I just thought I would share how I grow my tropical trees indoors. Living in Northern Virginia there is absolutely no way I can grow Ficus outdoors, so I had to become creative with what I do indoors. Here we go.

Here is a shot of the whole growing space for right now (it's been changed since this picture):

I use aquariums to grow a lot of my Ficus. They hold in heat and humidity and allow me to place a light over top. What I do is I wrap each side of the aquarium with aluminum foil so that the light coming from above is reflected all around the tank:

I have about 3 aquariums in use.

I also have a big 55 gallon tote that I grow my trees in. Hooked up to this tote is a fogger. Over top is a light. I spray painted the sides flat white to reflect the light from above:

Old picture, but it shows the fog:

I am now also switching from T8 shoplights to T5 grow lights, and I've got great results from the T5 lights. Here a shot of one of the 4 foot, 4 bulb lights on a temporary stand:

Hopefully this will help others who are interested in growing tropicals indoors.

Ryan

What is the cost of your system? Looks very interesting and doable.

Aloha

Which system are you referring to? They were all under $70.

Josh

The system I was asking about was the fish tank, the lights and light stand, table and t5 grow lights. I had a ficus that I left outside one night too long and killed it. This set up would be perfect for the tropicals that I plan to grow when I bring them indoors during winter. Thanks. Aloha

I adjusted one of the light setups and I now have this: