Total-control Indoor Gardening with Modern Hydrop

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There are two kinds of HID growlamps. Highpressure sodium lamps throw a fall-season reddish light that is best for flowering and fruit production. The light from metal halide lamps is more blue, better for early grown .They require different ballast values, so need their own attempts have been made fixtures. Several attempts at developing a single dual-spectrum bulb, but none seems to be effective enough to justify the added cost. Since I have plants at all stages of growth, I wanted both a sodium and halide lamp, but couldn't spend the money or devote the space for two separate systems. Then, The Light Manufacturing Company of Portland, Oregon, came out with a dual-bulb fixture costing well under $500 for a pair of 250-watt lamps that more than adequately illuminate the Lee Valley water table that is the centerpiece of my 4'x4' growing area. One end is fall, the other early summer, the middle a full-powered combination. I just move plants under the color(s) they need the most as they mature.

Lights are usually turned on and off automatically by plug-in timers. You can rig your system to illuminate your lifestyle. in a greenhouse, you'll want to augment natural sun. In an indoor growroom, or small setup in the corner of your living space, the 14- to 16-hour photoperiod can be scheduled for daytime or for overnight when electric rates are lowest. Just be sure, to give plants a full dark rest period ... except for peppers, that do best with 24 hours of light. I wonder where on earth they learned that little trick! For another $100 or so you can get revolving arms or motorized overhead tracks that will move your lights over the plants. This exposes all sides of all leaves to light for faster growth, and replicates the sun's natural movement. I've been tempted to wire an automatic rheostat into the power supply so light will turn up and dim gradually at dawn and dusk as does the sun, but I doubt the plants would care.

Hydroponics Economics

A 500-watt system produces enough heat to keep our cabin at our preferred 551 to 65°F range on all but the coldest most windy winter days. Moisture from the system humidifies the air better than any machine I've ever used. The faint fragrance of growing plant life adds a vitality that is usually missing in winter air.

I figure that the lamp heat would save me the $100 price of a cord of wood over a four-month winter heating season (if I had to buy stove wood). The wood cost savings would more than offset the half-dollar-a-day electricity cost of the lamps that would cost $75 over that 150day time period (if I didn't generate my own electricity). That way, I'd be $25 ahead, not counting the saved cost of buying and operating a humidifier. More important, I save about a dollar each day over those four months in fresh salad parts not purchased. That makes it about $200 a year that the hydroponic system saves me. Even the elaborate system I indulged in will pay for itself in four years.

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