Indoor Greenhouse Gardening For Beginners

For any gardener who enjoys working with their plants, a greenhouse is a welcome addition to expand their hobby. Greenhouse gardening can be as intensive or as low-key as you want it to be, depending on how much gardening you do and how much money you want to invest in the hobby. Serious gardeners wishing to expand their interest into greenhouse gardening may opt for a permanent structure in their backyard, possibly something that incorporates a cement foundation, integrated doors and windows, and an auto-venting system for temperature control. On the other end of the spectrum, we have the beginning gardener or hobby horticulturist who wishes to cultivate plants indoors during the winter months or start seeds indoors in the spring for a head start on the summer growing season. This more basic form of greenhouse gardening will be our focus for this article.

Basic greenhouse gardening usually begins indoors with a temporary structure that can be set up when it’s needed and taken down when it’s not. An inexpensive shelving kit will work well for this purpose, provided you have space to set it up. Other structures could be a tabletop that’s not in use or an old workbench. If you are purchasing something new for the purpose of indoor gardening, look for a structure that’s lightweight and that can be easily disassembled for storage. Consider buying plastic, if you have the option, so that you can easily wipe away any dirt or water that accumulates.

Gardening

Next, you’ll need to look around your home and determine where the shelf or table will be placed. If you have a sunny window that receives at least 6 hours of direct sunlight daily, this is ideal. Warm, sunny bay windows facing the west or south will usually meet the criteria. If you don’t have such a window, then you’ll need to consider using a grow light. This will require a special light bulb that gives off a full spectrum of light similar to the sun’s rays. While the light cast from these bulbs certainly won’t look like natural sunlight to your eyes, to the plants, it is virtually the same. Grow lights can usually be purchased quite inexpensively from home improvement stores or garden centers, and can then be screwed into your own light fixture at home.

When setting up a grow light, it’s important to suspend the light as close as possible to the plants. Particularly if you are using the light to start seeds, you’ll want to place the light within an inch or two of the seedlings themselves. If you place the light too far away, the seedlings will grow tall and spindly instead of strong and stocky.

An indoor greenhouse can feature a vinyl cover to help retain heat or moisture, or you can simply use the indoor environment of your home as the greenhouse environment. Ideal temperatures will range from 75 to 85 degrees, so choose a room of your house that is warmer than others. If you’re using a grow light instead of a sunny window, you won’t be as limited to the possible locations you can choose from your plants. If you’re using a grow light and trying to determine a warm location in your house, consider an upstairs room and/or a high up location in the room, vertically speaking, such as on top of a high shelf or a tall cabinet. Heat rises, so the highest place in your home should also be the one with the highest temperature.

If you’re a beginning gardener interested in greenhouse gardening, don’t be intimidated to give it a try. Getting started indoors is easy and doesn’t cost a lot of money. With a little time and a minimal investment, you can expand your gardening hobby, grow more plants, and give your green thumb a workout during cooler months!

Ellen Bell works for Home Products ‘n’ More, an online retail store offering indoor greenhouse kits and other great greenhouse gardening products to help you get started. Visit us at http://www.homeproductsnmore.com/Greenhouse_Supplies_s/2504.htm

Gardening Guide for Beginners

Gardening is a very fulfilling exercise and also it is a good form of physical exercise. People who once start gardening usually enjoy it for a lifetime. As a beginner you may not have much knowledge about gardening but as you start the process there are several things you will learn on your own. However, using beginner tips for gardening is not a bad idea at all.

As a beginner, start with a small patch and choose easier plants to grow. In order to be encouraged, drop by a nursery and choose some plants that have already been potted and ready to be put into the soil. You can also try out some seeds as well. Before planting the plants or trees into the soil, prepare the soil. See that it is well aerated and make sure it has been prepared for at least two days.

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The soil will absorb the moisture in the right amounts that it needs and also the soil have sufficient nitrogen. Plant them about one or two inches deep. For bigger plants, you need to put them at least four inches deep. The roots should be fully covered by the soil and only the leaves and stems should be above the soil. Make a deep hole like thing around the plant so that it holds water when you are watering your garden. The basic needs of the plant are sunlight and water and good amount of soil. Once the plants start growing well, you can use organic or chemical fertilizers for your plants.

About Author:
Kum Martin is an online leading expert in gardening. He also offers top quality articles like:
Benefits of Garlic, Growing Fennel

Organic Gardening – Beginner’s Guide

Things are tough these days. The economy is in meltdown, the cost of living keeps getting higher and no matter how hard a person tries it’s just not quite possible to make all the ends meet. Far too often people are forced to make hard choices like paying bills or buying gas or purchasing groceries, but sadly not all three.

These are extreme examples and perhaps these choices aren’t hard for you. I do think about them though, at least now and then and am willing to bet that you also do, even if it’s only in a dark corner of your mind that never sees the light of day.

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I can however offer a partial solution, at least to the buying groceries dilemma. Instead of going to the grocery store and spending 0.00, try hunting, gathering and trading for your food. This is a very old solution and not overly feasible, but it is an option and becoming more popular, well at least the gathering part. You could also try growing your own fruits and vegetables, which is my personal favorite.

Growing your own food is a lot simpler then you might think, and I have found this wonderful e-book to help show you how. It’s called THE ORGANIC FOOD GARDENING BEGINNERS MANUAL and was written by Julie Villani, you can find a link on my website.

Our ancestors produced their own food this way for years, millennia actually, and never once worried about whether they had the money they needed to buy the food that sustained them. Gardening is still a good way to reclaim that freedom and can be done in almost any situation. A big sunny yard makes it easier, but isn’t necessary. All you really need is a sunny window where you can set a window box full of herbs.

You can actually grow a lot of vegetables in containers and this subset of gardening, called container gardening, is on of the best ways to start gardening in a small or limited space. Hence you can throw that excuse about not having a spot to grow your garden right out the window. THE ORGANIC FOOD GARDENING BEGINNERS MANUAL mentions this option and offers useful advice about how to start.

The e-book is full of other useful tips as well, not only for an organic gardening novice, but also the experienced gardener. Basic tips for where to set up your garden, good crops to start growing and techniques for dealing with pests organically are only a few of the topics covered.

I am already thinking about my spring garden and am looking forward to when the ground thaws and I can finally start planting. I am also thinking about starting some cold season crops like lettuce in containers right now, fresh winter greens would be a nice addition to dinner. You should consider doing the same thing.

THE ORGANIC FOOD GARDENING BEGINNERS MANUAL will be an excellent reference and is the perfect way to start your preparation, even now as winter is just settling in. It is the first of many steps on a path to a greener, healthier, happier and cheaper future. There is even the possibility of selling or trading some of you excess produce for cash and the other things you need.

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