Indoor Gardening

[Doc]

I love outdoor gardening... Except for bugs, bad weather, all those things. And having to deal with seasons.

Lately, been trying more and more indoor gardening. Anybody else in to this? What do you grow? I rather like growing things. It's soothing.

[Premezilla]

I made a lil' garden thing for my grandma once. It was a Scouting project. I planted green onions, I think basil, and maybe one other item.

....I think everything's dead by now.

Just a little story to tell.

[SwissMercenary]

People give us funny looks when we buy indoor grow lights by the dozen. I wonder if there'll be a very ah, kind man in a nice blue uniform, with those pretty stripes, showing up at the door at no particular time in the future, expressing great interest in our tomatoes and peppers.

Funny, that. :wacko:

[Drasca]

I wonder if there'll be a very ah, kind man in a nice blue uniform, with those pretty stripes, showing up at the door at no particular time in the future, expressing great interest in our tomatoes and peppers.
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They'd put surveillance on you first! Watch out for big brother!

[SwissMercenary]

They'd put surveillance on you first! Watch out for big brother!
[right][snapback]104483[/snapback][/right]

I was wondering why there seems to always be a white van parked outside the driveway.

Oh, right, that's my neighbour's. Odd man, the way he goes on vacation every so often, and buys new cars when he comes back. Quiet chap, though. Keeps to himself.

[Drasca]

Quiet chap, though. Keeps to himself.
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Aliens! Must be aliens! with a car fetish. Are you sure that white van doesn't convert into a flying saucer?

[Doc]

I had a solarium built. It's a nice glass structure. It's like a geodesic dome, except it is made of glass. It's not very big... I'd like to build another one actually, a bit larger.

My original plan was to have the creek run through the building, but that ran in to problems. Namely, the creek is filthy and pull of pollutants. And I decided I didn't want that in my veggies.

So, after much thought, I made a water course in in there, drains out of one end and is pumped to the other. At the waterfall end, it goes through a series of pipes that get narrower and narrower. I forget the scientific term, but it causes the water to build up to terrific pressure. Several jets shoot out of the high rock slab that holds the pipes, and the jets of water squirt down on to the scattered pile of stones below. This creates a fine mist. The humidity in there is high. This mist collects on the ceiling, and drips down like rain. Some of it rolls down the side of the glass, where it collects in specially made rain gutters, which collect a lot of water, and eventually bring it back down to the water circuit flowing through the floor. Everything stays well misted, and I am pleased with the results. Stuff grows in there rather well. Still some tweaks that need to be made. For one, when water collects on the glass panes, and the sun in shining, it gets to hot in there. Not sure why. Sun on the glass is fine, but when the glass is wet and covered in water consendation, it makes everything hotter. Focusing of the sun's rays through prisms made out of water droplets? I dunno. Using the existing water system, and a wind driven prop, I plan to rig up something where the wind will turn a prop, which will in turn turn something else, which will cause a bigger something to turn, which will power something like a fan that will blow air through the waterjets that create the fine mist and evaporating water. This I hope will provide an air conditioner like effect. Moving air through evaporating water, cool sensation. Sort of like a swamp cooler. But I don't want it electrical. I think I can get a multidirectional wind propeller on top of the building that will get spun enough to turn the blower. Like a windmill. I am not sure, but I think I will use a cable or something, something that can twist with the prop, but stay stiff enough to twist stuff at the other end, instead of just bunching up. Make sense? It stays heated in the winter through pipes down in the concrete slab with hot water flowing through them. Uses very little energy, and I am going to buy a big solar panel to power that once I can find the right one I like.

The system is complicated, and I want to make improvements. But I like what it does so far for my veggies. I have a bit of corn growing in there, and I am suprised at how well it is doing. I have a wall of cucumbers. I stacked window boxes on a rail system, each one over the other, and hid the whole thing behind a trellis, which is now covered in cucumbers. This cucumber covered trellis provides a big shaded area blocked off from the sun... And I don't know what I am going to grow in that spot. But the cucumber vines and leaves make for a great curtain to block out a lot of sunlight. Something that needs shade should grow in there nicely. I have a couple of dwarf citrus trees that are doing well. In a year or two, I might see fruits. Oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruits, all growing on the same tree. There is a thick layer of good dirt over a specially constructed concrete slab. In the dirt floor are tons of sweet potatos. Already, their little toes are peeking through the dirt. The indoor water channel flows through a concrete bed. I am curious to see if I could somehow grow a little rice in there somehow. Make a rice paddy. And I wonder if I could grow something in the water. Something edible. If not, lillies. Or something.

There are some tree frogs in there. They keep the bugs down. There are also some lizards. I released some bugs in there on purpose. Lots of earthworms in the soil. Some bugs come through the vents. I keep thinking about some other animals in there, but not sure what and for what reason.

It's pretty cool though. It's like a mini ecosystem and I am still tinkering to get everything to work.

And I don't use any chemicals or fertilizers... Well, I do use natural fertilizer.

I wonder if the chickens would like to live in there.