As the days draw longer and the temperature gets hotter, all of the growing equipment for winter and spring plants gets put away, while the summer growers get ready to plant and harvest. But have you ever wondered why one would take the time and money to grow indoors when one can virtually grow for free outside? To answer this, we have to go back to the good old days of elementary school for some basic biology.
How do plants grow?
As you know, plants need light for energy. Indoor
grow light kits and systems do their best to mimic the sun’s light, which provides a full spectrum of color through the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) necessary to be absorbed by the plant to grow. The color you see coming from the plant (like yellow from daisies, or red from roses) is a reflection of the wavelengths the plant is not using from the sun.
Sometimes, however, the sun doesn’t want to stay out as long as you need, nor will it be the intensity the plants will need all the time. With indoor growing, you have the power to control how much light you need to give your plants, its intensity, and the time your plants are exposed to it. That is why you need to be specific with your timing, how much CO2 is in your grow, the pH levels of your grow, and so on… Because you’re giving your plant exactly what it needs regularly you’ll be able to harness the growing power of your plants to give a consistent yield when perfected.
Grow Lights
There are various
grow light kits out on the market to suit different growing needs. If you are growing smaller plants like herbs and chili’s you can use low powered LED’s to cover them. Say you’re growing your flowers or vegetables, you’ll want to use a 400w or 600w HID system for that. Now if you’re a commercial grower, you’re going to want to use 600w or higher LED or HID grow lights. Choosing the correct lighting system depends on your needs and what your plants respond to best.
Grow Medium
For every type of gardener, there is a growing medium. Some gardeners use soil to grow their plants, just like in nature. Beginning growers and professionals alike use soil because there soil is fairly simple: measure nutrients to your water, water when your plants need it, and flush when you’re ready to harvest. There are gardens, though, more venturous and use a hydroponic and aeroponic system. Hydroponics allows for the roots of your plants to sit in nutrient-rich water instead of growing underneath the earth (or soil). Aeroponics allows the roots to free-hang in a chamber fogged with vaporized nutrients that are absorbed by the roots. No matter what style of growing you prefer, a great grow light kit and a sufficient growing system will guarantee you bigger yields from now on!
Environment Control
To fully harness nature’s effects on plants, temperature and timing systems should be used. Fans allow for air to move throughout your garden to cool the environment and keep from overheating. Heaters should be used in the winter months to keep your plants from freezing. Often, gardeners will also use ducting from fans to a filter that will eliminate odor and filter any dust and stale air out of your garden. You’ll also want to set your grow light kits to run and turn off at intervals beneficial to your plants with a timer. Remember: the sun doesn’t shine all day and the temperature doesn’t stay at one set temperature in nature, so you’ll want to control your garden’s temperature and its access to light fully.
Outdoor growing is fun and fairly low in cost. However, you cannot predict every aspect of a plant’s life outdoors: you might schedule your feeding with the weatherman, but you cannot control your neighbor’s dog digging in your garden. Moreover, most crops are only available during certain parts of the year, like apples during the summer or holly during the winter. With grow light kits, a proper growing medium, temperature control, and timing, you can grow whatever you want whenever you want. Any plant you need when you need it- why wouldn’t you grow indoors?
