Indoor gardens

[elwood]

Hey everyone, I'm not sure how many people enter this section of the forums but i thought i'd post a bit here about my plans to get my indoor garden up and running.

 

So here goes...

 

I'm currently on a pretty good wicket, finished uni and all that jazz so now have a good job where i get to rent a place from my employer at a subsidized rate with a flat rate for bills ($45 per week for all excluding internet), now this is more than i would normally spend a fortnight previously so i figure why the hell shouldn't i make use of it and get a raging indoor garden on the go. Also they kicked up a shit when I pulled out some shitty looking plants to make space for veggies in the limited garden space so i figure an indoor garden lets me indulge my green thumb whilst also allowing me to pack it all up and move at any time Ie. no wasted effort on the arsehole landlords garden.

 

My plans are for a 2m X 2m X 2m mylar tent with either 4 X 400w ceramic metal halides or 3 X 600w hps on digital ballasts (see grow room section for my questions on ceramic metal halides if you know much about them), I would run an 8inch fan with large size carbon filter and , air cooled hoods and hopefully some of these new water cooled heat ex-changers (http://www.hydroinnovations.com/product-details.php?title=ICE%20BOX%20Water-Cooled%20Heat%20Exchanger&pro=10), if they live up to their claims they should allow me to avoid venting outisde (which is always a bitch in a rental) and add co2 with limited loss, i would of course need a dehumidifier too but that's no drama. So that would be the basic hardware.

 

As for the plants, I won't be growing weed anymore as i dont want to lose my job and can get it from a mate easy enough dirt cheap so theres no real point, (side note, havnt smoked for a month - major personal milestone )

I was thinking more along the lines of tomatoes, heirloom variety capsicums and peppers, small herb trays, a dwarf banana tree, maybe some cool cacti and possibly even some melons if i can keep them tame enough.

 

I plan on posting photos as i get it all up and running.

 

Before i go, i should say that this site is nearly entirely responsible for my quickly developed interest in indoor gardening, and for that I am very thankful, there are some crazy smart people on this site and I have honestly been hooked on the concept since I first found this site (sure that was because i wanted to learn to grow weed, but i ended up finding so much more!). My hope is that one day, once our energy producing capacity increases and becomes cleaner, we will be able to grow vast amounts of foods and medicines indoors or underground, saving on space that is sure to be slowly eaten up by the exploding global population, and when that happens the brainiacs who grow tonnes of weed indoors will finally be vindicated in their pursuit of the perfect indoor garden.

[Ford Fairlane]

Gday Elwood. check this vertical farm website out. This is the future of farming... http://www.verticalfarm.com/

[daemon]

I have three tomato plants and a lemon tree growing under CFL. They'll be put outside come spring.

[louise]

While there is room in the tent there are veggies inside, currently lettuce, mustard, cress, spinach.

 

Apart from tomatoes, egg plant and peppers, 6500K clf works fine... the veggies mentioned want hps for fruit set. You also need to consider how different plants achieve pollination... no insects inside to do the work. For things like tomatoes, that need something to buzz around them, an electric toothbrush works well.