix of metal halides. Like other HID lights, these lights require the use of a ballast in order to function properly.

Susan Slobac works at a Hydroponics supply store and is knowledgeable about grow lights. She has been taught by industry professionals about the details of hydroponic lights and shares her insights on the many varieties of grow lights for indoor gardening.

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The Essentials of Indoor Gardening

By Jonathan Ya'akobi

Although the art of indoor gardening is not dry climate specific, the subject is particularly relevant to us arid country gardeners, as there's often greater scope for "going to town" in doors, than out. Growing plants indoors requires adopting a number of techniques which are different from those the home gardener may be used to when working in the outdoor garden, although there are things in common between the two. So here are some general points on the subject.




The principles of good design are the same whether indoors or out. Simplicity, variety, scale, balance, unity and emphasis, are issues that have to be addressed. Just as landscaping elements such as raised beds or water features are as an integral part of the outdoor garden as ornamental plants, so are the pots and containers one uses in the sitting room. Try to invest in decent looking pots and don't save money by buying plastic containers. Would you buy a plastic table for the sitting room for instance?

What are the differences then? These become apparent when one examines what plants need for healthy growth. Plants require adequate light in order to perform the most basic, energy creating function of photosynthesis. Plants that can be grown indoors are those that can tolerate low-level light intensity. There's no point trying to grow a rose bush in your living room! Therefore, the placing of your plants is crucial. Remember that the light levels drop exponentially the further the plant is from the window. In places without natural light, it's necessary to provide at the very least, the light of two 150 Watt bulbs.

All plants require water of course. Less obvious but no less crucial is the fact that the roots also require adequate oxygen for respiration. There are two main factors which determine whether the plant has access to the right balance between the two: One is the potting soil in which the plant grows and the other is the way the plants are watered. Never use ordinary soil in a pot. Always use an artificial potting medium. They are readily available at plant nurseries. Secondly, irrigate till excess water flows out of the drainage hole and then wait until the top 2 cm or so of "soil" have dried out before the next watering. The term "over watering" does not refer to excess water draining away, rather to a state whereby the potting mixture is perpetually saturated because of over frequent irrigating. Furthermore, watering to excess prevents an unhealthy salt build up in the soil, by the periodic leaching of the salts. This rule of thumb method holds good for most plants.

Plants grown in pots are absolutely dependent on fertilizer as a source of the mineral nutrient essential for their development. Excluding flowering plants perhaps, (which are not easy to grow indoors anyway) an annual feed with a 12 month slow release fertilizer is often enough.

So what plants are worth buying? The range of flowering plants is very restricted. African Violets are difficult to maintain beyond a year or two. Poinsettas are reasonably easy to grow. In my opinion, its better to create form and color interest by use of foliage plants such as Epiremnum Shefflera, Dracaena, Spathipyllum (also provides white flowers) and Aglaonema. For vertical emphasis one can try Ficus benjamina,(never to be planted out doors because of its aggressive roots) and palms such as Chamaedorea. Ferns, such as the mainstay Nephrolepis are effective when massed. They are particularly sensitive to the lack of humidity caused by heaters and air conditioners, so remember to spray them with water regularly.

An alternative method to ordinary containers (i.e. containers which allow water to drain out) is the hydroponic method, where the plants are grown in a sealed container. A specific water level is maintained in order to create the necessary balance between air and water. The primary drawback of hydroponics is the initial expense involved. However the ease of maintenance, especially regarding watering and feeding is such, that growing indoor plants hydroponically is well worth considering.

About the author - Jonathan Ya'akobi.

I've been gardening in a professional capacity since 1984. I am the former head gardener of the Jerusalem Botanical Garden, but now concentrate on building gardens for private home owners. I also teach horticulture to students on training courses. I'd love to share my knowledge and experience with you.

So you're welcome to visit me on http://www.dryclimategardening.com/

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The Use Of Indoor Gardening Sets To Get Started

By AnnMarier M

Gardening has been a passion with mankind for many reasons such as, growing vegetables and herbs for a healthy life, growing flowers and plants for a better environment and also engaging in a relaxing and rewarding practice that everyone will benefit in the end, you, your family and the world. Indoor gardening is a great concept because it brings a little peace of heaven in your house even in the cold months of winter when you cannot enjoy outdoor gardening anymore. Here is how you can get started and have a garden in matter of minutes with al inclusive indoor gardening sets.




The Different Types Of Indoor Gardening Sets
Indoor gardening sets are made for beginners and professionals and they usually contain of everything you will require to get started right away without the plants, herbs or flowers, which you will require to pick according to your own desire. There are a few types of indoor gardening sets and they are: organic, hydroponics, aeroponics and typical indoor gardening sets. Deciding on which type of indoor gardening sets should be easy if you consider what are you going to grow in your garden and how large you want it to be; organic indoor gardening sets are usually the most popular because it provides chemical free products and still provides you with the pleasure of gardening. Hydroponics and aeroponics indoor gardening sets are fully automated and will grow great quality plants, veggies or herbs but will require a bigger investment.
To shop for indoor gardening sets try local home improvement and gardening stores where professionals will be able to guide you to the type you require and get you started in the minimum amount of time.

Maintaining An Indoor Garden
People enjoy indoor gardens for many reasons but end up killing them because they treat it as outdoors gardens and that is a big mistake. Indoor gardens require humidity to live especially in winter when we have the heat turned up and the air in the house gets dry in the process; a humidifier will do the trick but remember to also keep an eye open not to create mold in your

house in the process.
Watering an indoor garden must be done moderately and only as per the requirements of the plants not forgetting however that their space is limited and drainage is not as good as outdoors soil; many people over water their plants causing them to die, try and feel the soil first by touching it before you water your indoor garden.

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