Considering Garden Tower 2 for indoors

6 years ago

I've been researching the Garden Tower 2 for an indoor garden. I have a successful outdoor garden but I am in north central Texas and would like lettuce all summer, which was what got me to looking at the tower. I have a place to put it in a South window. I *think* this would be enough light for the greens but if I'm going to do this instead of some kind of planter I would love to be able to benefit it from it with a few other veggies at times I can't grow them outside.

In addition to lettuce/herbs I'm considering a dwarf cherry tomato that could grow in the off season, maybe a few strawberries and possibly some broccoli. So I am uncertain about my window having a enough light for the tomato, strawberries or broccoli (I haven't grown strawberries or been very successful with broccoli outside. It get's hot too fast in the spring for my broccoli and cold too fast in fall and bugs add to my difficulties)

Even if the light is enough in the summer months I assume I would need more light for the tomato in the shorter days of winter. This is where I struggle. I want something streamlined and expensive and I have never used grow lights. In looking I wondered about some clip on, flexible led grow lights similar to this:

https://www.amazon.com/UPGRADED-Spectrum-Adjustable-Gooseneck-AMAZINGCATS/dp/B078SRT9CY/ref=sr_1_5?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1520890071&sr=1-5&keywords=led+grow+lights

Could something like this be clipped near the tomato plant and would that be sufficient to supplement the light coming in the window?

I've had trouble finding information about how much sunlight through a window is enough for veggies (particularly the tomato plant).

If I decide to do just greens/herbs how much direct sunlight from a window is enough? I have another window I would prefer to use if only doing greens but it gets less direct sunlight. It gets 3-5 hours in the morning depending on the time of year. The rest is indirect light.

I am open to suggestions on how to do this successfully indoors.

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Comments (2)

garybeaumont_gw
5 years ago
The tower seems very expensive, and would only work on one side indoors.

I have always wanted to buy this light fixture:

Hydroplanet T5 4ft 8lamp Fluorescent Ho Bulbs Included for Indoor Horticulture Gardening T5 Grow Lights Fixtures

and use one of the plastic shop shelving to hook to the light and put the planting tray. This should provide enough light for the tomatoes and any greens you would need. Entire set up would be about $200. Just use the black tubs used for mixing brick mortar they sell at Lowes. It would provide a 20 by 48 inch space for planting dwarf tomatoes or greens.

I knew of a elderly couple in Crowell, Texas that grew strawberries outdoors. They said the would last about 4 or 5 years before they would have to start over due to disease. They had a screen over the top to protect against birds.
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5 years ago
I am in Louisiana and my strawberries are in their third year in the ground outside in my garden. Mostly the berries get smaller and don't produce as well as the years add up. I also have problems with lettuce when it gets too warm. I was reading the other day about a person using shade cloth and growing lettuce successfully in temperatures up to 100. I am going to give that a try this year. Guess I should get going. Summer is in full swing.

I see that the light you are talking about has a timer with 3, 6 or 12 hour settings. I really like to leave the lights on tomatoes at least 8 hours, so I would probably use the 12 hour setting for them. Probably you can get by with 6 hours of light for the lettuce. This would apply for natural light through the window or for the led light.

I noticed that the tower seems pretty large for an indoor container, but maybe you have the room. I know this is a standby answer from gardeners, but go for it. You have to experiment to find out. You can always start trying the greens without light and add lighting if you find you need it. I think for the dwarf cherry tomato I would just get an individual pot. The tower looks like it would work well for strawberries. But, if you want to try them in the garden get some strawberry plugs this fall and plant them outside. You will be harvesting in the early spring. I just throw a frost protection cover over mine on the few days we get below freezing. Actually this winter I experimented with a short row and didn't even cover it in our record setting 9 degree low temperature. The plants did fine, but it makes me nervous to do this to my whole crop. So, I will continue to cover when temps drop below freezing.
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Considering Garden Tower 2 for indoors

Comments (2)

garybeaumont_gw

Advance Greenhouses

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