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naturegirl37

Does anyone grow veggies indoors during winter?

naturegirl37
17 years ago

i have some micro tom tomato seeds, was told green beans grow well indoors year long, peppers, leaf lettuces, can anyone tell me there experiences.thanks

Comments (8)

  • vera_eastern_wa
    17 years ago

    For me peppers don't do well indoors are far as producing unless you have a light setup. I just bring a few in to winter over and they will keep producing leaves but no flowers will appear until mid February when the day length is getting longer. I'll just bring in 2 Habenero this year.
    I don't know about the rest, but I would assume they require long days to produce as well; therefore a proper light setup.

    Vera

  • lblack61
    17 years ago

    Wish I knew the answer to this one because I'd like to do the same. I have a few things in containers that I'm thinking of bringing indoors to winter-over. If I could get them to produce fruit over the winter, that would be a plus.

  • pitimpinai
    17 years ago

    Tiny Thai hot peppers do fine on windowsils. I don't know about other kinds of peppers. Kafir lime also does fine indoors. Jasmine will do fine in a room with bright sunlight. Oh, that's not veggie.

  • solana
    17 years ago

    I've dug and over-wintered Thai and Jalapeno peppers, some for 3 years. Similar experience to Vera's, though a west window with snow reflecting sunlight has worked well. I hand pollinate and get a few fruits.

    Basil sown indoors in January  technically not WSown, but sown in winter :)  provides a welcome fresh taste long before it would survive outdoors.

  • vera_eastern_wa
    17 years ago

    Thai Hot's and Jalapenos were the first peppers I brought in to winter-over 3 years ago. They were in a southern window, but still didn't get flowering/fruiting until mid February early March :D
    Chives do real well in the window if you have some. This is what I do to bring them in:
    1. Dig up a clump of chives now.
    2. Keep the pot outside until it has gone thru several hard frosts...you can even wait until snow. It will die back or look pretty sad! Your mimicking dormancy and then spring.
    3. Bring the pot indoors; trim away the dead foliage and place in a good south or west facing window.
    4. New shoots appear very shortly. When it gets about 10" tall you can start snipping. If it's pretty skimpy, trim back to 2" and it will come back fuller :D

    You can also look in your cupboard for some garlic cloves...assuming you have a bulb that wasn't treated to prevent sprouting, you can stick a few cloves *papery outing removed* into a pot filled with potting mix and enjoy some garlic greens!

    Vera

  • lblack61
    16 years ago

    Hmmm...did a search for growing veggies indoors in the winter...doesn't look like anyone's come up with anything else??
    I really, really would like to have at least a minimal variety of homegrown veggies indoors (without having to invest in a greenhouse)!

    Linda

  • dancinglemons
    16 years ago

    Linda,
    You do not need a greenhouse but you will need some REALLY good lighting to grow fruiting veggies indoors. I grow romaine, chard and some herbs indoors with 6500K fluorescent lighting. 2 Shoplights with 2 48inch tubes per light hung low over the plants. I grow hydroponically indoors because you get faster results than with soil (IMO). This is my first year doing this. Next year when I can afford a REALLY high power light I will grow tomatoes and peppers indoors (hydro only). I purchased a small beginner hydro unit from a seller on eBay but when it came I realized I could make the exact same thing very easily and that is what I did. If you want to learn about grow lights try the link below - it is geared to hydro but the lighting section would be appropriate for soil as well. You can also do a GOOGLE search for growing veggies indoors under lights and read some of the info that comes up. The growing under lights forum on GW is not very active but you could try to get some info over there.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Indoor lighting for growing veggies

  • lblack61
    16 years ago

    Thanks so much for the info :-)
    When did you start your seeds? Can you keep me posted on the progress?

    Linda

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