apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I can see the efficency in it, but it completely negates the beauty of nature. If this was inside someone's home I know I would let them know it looks like they are trying to open their own gardening store. EW

Yeah, these are pretty bad. Surely you have ONE window sill which could house a few cuties. Hanging plants are great as well. The units above are too ugly. Maybe, just maybe you could get away with standing one up in your window itself but I doubt it.

Maybe if I had a greenhouse - but there's no way I'm putting something like that in my living room.

I'll stick to the local Farmer's Markets - Thanks.

I'd choose #2 or #5. depending on the area I wanted to put the plants. I think it would be very wonderful to have fresh growing herbs and salad things all winter, when the farmers markets have no local veggies, and could be integrated into a living space, with imagination and care.

If you have a timer you can even grow cherry tomatoes, my science teacher did this in High School in the back of the classroom. I've thought about doing something like this somewhere in my home; I have no windows that get enough sunlight for plants to be happy, even in the summer.

Fresh herbs like full sun and lots of cool fresh air. It's like memory for the computer, you always want more light.

I am quite happy with my four-light T-5 fluorescent fixture, but I wish I had sprung for the 6-light. The lights hang from the ceiling and I keep an air king fan blowing at all times so they can have fresh CO2 to breathe. http://www.specialty-lights.com/fluorescent.html I think these are very attractive, but you can get cheaper ones I think from worm's way.

The plants are also in a south window and get as much sun as possible but the natural light gets dimmer logarithmically with every inch you move away from the window. Also there is simply not enough during the dark days of winter. I try to keep the temperatures low in the room where the plants are, but the lights do give off some heat. They are also great for one's mood.

Whatever one's setup, the plants do better outdoors and by the middle of April are ready to go outside for the summer.

My answer is none of the above. Buy an InterMetro style adjustable rack. You can buy a 4’ wide, 6’ tall, 18” deep rack with 5 shelves and 4 casters for about $100 at Costco. The shelves are adjustable in 1” increments to provide the ultimate in versatility as your plant sizes change over time.

Hang 4’ shop lights, connected to a timer and you’ve got as good a “light garden” as you can buy. Forget the “ready made” units. They’re all overpriced by comparison.

The next most important thing you can do is to stop watering by the “poke, pour and pray” top watering method. Measured sub-irrigation is the best way to water container plants.

Make some sub-irrigation (erroneously known as “self-watering”) recycled pop bottle planters and prove it to yourself. Plants thrive on the precisely controlled even moisture that measured sub-irrigation provides. You will also save water and your plants will be more sustainable. How green is that?

If the look bothers you, install the rack in a bedroom, office or other room and think of it as an indoor greenhouse. Set the timer so the lights come on when the room is unoccupied. Plants don’t really care when the lights come on. They just need an adequate amount of light daily.

Rotate the plants you want to display back and forth between your “greenhouse” and living spaces periodically. It’s no big deal to do this occasionally.

The next best thing to do is burn your houseplant books this winter to help warm your home. Your plants will be grateful you did.

I live in a studio, and I have a decently sized orchid collection... I was looking at these stands for a while so I can more tightly control the light they get, but good GOD man, are they hideous! I could see that going in a garage or spare room, but to stare at it every day in my living space... not so much.

So instead, I have been using an Ikea kitchen cart
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70011793
and a basic ikea pendant lamp
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90128179
I put up tiny spring based curtain rods and made little curtains to cover up the lower part of the kitchen cart, where I keep my growing supplies and fertilizer. It's tucked in a corner, lights up a good section of my apartment, and looks generally cute. My orchids are pretty happy too.

Some add-on comments. Sorry for the symbols in my prior comment. Is the problem MS Word coding? Grrrr...I should have used my text editor.

Good post Sarahrae on a valuable subject...particularly with the current importance of personal food production.

Noting the comments about the look of the racks above. Fine...but I research every day for my blog and see all the ugly, unhealthy plants people put in their living rooms...many of them in crud encrusted clay pots that belong out in the yard not in a home. Talk about ugly.

Greenscaper- do you happen to have a photo of the set up you described? It sounds fantastic, and never having seen the system at Costco, I'm highly curious!

-Sarahrae

Number 2! It's tall and skinny enough to be used in front of a window to provide privacy. Sort of like delicious green blinds.

Sarahrae, you can see and read about the rolling rack light garden here in yet another of my rants. I donated 10 of them (fully equipped) to be used as plant science labs in Brooklyn public schools. The (light blue) shipping carton at Costco has no photo or indication of their use for container plants. It's on my to-do list to contact the importer (Seville Classics ) to change that. As ranted before, they belong in every science classroom in America. BTW, you can buy these adjustable racks in other stores (Lowe's for example). It's just that Costco has the best deal IMO. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. I'll be glad to help anyone who is interested in any of this.