indoor lighting for vegetables

[Ted Calver]

You might also consider growing microgreens. They can be successfully grown on a simple set up using wire shelves, LED grow light, and some inexpensive trays. Ready to eat in less than a couple of weeks and contain more nutritional value than fully developed plants. I grow micro radish, pea, sunflower, kale, arugula and broccoli greens to jazz up our winter salads.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

You might also consider growing microgreens. They can be successfully grown on a set up using a simple wire shelf, LED grow light, and some inexpensive trays. Ready to eat in less than a couple of weeks and contain more nutritional value than fully developed plants. I grow micro radish, pea, sunflower, kale, arugula and broccoli greens to jazz up our winter salads.

Sprouts are fun, tasty and healthy too. I spent a bit of time helping build, set up, and maintain a commercial sprout farm. This too was a big endeavor. It can be done (with care) on a small scale at home with items present most kitchens.

[Dave Zellers]

Silly question, likely, but aren't there LED grow lights that cost far less to run but have the right wavelengths of light?

Not silly. The pink lights his friend gave him are LED although older technology. Two years ago I switched from fluorescent to LED. They are full spectrum and almost white with just a very tiny pink cast.

They work very well but need more distance than fluorescent which can be as close as 4". Link:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082ZKJZP1/

[Warren Lake]

thanks Dave was hoping some people might be doing it and share what lighting brands. The fact that you said his lighting is older is good. I want the latest thing LED so not running fans like in his stuff better, some heat from it better as well.

I will have to ask him why he runs those old style lights that the growers used to use, my under standing was cost is huge. My mechanic gave me two of them.

The positive is this is working well on the old lights running at likely one quarter of what they can do since only one is running and on veg. I know there will be the usual you tubes the top five LED grow lights type of things there always are for most things. Just wondered if anyone was growing food inside. Found fewer you tubes on that and mostly the focus was on getting seedlings going and havent had time to look for more im sure there will be more when i search it again.

[Dave Zellers]

Just wondered if anyone was growing food inside.

That's my goal this winter. Arugula and lettuce just sprouted but the goal is to grow potatoes in those deep sacks. I believe it will be successful but not cost effective given the price of electricity these days.

Besides greens for salads I also have parsley, cilantro and basil under lights now. Need to dig up some chives and get them going inside too. I might try a pepper plant or two but it might be too chilly in the basement for that.

I've been raising most of my seedlings for spring planting for 40 years but this will be my first attempt at raising food in the basement during winter.

[Ted Calver]

My microgreen set up uses 3 @ 4' Sunblaster LED strip lights per shelf. During the winter, I also grow lettuce with a four bulb daylight T-5 luminaire set up on a bench in the garage using the Kratky method in a concrete mixing tub and net pots. The lights and net pots came from my local hydroponic supply shop. You can grow indoors.

Kratky Lettuce:
IMG_4509.jpg, IMG_4510.jpg, IMG_4511.jpg, IMG_4534.jpg

Microgreens:
IMG_4466.jpg, IMG_4482.jpg

[Brian Elfert]

I think you'd have to do a cost/benefit analysis to see if cost of setup versus quantity of vegetables, is worth it. Unless it's a matter of principle. I have a grow light in my basement because Im trying to see if I can get a pineapple to grow (it takes two years). It's whatever grow bulb I could find at the hardware store. Yeah it's going legal in our state so there are stores popping up with growing supplies.

My parents grow their own vegetables in part because they are organic and in part because they are fresh. My mother also enjoys working in the garden. My father jokingly calls it the most expensive organic produce there is. They are not fanatics about eating organic food. They buy regular non-organic produce to supplement the garden produce when they run out of garden produce. A few things my mother gave up on growing as it is so much work.

[Warren Lake]

thanks more info there, I did pull seeds from aruglula and other stuff as well so when more time can ad growing from seed in. So far its stuff dug up when it got cold. It goes through a shock in loosing roots and think i have to learn to trim stuff back more in the change.

Kale outside that got hit with snow is still bouncing back and looking stronger. Soon ill hook up the second light and try them each still on veg only then ad in the bloom later. m not sure what these lights are but will look them up, logic says the latest LED stuff will be cheaper to run with no fans and have the white light with all the right spectrums not seperate bloom and veg.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I added a 3 foot twin tube LED to my window garden and the result is excellent!
Ted Calver's produce looks so good I am eager to up my game!

IMG_1277.jpg

[Ted Calver]

Careful, Maurice. You'll get hooked on another hobby

[Maurice Mcmurry]

A hobby we can eat! I know basil is one of the easy things to grow. We have tried a plant in the house many times. The LED light produces better results than ever before.

Photo on 2-27-23 at 7.14 PM.jpg

[Lee Schierer]

Be aware that the Gro-light tubes only last a couple of years for plant growing. After that they are just pink lights. You also need the tubes an inch or less above the plants or the plants get spindly.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Be aware that the Gro-light tubes only last a couple of years for plant growing. After that they are just pink lights. You also need the tubes an inch or less above the plants or the plants get spindly.

Thanks Lee. That may be the reason for previous bad results. I still have a few fluorescents that need to be phased out.
I missed the Valentines day broccoli planting. Today is Pea planting day. I better get outside.

Broccoli: 14 days late, Check
Peas: on Pea day, Check
St. Potato's Day: coming soon

[Lee Schierer]

Thanks Lee. That may be the reason for previous bad results. I still have a few fluorescents that need to be phased out.
I missed the Valentines day broccoli planting. Today is Pea planting day. I better get outside.

Broccoli: 14 days late, Check
Peas: on Pea day, Check
St. Potato's Day: coming soon

One thing I forgot. You have to run the lights 14-16 hours per day.

We've never planted peas indoors. They get put straight into the ground as soon as you can work the soil in the spring which would be at least another mouth here in NW PA. Although this year might be different since the maple trees started running sap in mid January.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Daylight hours certainly do need to be considered. The basil has had 24/7 LED light since I first started to derail this thread. It is going to seed in February.