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Gardening tips thread

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Here's a helpful link that explains more detail than my brain has been able to retain in my limited experiences:
Repotting a Snake Plant

When I use giant pots for growing houseplants or edible goodies outdoors, I often use small empty cardboard boxes (not the shiny ones, the regular old school cardboard) and a combination of a whole lot of dried leaves (make sure they aren't from black walnut trees - I usually use maple and tulip poplar) to fill up a lot of the space, making it so I don't have to use nearly as much of the pricey soil to get it full enough.
 
Not yet. But we have friends who have hot houses/greenhouses, etc. and are luckily able to share in their abundance. I do have a few herbs I grow indoors for as long as they last after the cold weather sets in. I might try to grow some salad greens indoors this winter if I can get the space cleared and arranged to be user friendly in doing so.
 
winter gardening?
When I had the lights for it (high pressure sodium & metal halide), I did.

But those suckers are expensive (several hundred dollars), hot (unless you buy water cooled bulbs, which are several hundred more per bulb; and by hot I'm taking 120 degrees in a 10x10 room, so water cooled &/or cutting into the walls to hook up a ventilation system is necessary), and will ratchet your electricity bill into the stratosphere unless you generate your own power (1,000 watt bulbs eat energy like nobody's business). <<< All of the above also means that it doesn't matter what you're growing, you're most likely going to receive a few visits from police to check for marijuana production. (The sudden jump in electricity usage + the heat signatures + expense feed into an algorithm). Word to the wise, invite them in and show them your orchids or veggie or whatever garden, because if you send them away -as is your right- they'll come back with a warrant -as is their right- and tear things apart. A 10x10 room may seem small, but can easily house upwards of 50 MJ plants, more than meeting the federal criteria for serious prison time. People who are growing indoors legitimately for pleasure* invite police in.

The problem of growing in greenhouse conditions (indoor or outdoor) in winter without lights? The light. Plants have vegetative and fruiting and hibernation cycles that are determined in large part by how long the days/nights are. In order to force plants out of season, one has to control how many hours per day they're exposed to sunlight (real or artificial). Dinky little inexpensive lights might get you a few extra weeks on your local growing calendar, but they're not going to be able to force plants out of season. They're mostly for house plants that need a little extra happy in darker rooms.

You CAN have an absolutely gorgeous indoor arboretum with absolutely no professional lights, whatsoever. Stick to mostly rainforest plants (who are growing in almost pitch black under canopy conditions in the wild) and forest floor plants, and similar. A few hardy herbs in windowsills (it's almost impossible to kill rosemary). House plants. Gardening for food? Requires controlling your light cycles.

* No one grows indoors to save money, unless they're off-grid Even if your bulbs were free, the cost of electricity far outstrips whatever you'd be paying in the supermarket.
 
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@Friday7 thanks for the detailed response! What zone are you in may I ask? I am in zone 5 and have been searching and all I see is that if I didn’t do a greenhouse basically all I could get is maybe kale and probably carrots. However our weather has been weird as it’s mid October and I’m still getting tomatoes in my regular summer garden and it should have frosted already. I would like to set up a greenhouse maybe next year for sure, I saw a plan for an igloo shaped one.
 
Hey guys... I repotted my snake plant into a bigger pot, and now one of the leaves is dying. It's shriveling from the top and the pointed part already fell off dry, and it's continuing to do that on that specific leaf, but the rest of the plant is doing well.

Did I do something wrong? :( I'm certain I'm watering it properly (mostly dry dirt).
 
Sorry I missed your most recent post, @Chitoshi . Sometimes a random leaf...
Thanks. :) I pulled that leaf and it seems to be doing okay now. I'm worried about my dracaena, but we'll see. I think it was too close to the window because it looks like there are sun burns on the leaves, but there are like lines and holes in the leaves, too. I didn't see any bugs except a fruit fly, but I think I took care of the flies and haven't seen them in like 2 weeks. We shall see how it goes.
 
You know, it's funny, people tell me I can make anything grow, but I've never been able to grow plants indoors. I'm thinking I keep my house too cool for that. I heat by fireplace and at night we have fuzzy pajamas and thick blankets. I should try some. I brought my succulents in, and they seem to be doing well. I love greenery so I guess I should try it indoors.
 
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