Location

Location is the first, and often most important consideration in building your hydroponic greenhouse. The location must have frequent access to natural light, which can be greatly impacted by a city’s lattitude, which brings a different average number of days of sunshine. You’ll need to also do your homework on your potential region’s zoning laws, as these vary from city to city and may enforce certain bureaucratic requirements or outright ban greenhouses on your particular property.

Given the geographic location is suitable, you’ll next want to find a location that will not be affected by nearby tall buildings, trees, or hills that could obstruct the light during different times of the day. Also remember your Greenhouse will need electrical power for pumps, controls and lighting, perhaps a gas supply for heating and a water supply. No greenhouse should be situated very far from a hookup to these essential utilities.

Space

You’ll now need to carefully consider your floor space for the growing area which will be dependent on personal methodology and the crops that are to be grown. Make sure there is enough room to install the equipment so that plant spacing does not fall below the recommended minimum, and that you will have enough space to access / harvest the crops and easily maintain the hydroponic growing systems. The ceiling height of a greenhouse may be important if you are planning on growing tall plants suspended from above. Additional auxiliary space may be desirable to store equipment or create an office space. Remember, that as costly as these additions might be, it will typically be much less expensive to construct a greenhouse with the required auxiliary space than it is to add space after the fact.

Construction Methods and Materials

To be continued in a later post.

Even with all of the advantages of T5 fluorescents, HID lights aren’t without their own advantages. They are able to cover a much larger area than a t5 light while still producing a very high lumen output. Even still, the T5s are usually your more more economic solution and do not take up nearly as much space. Because of this most growers have slowly been switching over to them in the last few years.

At Garden Indoors we stock the latest supply of both HID and T5 Grow Lights, please browse our selection and feel free to call or email us with any questions!

When light shines on a garden, the leaves near the top of the plants get more intense light than the leaves at the bottom. The top leaves shade the bottom leaves and absorb energy, making less light available to lower leaves. If the lower leaves do not receive enough light, they will yellow and die. Tall six-foot plants take longer to grow and have higher overall yields than shorter four-foot plants, but the yield will be about the same.

Atleast 99 two-week-old seedlings or cuttings can be huddled directly under a singele 400-watt HID. The young plants will need more space as they grow. If packed too closely together, plants sense the shortage of space and do not grow to their maximum potential. Leaves from one plant shade another plant’s foliage and slow overall plant growth. it is very important to space young plants just far enough apart so their leaves do not touch or touch very litlle. This will keep the shading to a minimum and growth to a maximum. Check and alter the spacing every few days. Eight to sixteen mature tomato plants three to four months old will completely fill the space under one 1000-watt HID. Plants can absorb light only if it falls on their leaves. Plants must be spaced so their leaves do not overlap too much. Yield increases very little when plants are crowded. Plants also stretch for light which makes less efficient use of intense light.

Best number of plants per square foot is often a matter of experimenting to find the magic number for your garden. In general each 40-inch square of space will hold from 16 to 32 plants.

Generally speaking, healthy, well maintained plants are going to produce plentiful harvests, but there are plenty of additional things you can do to get the most out of your plants.

Pre-Harvest Tips:

1. To avoid the taste of organic or chemical fertilizers, you should flush the garden with plain water 10 to 14 days before harvesting. Some gardeners will use fertilizers up to 3 or 4 days before harvesting and use clearing solutions to remove the fertilizer residue.
2. If you are growing herbs that will be dried, do not water them for 1 or 2 days before harvesting them. The soil should be mostly dry, but not too dry to where the plants begin to wilt. Done correctly, this will reduce your drying time by about a day and will not in any way effect the end product.

Harvest Tips:

1. Harvest timing is critical, as plants and fruits need to be harvested at the moment of peak ripeness. This window is very small, usually between 5 to 7 days.
2. Growth of the plant or fruit will stop at harvest. Make sure to keep plants from prolonged exposure to the light, temperatures above 80°F, excessive friction, or damp/humid conditions.

Outdoor crops have a supply of air packed with CO2 that is constantly being refreshed by the wind. They also have rain to wash away accumulated dust and pollutants. Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen are both necessary to a plant’s growth: Carbon Dioxide combines with light energy and water to form sugars that are metabolized by the plant, while oxygen is used for respiration, burning of carbohydrates, and nutrient absorption in the roots.

An Indoor Garden must be specifically calibrated to replicate the outdoor atmosphere, and most Gardeners must take the time to set up an adequate ventilation system. Three factors effect air circulation, stomata, ventilation, and circulation.

Stomata are essentially a plant’s nostrils, they are used to inhale CO2 and release oxygen. Stomata can be clogged easily by dirt or other pollutants in the air, and pesticide sprays. To avoid clogging stomata, spray foliage with tepid water a day or two after spraying with pesticides, fungicides, or nutrient solution.

Air circulation is important because when air stands still plants can use up all of the CO2 rich air surrounding leafs in minutes, creating dead air zones. This can also lead to an easier infiltration by fungus and insects. To avoid this, you may want to keep a door or window open and/or install an oscillating circulation fan to keep up a constant circulation of air currents.

Ventilation is important to consider as well to get rid of exhaust air and bring in a supply of fresh air. An open window and a fan may be adequate in bringing in fresh air, but if no vent opening is available one must be created. Ventilation ducts and fans can be used to push or pull air into a room, and roof vents are a practical and discreet option as well.

To purchase hydroponic resources and equipment, please visit http://www.gardenindoorsllc.com.

Drip systems offer several advantages, primarily that it allows gardeners to spend less time watering and maintaining their plants.  This is especially true for drip systems that also incorporate fertilizer injections, which allows you to provide your plants with nutrients as well as water.

Drip  irrigation kits are available at garden stores and building centers, and available online at gardenindoorsllc.com.

Click Here to learn more about Garden Indoors’ Hydroponic Drip Systems.

1. Lack of Ventilation: Leaves cannot function correctly without a steady supply of fresh air; Poor ventilation causes slow growth and poor absorption of water and nutrients.
2. Inadequate Lighting: This can slow down photosynthesis which leads to poor use of nutrients, and give the plants a scrawny appearance.
3. Too High / Too Low Humidity: Either one of these conditions will cause  stress to the plants from over-consumption or under-consumption of water.
4. Temparature: A low or high temperature can slow a plant’s growth, and wide temperature fluctuations of more than 15 to 20 degrees can retard growth altogether.
5. Overwaterting / Underwatering: Overwatering prevents the roots from taking in air, severely limiting nutrient intake and possibly causing them to rot. Underwatering slows the transport of nutrients, ultimately leading to sickly / dying roots.
6. Light Burns: Foliage burned by HID Lamps is at an increased risk of attack from pests and disease.
7. Indoor Air Pollution: This can slow plant growth to a crawl. Make an effort to check for vaporization from building materials and other chemical air leaks.
8. Hot Soil: Soil over 90 degrees can cause harm to a plant’s roots.
9. Roots Receving Direct Light: Roots require a dark environment; Light shining through to them can turn them green and their function will slow significantly.

1. Step 1: Location - The best locations for your indoor garden will be areas that are out-of-the-way, and see little to no traffic on a day to day basis. The  corner of the basement, or spare bedroom are both ideal. Ceilings lower than 5 feet should be avoided if possible, as sufficient space for plants to grow may not exist. However, routine pruning and/or using smaller wattage lamps can compensate for this is there is no other alternative
2. Step 2: Enclose the Room & Paint it White - If the room is not already enclosed, make it so. Furniture, drapery or anything that does not pertain to the garden should be removed, as they may harbor plant-killing fungi. Erecting makeshift walls out of plywood or plastic is also an option. After this is accomplished, every reflective surface should be painted white to maximize the light energy reflected in the room. When done correctly, HID lamp effectiveness can increase by as much as 20%.
3. Step 3: Air Ventilation and Water Supply - A constant supply of fresh air from the outdoors is essential; This can be accomplished by ducting in air from the outside through a door or window. A Garden also will also require a large supply of water, so running a water hose to the indoor garden is usually much more efficient than carrying it in manually.
4. Installing HID Lamps - Hooks must be mounted on the walls / ceilings for each HID Lamp fixture that will be used. Each of these hooks must be able to support at least 30 lbs. It also is a good idea to hook up an adjustable chain or pulley to the system to allow for easy adjustments to the light fixtures.

And that’s it, Your Garden is now ready to house your seedlings and plants!

HID Lamps create light by passing electricity through a mixture of chemical gasses that determine its color.

HID Lamps can be broken down into a few different varieties

• Mercury Vapor
• Metal Halide
• High Pressure Sodium
• Conversion Bulbs

Popular wattages for HID Bulbs include:

• 150
• 175
• 250
• 400
• 430
• 600
• 1000
• 1100

In order to regulate the voltage of an HID Lamp, you need an HID Ballast, which acts a transformer for specific voltages.

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Click here to Buy HID Ballasts from Garden Indoors