Growing indoors in the winter.

Over the years I have found our cool basement an ideal environment to grow beets, chard and lettuce. It is especially rewarding during the winter when produce prices peak. The photo shows a pot of red salad bowl lettuce that is about two weeks from harvest. It would be impossible to find this variety during the winter.

 

Nice one

I had noticed the salad shelf is a bit sparse in Tescos.

 

I am growing a romaine variety called garnet rose that has me amazed. Talk about cut and come again, and again, and again. We have been cutting this variety for weeks, and it keeps coming back!! At this rate I may never plant a seed again.

 

They are 150 watt LED grow lights with several wave lengths specific to photosynthesis.

 

I move some of them to the greenhouse in season for overcast days, which we get a lot of in the spring and fall. During the winter I refuse to heat the greenhouse and grow in the basement.

 

Another benefit of growing your own indoors is variety. Spending only a few dollars for seeds I can grow hundreds of plants. This is a pre-1700s heirloom grown by Thomas Jefferson in his garden. It is called Dutch Winter Brown. It is not likely to be found at the grocers.

 

If you have room in the house then you might find lights better in the house / somewhere warmer (an insulated box in garage will do). Reason I say that is light without warmth won't give you any growth, so extra lights in the greenhouse, if it is still cold (remember Spring of 2013 Brrrr!) won't be good use of your hard earned cash :(

Although rigging up the best Boy's Toys Lighting Rig known to man, on the dining room table and then getting expelled from the house probably isn't the best outcome either!!

Flip side - in the greenhouse you can use the lights in the evenings to extend the growing day, taking advantage of ambient light during the day.