Spring in the Basement

The outdoor gardening season is over - we've had our first significant snow. If something didn't get done by now, it probably isn't going to get done 'til spring. The north country's second season begins now - indoors. Many people just have a green plant or two in a bright place that serves to keep them connected to the "real" world, but for me it's spring in the basement.

I looked at the lighted carts and stands that were available, but I'm such a needy, greedy plant lover that my budget can ill afford them, so I have learned to make my own. The do-it-yourself building centers carry everything I need and the process is really simple. The work-horse unit is in my basement. I bought parts for those design-your-own closet systems with wire shelves. They attach to the wall in the back and have free-standing legs in front. The shelves are 2' deep and 4'long. I have two sets of three shelves side by side sharing the center leg. Two inexpensive fluorescent shop light fixtures hang from the upper two shelves of each unit. The cords are all plugged into 2 power bars. Each of the bars is plugged into an inexpensive timer.

One of the biggest myths of light gardening is that you need special full-spectrum bulbs. These are available, but they are very expensive, and I've never found that I need them. I use one warm white and one cool white bulb in each fixture. Plants use the red and blue ends of the spectrum and the rest is pretty much wasted anyway. There's a really good, easy to understand discussion of this subject here.

The shop lights come with chains to suspend it from the shelves above, so it is adjustable. Most plants do well with the lights 12 to 18 inches above the leaves, but in late winter, when I start seeds for outdoors, I lower them to 6 to 8 inches above the seedlings when the first true leaves develop. It keeps them short, strong and stocky.

The length of time the light is on is another issue. For maintenance 12 hours is fine, but to flower things, 16 is better. Some plants require short nights (long days) to set flower buds (fuchsia, calceolaria, begonias and most annuals) others are programmed to long nights (short days)(chrysanthemums, poinsettias, jade and kalanchoe). Some are called day-neutral because light is not the trigger for their flowering. Most of the day-neutrals begin to flower when they are big enough or the light intensity is strong enough (African violets, geraniums, impatiens and tomatoes).

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