Welcome to my first indoor plant tour!
Gardening indoors and growing fruiting vegetables like tomatoes and cucumbers is relatively new to me, so I’m still working on perfecting my setups, but today I’m sharing all the plants I’ve got growing indoors right now, as well as the specific lights and setups/shelving I’m using for each. You’ll see a few houseplants too- but it’s really the edibles that get all my love 😄💚
Related Videos:
OpticLED Gmax150 Grow Light Videos: https://youtu.be/2kIwBJG3lB8
3 Ways to Grow Indoor Greens: https://youtu.be/h0N2d6djKE4
Grow Lights for Seed Starting: https://youtu.be/Jos0dKeWZOg
Starting Seeds Indoors Without Grow Lights: https://youtu.be/Gi2PwR60vkw
How to Grow Microdwarf Tomatoes: https://youtu.be/z_JmUmQuT_E
Aerogarden Harvest Slim Elite Review: https://youtu.be/DSZp_YymPfk
00:00 Intro
00:23 Seed Starting Light Rack- not a great fit
01:48 OpticLED Gmax Light Tent
04:53 Aerogarden Conversion and Microgreens
05:35 Industrial Shelving and Mixed Grow Lights
08:32 Vivosun Light Tent
10:23 Houseplants (non edible)
41 Comments
I appreciate your knowledge and I love your videos. I live in southern Colorado (Z-5A) and I’m attempting to grow and start seed in the house. We are definitely not out of the throes of winter and I’m apprehensive about starting all these beautiful tomatoes. I’ve heard a lot of my favorite Youtubers telling me that there’s no way that I can start seeds in the house in a window without a grow light. I’m trying desperately to figure out what type of grow light I should get. Would you have any ideas on which grow light would be the best to start off with?
My dad did that to me with aquariums. I told him to put it in my bedroom. Next thing you know, I was sleeping on the couch. He ended up selling tropical fish. He had around 20 aquariums or more.
10th comment and a 👍 👌 ❤️
Yes…my tomatoe plant date inside is President day…I live in north GA. AND plant 15 April ish.
Omg the snake 😅 he looked so happy
you can purchase t12 led bulbs that work in your fixtures. you are looking for ballast compatible. meaning just change the bulb.
You can get 5000K Led tubes that fit the T5 florescent fixture.
I immediately woke up and paid attention when you said there was a mouse in your basement, and did I hear it right you moved the plants upstairs? Are you concerned about mice in your living quarters then? Your family is very understanding and supportive I gathered!
Yep, Miracle-Gro is a waste. Haven't used it in at least a decade. My favorite is Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro. Right NPK for most purposes, plus an excellent micronutrients profile.
That said, I'm about to set up a new Aerogarden Bounty Elite, so I guess I'll technically be using something from MG.
Oh my goodness the snake would have had me in tears! My Monstera’s are happy and growing in a South facing window here in Ohio!
Out of the wind, mine has held up very well. I never anchored it. It is against the outside wall of the porch. I do wonder about the plastic cover long term. The tomato taste test will be interesting to hear about. My father used to tell me that the quality of soil either helps or hurts tastes. He always used grapes for making wine as an example. I enjoyed your info on inside gardening! LOL! My wife is a serial indoor plant killer. She is great with anything outdoors. I can grow a handful of plants inside, but they end up dying. I actually have had better luck at winter sowing tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and some herbs. Though I was successful at propagating roses from cuttings a year ago last fall. Hopefully they survived this winter in my wife's raised rose bed. I mulched them pretty heavy. Enjoyed! Take care!
Jenna, great video! Dumbcane is a fun one to grow. I have an east facing window in my Montana home that Orchics seem to love. They just get water once a week (if I remember) and do great in that spot. One has been blooming for nearly 3 years.
Wow, you really had a snake. Thanks for the share. First time on your channel. Great video.
There are a few channels that I subscribe to that just make me smile when I see they have a new one, and you Jenna are one of them. I built a solar panel frame on the south side of my house this winter and it is impacting the light coming in my window that I have successfully started seed in last winter. Right now it just has my onion starts and I must say yours look a LOT better. After watching your videos I feel like I have visited with a friend.
I will say this, my ivy looks a lot better than yours. lol I like it for the fact that it helps purify the indoor air. Anyway, it's been a pleasure. Until next video.
I've used the industrial shelves as as platform for seed starting / growing for years. Same reasons you gave; adjustable, strong and inexpensive. Yes, the basement does present a thermal challenge but I have used reflective foil faced Styrofoam as a means to limit air flow, hold in the heat from my seed staring heat cables and reflect the light back at the plants. New house will not be finished before seed starting time this year, so I plan to borrow space from my son's seed racks.
I can eat cucumbers daily during summer and nothing adds moisture to a salad better but tiny teasers don't know how it's going fill my hunger 🙃 So let use know.
Thanks for the teaching Lady
ZZ plant is a known to be easy houseplant that I have grown for many years. Just recently however, I stumbled upon a ZZ variety called ‘Raven’. Very striking, deep burgundy foliage. A little more pricey that the traditional green varieties but I feel is definitely worth it. Thanks for the indoor growing tour. Ask always, you are full of useful info.
Growing tomatoes indoors for the first time and I am IN LOVE with those little bites on sunshine 😊 I used Neptune’s Harvest until I ran out, and have since been using a diluted Jack’s Bloom Booster because it’s what I had and it doesn’t overdo the nitrogen. They have responded really well and are loaded with fruit.
I got a new rack with metal rails and have been using strong magnetic hooks for the lights and it’s going well.
‘Brasil’ philodendron is my absolute favorite houseplant. It is so easy to grow and every leaf has its own unique coloration. It’s a work of art. I bought a small cutting and it’s really taken off. ZZ plant is also totally cool and soooo easy to grow. Water it like once a month 😅 I also get pretty good results with cane begonias. I really love my houseplants 😬
I might have left the snake if he was doing the pest control. Anyways I do these kinds of shelves and have a mishmash of LEDs and Sunblasters. I wrap the set-up in that emergency blanket material and then place sheets over top of the whole thing as it can be noisy and I don't like to have the lights hurting my eyes.
I look forward to your videos in the winter time. They keep me motivated when otherwise I would not get that gardening urge until about the middle of April.
3 things that work well for me indoors are wheat grass so the cats and I get fresh greens every day, aloe…which I use a lot of, and get a Christmas tree freshly cut and get it in the water right away and they will last until late February….for the aromatherapy…the decorations come off after New Year's day, of course. They all do well in low light.
That's my problem Jenna to. I don't have enough window light for house plants. I see you have an Amaryllis their though and that's what I ventured into growing this year. We'll see if I can keep them alive until I can put them outside also like you lol.
Omg. 🐍I would have to move!!! Shouldn’t that snake be hybernating???😮
Got my first grow lamp the other day. I’m also from the great state of Ohio. I was lucky enough to get some potato berries from my potato plants last year. I saved the seed and figured I would try planting them. I love your channel.
Thank you for sharing!! Its my first time growing inside and i bought the same tiny green house my plant are still small no fruit yet. Can't wait for those cucumbers!!
I didn’t even know there was a T12 light bulb. I looked them up and they are incandescent and I see the one I looked at was 6500Kelvin. I don’t know how much blue light though. I use a reasonably priced double strip per light LED and am finally successful with leafy greens and had many salads already and I’m thrilled!
I would think the incandescent lights would get too hot.
I wonder about how to measure the color of light that is given off. How would you know that it’s actually red or blue and not just colored lights? I looked for more blue and some green that is given off by the whitest light for foliage growth and not so much red which is for flowering which I don’t need.
I was wondering when you would post as I seen the train wreck there and didn’t know how close you were. Glad to see your still at home.
The tiny cucumbers are so freaking cute! 😍 I am no help with house plants. I have a black thumb with them for some reason.
I've never even attempted to grow edibles in the house, except, micro greens. THis is so cool!!!! I do well with houseplants, BUT the fungus gnats are my down fall. This last fall I repotted, washed roots, new bag soil, boiling water , and day to cool, then repotted them all. STILL gnats 🙁 I bought some treatment, and it was better this winter. (plus glue butterflies in each pot) I know for starting seeds from now on, I will use a soilless compost that the MIgardener recommended. (because there again, did all the treatments, but still the gnats) Thankfully great plants came from the seedlings, no thanks to all my gnat issues 🙂
I’m currently growing lettuce and spinach inside but getting ready to start dwarf tomatoes, thanks to you lol. I recently purchased some Viparspectra grow lights and am very pleased so far. Please follow up with the cucumbers!
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who uses clear cups to see the roots. It’s so neat 😊
Jenna this was great because I'm growing dwarf tomatoes indoors at this time too. QUESTION: I'm seeing flowers and green tomato's but my issue is leaves drying out at the bottom branches. I've clipped them off. Any idea what would cause these dried out leaves? (It's hard to find info on indoor vegetables)
I have a Hoya Carnosa, it's been in the same pot for over 20 years and doesn't need a lot of light. When it blooms I will smell it before I see them.
I call that snake Good Luck. You're doing something right if a snake shows up!
Jenna, your videos are the absolute best! I have learned so much from you and the best part is I’m also in Ohio 😊 nothing like your favorite online gardeners being in your same zone and state!!
Hi Jenna, great tour. I really like the rat snake. They have personalities like cats. "Leave me alone, can't you tell I'm hunting for lunch." LOL. So far my seed starting greenhouse with the tomatoes is kinda going well. The plants look good and they have tomatoes on them but they are really slowwww to develop. I think I am on a crash course though because I usually start my summer annuals at the end of February and the night time temps to get my tomatoes and peppers to germinate are around 80 to 90 degrees. That might have an adverse affect on the grown tomatoes to see that temp for about 5 days straight for 24 hours. I just have basic LED lights in there so probably could be improved with dedicated frequency of the correct spectrum. But I love what you are doing with the cucumbers. They look excellent. My potato experiment is not going so well. Since we had such a warm January I thought they would be up by now. I have the row covered with left over cotton from the big bales. My sweet onions, green onioins, and garlic look pretty good. The deer finished off my collards, cabbage, and broccoli that were still producing. I hope they are happy despite the fact they get on my nerves really bad. If you run out of room for all your plants you still have your cars. LOL Great video.
i have a tiny tim growing in the basement with 30 tomatoes
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Thanks for sharing your indoor grow. I'm lucky to have skylights and large windows upstairs currently used to propagate my concord grape Vines, lemongrass and avocado tree I use LED panels and some T5s on a wire shelf in the basement for seeds, greens and herbs. Right now that's onions, bok choi, cilantro, and others.
I have had mice dig up larger seeds in the spring but haven't seen a snake yet 😱
As someone who screams and runs whenever something moves in my garden, big props to you for your stoicism in finding the snake under your grow lights. I know he is harmless, but I'd have to sleep with one eye open for a while after finding something like that. I honestly needed to rewatch the video as I was so stunned by the size of him, I didn't hear much you said for a minute or two after that. Haha.
Unfortunately, I cannot afford real grow lights, and I use cheap 6500K LED lights that are made in China. I am super cautious about them as I don't entirely trust them. So, I make sure everything is dry around them by lining my shelves with cardboard and keep liners under everything. I even turn them off when I'm not home because I worry about them being a possible fire hazard. That being said, they seem to work okay for seed starting, but having nothing to compare them to, it's hard to say that with a lot of affirmation.
Hi Jenna, Thank´s for sharing. Tips! If you have any glassed in space, like a balcony och veranda, succulents thrive in there all year long. My Paradise even flower, second year in a row. So does the November cactus; it´s really beautifull covered with dark pinkt flowers. The succulents like it cold and dark (even 0 C) which get the blooming started, it´s like a kick off for them. The grounds are still more or less frozen here and it´s around 0 C. Greetings from a wintry Stockholm/Sweden Lat 59 N, Long 18 E.
Here in Preble County we didn't see much of the sun either. I'm getting ready to start some veges here too under just shop lights. (It's all I have for now) I have very similar set up with the mini green house you have. What do you think of using a reflective blanket or foil around the back and sides? I have limited light in the basement.