Hello

I have a lovely indoor herb garden and I am worried that due to winter
arriving it may not be getting the sunlight it needs. Its not an easy
structure to move and besides, the 6 herbs in the garden have grown madly in
its current position. In summer it gets full afternoon filtered sun but now
that winter is upon us it doesnt get much light at all. The room it is in
has a flourescent light which I am assuming is not much benefit to the
plants so is there an alternative? Possibly a lamp with a special globe?
I dont need to bathe it in sunlight, I just want to increase the light it
gets a little bit... I have tried mirrors behind it to reflect light but
there hasnt been much light to reflect. I know plants are used to changing
seasons and its all part of nature but as I am a prolofic herb user I dont
want my gaden to go into a stage of dormancy... not sure if they do that
but you get my drift.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Leanne

"Flossie" wrote in message
...
Hello

I have a lovely indoor herb garden and I am worried that due to winter
arriving it may not be getting the sunlight it needs. Its not an easy
structure to move and besides, the 6 herbs in the garden have grown madly
in
its current position. In summer it gets full afternoon filtered sun but
now
that winter is upon us it doesnt get much light at all. The room it is in
has a flourescent light which I am assuming is not much benefit to the
plants so is there an alternative? Possibly a lamp with a special globe?
I dont need to bathe it in sunlight, I just want to increase the light it
gets a little bit... I have tried mirrors behind it to reflect light but
there hasnt been much light to reflect. I know plants are used to
changing
seasons and its all part of nature but as I am a prolofic herb user I dont
want my gaden to go into a stage of dormancy... not sure if they do that
but you get my drift.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Leanne

I grow herbs (& vegetables) indoors & outdoors. For the indoor system:
- use a north facing window
- put container as close to the window as possible - I have a long table the
length of the window
- use a system that keeps water up to the herbs
- I have a large flat-bottomed plastic container 1m by x 50cm
- It is filled with about 1cm water/sobuble fertiliser solution
- I just place small herb containers in the larger container, herbs have
hole in the bottom of their containers to absorb water
- use 1 part soluble fertiliser (Aquasol/Miracle Gro) to 200 parts water;
herbs need a nitrogen rich fertlisier
I'm using the system about to grow coriander, snow peas, capsicum & raise
flower seedling.

Outdoors I'm using a self-watering planter box (about $13 at Bunnings)
growing sage, chives, pasrsley, coriander, mint, snowpeas. Its north facing
but adjacent to a house wall to protect it from wind and get some radiated
heat from the house at night. I use soluble fertiliser as above. LOTS of
herbs in a TINY area even in WInter - the secret is keeping the water up
using a self watering system.

Have a look at my hydroponics post a few days ago. If you want to try
artificial light see you local hydroponics shop.


gtoomey
Free ASX end of day data www.float.com.au/data

"Flossie" writes:
I have a lovely indoor herb garden and I am worried that due to winter
arriving it may not be getting the sunlight it needs. Its not an easy
structure to move and besides, the 6 herbs in the garden have grown madly in

During the northern winter, American gardeners wax lyrical about their
individual indoor growth lighting arrangements--many being geared towards
getting tomatoes up and running before the snow melts. My reading is that
you can make the setup as sophisticated or as simple as you like. Just
as satisfactory has been an ordinary fluro tube mounted just above the
seedling tray (or maybe it was two tubes, side by side). The light tube
was hung by ropes, so that its height could be adjusted to keep pace with
the seedlings: it hung so that the bare tube just cleared the tip of the
seedlings by a few mm. (Alternatively, you could remove some padding from
under the seedling tray to lower it as the plants reach the tube. This is
needed because the heat of the tube might damage the tip leaves if they
are allowed to touch it.)

Such an arrangement might be more economical than it appears--the light
might suffice as ambient lighting for your hallway, tv room, etc.
--
John Savage (news reply email invalid; keep news replies in newsgroup)