Ask The Plant Lady

Posts Tagged ‘Specifics’

Growing plants and vegetables have long been a favourite pastime for many people. The introduction of Hydroponics has really changed the way people have started to think about plant growing as having no need for soil opens up a wealth of possibilities. Growing plants and vegetables in grow tents and grow boxes are excellent ways of making use of hydroponics by giving them the nutrients they need without soil or compost. Other advantages of using Hydroponic grow tents are that simply, less growing time and less space is required. You also more control over the plants environment such as the humidity and root zone’s temperature.

What is a Grow Tent?

A grow tent is usually square shaped like a box and is lined with specially commissioned Total Blackout White/Black/White Sheeting for high light (lumen) levels inside the tent. They are generally very easy to set up and are usually quite affordable ranging from around £40 – £600. The interior walls of the grow tent will help radiate light whilst the black walls on the outside will absorb the heat. There are of course many different styles and sizes of grow tents, my advice is to choose the best fitting size  for where you are going to store it. The fact that they can fit wherever you need them to is a great advantage, this means that they can be practically used by anyone, anywhere.

How do they work?

Hydroponic grow tents allow you to control every aspect of the plant/vegetables environment to allow it to grow at maximum efficiency. This includes controlling the heat, water and light. Having control over these factors means that you can grow virtually any plant possible as you can mimic specifics plants environments. Only when a plant has the right amount of sunlight and nutrients will it become healthy and strong. With a hydroponics grow tent you can even set up enclosures for different types of plants to be grown at the same time.

What else?

Hydroponic grow tents can also be very environmentally friendly and can save you a lot of money as hydroponics systems require a lot less water than conventional gardening. To save electricity you can set timers on all of your fans, lights and heaters. This doesn’t just help with your electricity bills, it is also rather vital for the plant as you can then give your plants the correct amount light and heat.

I’ve lived in the city all my life. I’m talking fast-paced, crowded, loud, apartment dwelling, city living. Don’t get me wrong. I love the hustle and bustle of city life. I love the access to all sorts of activities and entertainment at my fingertips. But, I also love the color and scent of beautiful flowers, and picking them up at the corner flower shop, before I come home each night, just isn’t cutting it any more.

Recently, I’ve wanted to make some changes in my life. Slow things down. Stop and smell the roses, if you will. Things have gotten too hectic at work and I want my home (yes, apartments are “home” for many of us) to be a relaxing, safe-haven for me to return to after a hard day at work.

When I said, “Stop and smell the roses” earlier, I meant that literally. I am very jealous of those people who have enough room in their yards for an outstanding flower garden. This started me wondering why I can’t have it all. Living in the city and tending to a flower garden. What to do, what to do!? Then it came to me. I could create my own flower garden out on the balcony of my apartment. Don’t laugh! This is do-able! I just needed to do a little research and get some help converting my balcony into my Garden of Eden.

Now, I’m like many other single people today who carefully budget their income, and I understood what an investment transforming my balcony would be. I had to find pots and seeds that were cheap yet pots and seeds that added beauty. I did a lot of scientific research to find the best flowers for the climate I live in, that would grow in the blazing sun of morning and shade in the afternoon, and would re-flower each spring … oh who am I kidding? Those specifics are for other gardeners. I picked flowers first off because I liked their colors. The Purple Coneflowers and Foxgloves both have beautiful shades of purple. I made sure they both grow all summer and even into the early fall. I wanted to enjoy them each year for as long as possible. Luckily, they are easy to care for (the Coneflowers are even drought resistant). After all, I don’t have a well developed “green thumb” yet.

In my research I found a website that provides the seeds and solid advice on how to plant and nurture them. It even had a link that provided many options for pots to plant in. For a beginner, this was like hitting the mother lode.

By the way, I found some really cool wrought iron planter brackets to place my pots into. My balcony is also made of wrought iron and these brackets can be hung right off of it. There is room for about five pots in it or space to just plant the seeds directly into the planter. There are adjustable flowerpot mounts available if I ever decide to place some additional single pots in them or some hanging baskets that I could suspend. There are so many choices out there!

I am thrilled it is springtime and I can get started on my new “garden” soon.

I would like to get a job as a landscaper. Although i dont know a whole lot about it. I enjoy being outside so i figured it was a good job idea rather than working as fast food. Can you offer me some specifics on landscaping? Does it include gardening and planting flowers etc?

going for a zen look, for a group project, i choose the plants to grow in a stone garden, my group is planning on growing bamboo and hibiscus along these walls
we would like to put the bamboo in some sort of planter box so that it won’t grow into the ground, and we want the hibiscus to grow on the walls

I need to fix my front yard and transform it to a desert landscape. Currently the front yard is full of dirt. I’ve looked at websites but can’t find specifics of what I need to do. I need ideas that are not costly. Any websites would be appreciated. I am trying to do it myself.