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Secrets for better indoor growing -

There are many reasons for growing indoors, raising exotic plants, such as orchids, that require a different environment than is available where you live, or to produce fresh food year round. There are several factors involved in growing healthy plants indoors.

1. Light: Light is one of the basic needs plants have to live, grow and thrive. Winter's outdoor levels of light are inadequate for the majority of plants to do anything more than survive so if you are growing indoors you will have to have supplemental light. Supplemental light falls into two categories as far as plants go:

- High Intensity Discharge (HID) fixtures and bulbs are expensive. The bulbs create a lot of heat and are somewhat dangerous, as well as drawing a lot of power, which can make indoor gardening a hobby you spend money on instead of a hobby that pays for itself.

- Florescents do not put out nearly as much light as HIDs so you will have to invesst in more fixtures and bulbs to create a similar level of supplemental light. They create little heat and usually plants can grow in direct contact with the bulb without harming the plant. Higher color temerature (5000K and higher), daylight deluxe, or other bulbs are the best, however having a mixture of bulb types in a room will offer a better balance of light. Just bare in mind that the light from lower color temperature bulbs (4000K and lower) or cool light bulbs give off more red spectrum and can be thought of as the sunrise/sunset spectrum of light. Grow light bulbs are a complete waste of money. Daylight deluxe bulbs have a better blend of light and are way cheaper, especially if you go to a Lowe's or Home Depot and buy a case of bulbs.

- All other forms of light, such as incandescent, halegon, and neon are generally unhealthy for plants and should be avoided.

2. Growing medium: What you grow your plants in is extremely important, especially when you are growing in containers. I recommend a blend of 75% spaghum and 25% perlite. This combination holds moisture well, conducts nutrients well, keeps appropriate oxygen levels in the soil, if you do not drown it, and it drains well. Adjustment to the medium content can be made to meet the special needs specific plants, but I use this blend for about 90
% of the types of plants I raise.

Adding a soil inoculant is also important as plants rely on symbiotic relationships with several types of soil born micro organisms. Adding some bits of natural hard wood charcoal (not

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