Useful Indoor Gardening Tips
By Anne Harvester

Indoor gardening is becoming all the rage. There are many reasons driving this. The headlines are replete with various food borne illness scares. Many families desire an organic alternative to the main food supply. Hydroponic gardening provides for an avenue to address this concern while having fun at the same time. With a cloning kit, grow lights and indoor pest control ingredients you can be well on your way. Best of all, the necessary components and ingredients are all now available online.

A grow light is obviously necessary when it comes to hydroponic gardening. The light of the sun needs to be mimicked providing the energy a plant needs to in order to grow. Grow lights cannot be substituted with household lamps or the like. A grow light is a special piece of equipment manufactured with the specific intended use within indoor gardening.

Indoor pest control is a very important, yet often overlooked, component of successful hydroponic gardening. Pests can occur indoors as well as outdoors. Many choose organic pest control products in order to ensure the purity of their food. Organic indoor pest control agents are also ideal for those suffering from food allergies or are otherwise sensitive to what they ingest.

In addition to controlling the indoor pest population, it is also important to fully nourish your plants. Hydroponics, as well as outdoor gardening, requires two main categories of nutrients. The first of these is called macronutrients. These mainly are phosphorous, potassium and nitrogen. Without these key nutrients your plants will be unable to thrive.

Also important are the second type of nutrients which are referred to as micronutrients. These elements are required in small amounts. In an outdoor scenario they represent the replacement of natural occurring elements which are depleted from the soil as the plant grows. With hydroponic gardening, these micronutrients need to be added at the right time seeing there is no soil in which they are initially resident.

There are many micronutrients with most common being iron, manganese, sulfur, cobalt and copper. These micronutrients are most prevalent in organic nutrient products. As with pesticides, many desire to expose their food to only organic nutrients.

Indoor gardening, when done right, can both improve the quality of many of your everyday foods as well as give your family a fun new hobby. Simple tips will help make your hydroponic gardening experience a positive one. Don't forget the organic pesticides. Ensure you are feeding your plants the appropriate organic nutrients. And most importantly do not waste time and gasoline driving all over town looking for the right indoor gardening ingredients. They are all available right now at your fingertips online allowing for wide selection, easy purchase and quick shipping.

Anne Harvester has a great deal of experience with indoor gardening. Hydroponic gardening is the way of the future. Known to some as "soil less gardening", hydroponics are proven to grow plants 20-30% faster than their soil grown counterparts.
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Tips For Growing a Container Herb Garden
By Lee Dobbins

Planting a container herb garden provides advantages that cannot be achieved through growing herbs in your garden. Container herb gardening provides the mobility necessary to protect your herbs from harsh outdoor weather and seasonal conditions, as well as predatory animals and insects. You will enjoy cultivating your herbs year-round in a more stable and forgiving environment than can be achieved through outdoor planting.

But potting herbs in a container is not an easy task. You have to spend a bit more time making sure the soil has the right amount of water and that the container receives the right amount of sunlight for your plants.

Many herbs are not picky about the pots that they are grown in and this is fortunate for those of us starting a herb container garden. Basil and rosemary can be grown in an old, chipped teapot or an empty coffee can. Thyme can grow in a small terracotta clay pot. Other herbs that love containers are dill, mint, sage and lavender.

The most important item to consider are your seeds; seeds must be of good quality and in good condition- remember like any organic substance they are subject to decay. Airborne spores may also contaminate seeds, and oxygen reacts with compounds in the seed. Safeguard against problems with your seeds by following the freshness dates on packages and avoid using any damp packages.

It is very important to select the best locations for your container herb garden. To choose the best location, you need to find out what type of exposure the plant will need. While some do very well in partial shade, other plants need much more sun. For example, Basil requires warm soil in addition to dry air and is sensitive to the cold. If you choose to grow the plant indoors, it will need to be close to a window to get enough light, but be cautious not to put it near a frosty window in the winter.

When choosing where to place your plants, keep in mind that in the Northern Hemisphere, sunlight enters in at an angle more from the south. Therefore, plants that need a lot of sun will benefit from being placed where they will have southern exposure. For the plants that need partial shade should be placed on the northern side or you can position them in an area away from the window that is more shady.

It is just essential to prepare the soil with a proper mix of sand and clay. In order to keep it at the most suitable moisture content as much as possible, specially in a container, it is advisable also to apply clay chips, although it may perform its job so well by absorbing and holding water for longer periods than what is necessary.

It is important to water the correct way. Container plants commonly develop a problem called root rot from too much moisture. Some plants like to be wet constantly, but most herbs prefer a dryer soil. Sage, for example, likes a dry soil, whereas peppermint likes it moist.

Remember that to be moist is not to be soaked. Moist soil should feel springy, while dry soil is hard. Next, you can use a toothpick or a moisture gauge to stick in the soil. When you remove the toothpick you will be able to tell if the soil is wet or dry. The gauge's reading will be more useful and more precise, though.

Some thoughtful planning prior to planting, will enable you to have a container herb garden that is easier to grow and maintain.

You can learn more about all types of herbs as well as learn about growing a container herb garden at http://basicherbgardeningtips.com/ where you will get basic tips for growing herbs both indoors and out.
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Greenhouse Gardening Tips
By Laura Quintile

Anyone can benefit from gardening tips from the beginner to the seasoned gardener. The best thing about greenhouse gardening is the experimenting and the learning of new techniques that can add variety to your results. Each year is different and your results can be better with new knowledge and more experience. Here are some basic tips that cover all areas of greenhouse gardening.

Choosing a Greenhouse Site:

Must be on level ground

Low-traffic area

Maximum of winter sunlight available

Watch for shadows cast by structures and trees during the wintertime when shadows are longer

Look at young trees to try to forecast where their shade will fall in the future regarding the greenhouse

The long side of the greenhouse should face south

Irrigation and Soil:

Commercial potting soil is fine for home garden greenhouses. The soil should be a mixture of sand, peat moss, perlite, vermiculite and fir bark. The fir bark is important for adequate drainage.

Only water when the soil is dry.

Most greenhouse gardeners prefer hand watering, but drip irrigation systems are effective and can prevent the leaves of the plants from getting too much water on them. These drip systems are also very gentle on seedlings. You may not need to water everyday, so monitor the soil for dryness to be sure. Study both the requirements of your particular greenhouse and the plants you are growing, as not every greenhouse is the same just as not every plant has the same watering requirements. Temperature:

Before you start growing plants be sure to monitor the temperature inside the greenhouse on sunny days, and on cloudy days. Find out what temperature is optimum for the types of plants you will be growing and then compensate using ventilation if your greenhouse is hotter than the optimum temperature.

Workspace:

One thing all greenhouse gardeners are fanatical about is their workspace. The area has to be roomy enough to pot plants and move about comfortably. Take into consideration the height of the benches and tables that you are planning to use when designing the workspace.

Potting benches should be designed to fold down when they are not in use. Make sure the benches are made of rot-resistant wood such as redwood. Avoid using pressure-treated lumbers, because they are usually impregnated with highly toxic arsenic.

Misc. Tips:

To save space place root crops like beets, carrots, and turnips in deep boxes under benches.

Put taller vegetables like tomatoes, peas, pole beans and cucumbers in tub-type containers.

Put lettuce and other low leafy vegetables in a tub with taller vegetables to save space.

Tap water should stand for one day to rid it of chlorine before watering indoor plants.

Plant corn in a bed specially prepared for it directly on the floor of the greenhouse. You can plant pumpkin between the rows of corn to save space.

You can make indoor trellises out of coat hangers. Bend the hangars into any shape (heart, star etc.) and insert into a pot.

Make a natural insecticide by adding onions and garlic to a jar of water. Let it stand for a week and then spray on plants.

Rinse vegetables and fruits outside before bringing them into your home. This way the dirt and bugs will stay outside where they belong.

This article is brought to you by author Laura Quintile and by http://organicgardensgreen.com You may freely reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice, author name, and URL remain intact.
Laura Quintile is Website Owner and editor at Organic Gardens Green. Her background is with lifestyle topics including: Gardening, Keeping Fit, Staying Healthy and Pets.
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