Why plant outside

[Cognitive Dissonance]

Dear all,

I am in the process of attempting to grow various vegetables for the first time in my life. I have read various books on the topic and I am slightly frustrated at the lack of science surrounding gardening, but that's a separate issue.

I have begun to grow my seeds indoors and it is now getting to the stage where I think I need to transplant them. I have bought some 3gallon buckets(for potting) and I am planning on putting them in there. I plan to do all of my growing inside of the house.

I was wondering why more people don't do their growing inside. I know you can get polytunnels and green houses (which are basically 'inside') but I was wondering why not in the house. What are the advantages and disadvantages...

Advantage;
-more growing choice of 'out of season' crops.
-I am thinking you get less bugs/vermin/slugs etc attacking your produce when its inside?
-I am thinking you get more warmth inside (its usually about 14.5degrees in my house even when heating isn't on, vs 9degrees outside).
-They won't be destroyed by the 40-70mph winds outside.
-They will provide us with oxygen.

Disadvantage;
-maybe they won't get enough sun. But there is always using fluorescent tubes for that. I'll put them by a south facing window etc.
-vitamins from soil?
-fertilisation problems?
-less space inside for some people. Although some peoples front rooms are bigger than their gardens.

Any thoughts or extensions on the topic are welcomed.

Regards,

[solway cropper]

The main reason people don't grow food plants in the house is that there is nowhere near enough light for them. You will end up with spindly, sad-looking plants and negligible crops. It may seem light inside a house but if you actually measure the light intensity it is far too low for most plants. Work out what percentage of your house is transparent and compare that to outside or a greenhouse. Artificial lighting will have to provide the same spectrum as daylight to work.

There is enough oxygen in the air anyway so the amount released by the indoor plants will make no difference.

Plants don't use vitamins but they will need nutrients which are normally provided by fertilizers/composts.

I live in west Cumbria where we often get storm force winds and the plants seem to cope so I wouldn't worry too much about the weather.

Best of all most plants have adapted to life outside, they've been doing it for millions of years.

[airconednightmare]

welcome to the forum

light and ventilation are going to be the main problems, you can grow veg indoors under beefy lights and with some fans to match. but at the end of the day you are basically trying to replicate the conditions the plants have in the wild, as you say, this is what greenhouses etc do.

the main reason people don't grow indoors is the cost of the equipment and the power bills, you have to ask if £10 a week is worth having a few toms, chillies, some salad in winter?

i've done it for fun before but it's not economical or labour free...if you want science+gardening then look into hydroponics in a greenhouse, or pick one plant you like and start reading up on how it is comercially produced, there might be more science than you thought....

[Cognitive Dissonance]

Thanks for both of your comments.
Soulway cropper; Very interesting what you say about light levels and ventilation levels.

airconednightmare; thanks for the 'commercially produced' tip. Googling that results in some interesting specifics on what certain plants like.

£10 a week is definitely rounded up, and it won't be far off this number if you have two 250W growing lights. But that type of gear will yield a lot of plants and is probably unnecessary for the individual growing vegetables. This is also assuming that you use the mains to power your stuff. Given the amount you yield it probably works out to a similar price per plant for what you pay at the supermarket?

[airconednightmare]

plants will have a min lumen requirement to produce a crop, the figure depends on what you are growing, rather than how much you are growing. a single plant placed in the center of a 1M sq grow room under a 600w light won't really do much better than if it was surrounded by another 4 plants, it won't grow on it's own under a 125w.

the lighting is the single biggest cost, however if you want to make the most of that investment you need to vent and replace all the air in the room at least once every 5 mins and more like 3 times a min if it's humid or hot outside. height x width x length = area sq x 3 = required cubic feet per min.

then ensure the plants have all the nutrients they need (in ways which they can easialy access) while not 'over feeding them', the ph needs to be spot on if you want the nutrients to be right. this is what takes time, no weeding but lots of checking everything once or twice a day!

then times than weekly cost by the 2-3 months it will take to get a harvest and to be honest, it never even came close to the supermarket prices.

tasted amazing though

[Paul Sill]

Have a look at a post in the blogging place, by jackb. He knows a lot about indoor growing.

[Cognitive Dissonance]

Thanks all, especially aircon.

Aircon, you seem to have a lot of technical knowledge. In the future I hope to send you a pm with various questions on the topics you mention in your last post.

I will have a read of jackb's blog also.

[Jelliebabe]

I think that most people wouldnt really have the room... I know I use lots of space to start up my seedlings... I certainly couldnt keep it all inside...