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shemwelljr

Please Help - Want To Buy For My Wife

shemwelljr
13 years ago

Hello garden experts. Okay, I know little about gardening. My wife loves to plant flowers outside, grows tomatoes and such, and really lights up when gardening. It is obvious that she LOVES it. I think she would love to be able to expand her gardening and grow plants/flowers indoors as well. She likes to give plants and flowers away to others, to brighten their day, as she has with some elderly clients that we work for. So, I want her to be able to grow plants/flowers indoors as well, and want to buy her a system by which she can do so.

I've looked into hydroponics, but was told that it isn't recommended that one tries to transplant plants grown that way into soil outdoors. My wife may want to do so, and I want her to have that option if she wants.

I've also looked into aeroponics, which looks more promising and from what I've read has a better success rate when transplanting into soil and sun rather than the system and grow lights.

But there is probably a way to just grow plants indoors in soil as well, with grow lights.

In the end, there are WAY too many options and I'm WAY too ignorant about what would be the best way to accomplish this. I have been saving and want to surprise her with some type of system to get her started. A couple hundred bucks or so to kick things off. I'd love to give her the opportunity to grow several different plants and some flowers indoors, to then be able to put them in pots with soil and give them away, or to be able to plant them outside if she likes.

So, what would you ladies and gentlemen recommend? I've tried researching on my own, and learned a lot, but I'm overwhelmed and need advice from people that have experience with indoor gardening and taking the indoor garden outside.

Thanks so much for any help,

Mike

Comments (2)

  • wordwiz
    13 years ago

    Michael,

    I admire your dedication to making your wife a happy camper!

    There is no reason you have to transplant indoor grown plants outdoors - you can grow the year round inside if you want.

    But if you intend to move indoor plants outside, you have to realize most plants will undergo a shock - mainly from the much more intense light as well as wind. One way to ameliorate this is to build a very temporary shelter over the outdoor plants (presuming you are transplanting into a garden) with a piece of sheet or shade cloth.

    Now if you are talking about starting seeds next winter/spring, it's a different story. You just need a couple of shop lights and some nursery trays (or cottage cheeze tubs or similar!). No need to go hydro!

    Mike

  • aveo5
    13 years ago

    Just an idea. For less than $100 you can get a BIG AeroGrow hydroponic garden system. The 'Classic 7 pod' garden. It is $99...shipped free, and you get everything you need for the first garden...all she has to do is put in water, plug it in, and add the seedkit, and watch it grow! I think that might be the answer for you. Maybe??? She can grow, flowers, herbs, veggies, salads, what ever she likes. I have 3 of the big gardens, the Classic 7 pod ones, and they are soilless, come with their own lights, basically you add water,plug it in, put in a seedkit, and watch it grow!

    While I am NOT a fan of the company at all! Frankly they are rude, and slow to help, and run out of replacement parts frequently, even when you have a warranty, if you need parts. BUT, it is pretty reliable. Easy to use, once you know how to use it. You can plant your own custom seeds, and barely spend any money at all, after she gets use to using the garen. Maybe this would be her speed?

    She can even root cuttings of favorite plants, or root things to put outside after they are rooted. They root fast inside under the lights in the garden. After the initial investment, all you buy are seedkits at $15 each, at like once every 4-6 months, new light bulbs every 6-9 months,$15 for 2. And once she is use to which ever unit she has, it can cost next to nothing, by planting her own seeds, in her own seedpods that she can buy on EBay, at a much lower price. A seedkit from AeroGrow is now $15...use to be $19...I now make my own seedkits, for less than $5 each. I buy in bulk on EBay, and then buy seeds for $1 a package,that can last for several gardens. It is really clean, no dirt, no bugs, no disease, and like I said, after the investment of buying the garden, either small,medium or large, all you do is add water,you get a seedkit with your first purchase, (gives you practice), and then plug it in, set the light timer, and it is pretty much self reliant. Its an idea.

    Trust me, I have no love for that company! But my 3 gardens have been very reliable, and in south Fla, I can grow petunias in the heat of summer,...or variety of salads in a matter of 4 weeks or less,or root cuttings of plants in as little as a week or two! Everything grows very fast,and if anything fails, they do replace them. THAT they do pretty fast. But in general, their customer service,even with a 1 year warranty that comes with every garden,...they DRAG their feet. But it would probably make your wife happy,and you can buy used ones,in great shape, for nearly half price on EBay or Amazon.com

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