Total-control Indoor Gardening with Modern Hydrop

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Beans. All kinds and maturities of fresh beans (snap, lima, SOY, fava) will do well. like all big seeds, they are best started in Cocopeat or perlite mix; if pushed down into a rockwool cube, the seeds may rot. Bush beans are easiest and fastest, but pole beans can be grown on string supports. Shift from a general-purpose nutrient to a low nitrogen solution once the plants have finished leafy growth.

 Beets for greens and and roots. Best in a box filled with a loose medium such as a sand, perlite, or verniiculite mix.

Broccoli. Raab-type leafy variety grows fast and can be harvested over several weeks. Heading types need a lot of space. Varieties such as old-time De Cicco with small main heads and lots of side sprouts produce the most in the least space. Feed heavily once heading begins.

Carrots. Same as for beets. The thimble-size miniatures do well. Long types need a deep medium bed.

Celery. As hard to grow in hydroponics as in soil. Needs a light medium, uninterrupted moisture (three drenchings a day), and cool soil temperatures.

Cucumbers. Try the greenhouse varieties. You must provide support for vines. Best grown in cooler, dryer seasons to avoid mildew plagues that are hard to prevent in hot humid conditions (mildew spores are in the air everywhere). It's hard not to spread molds, as plants must be suckered (sprouts at base of fruiting stems nipped out). Gynoecious (all female) varieties need special care; instructions come with the very expensive seeds (up to $1 per seed available in books. A hydroponics special; there is much information available on growing cucumbers. Since no ripening time is needed, you can harvest edible fruit as' quickly as 40 days after seedling. Growers in cooler areas should try the Corona variety from Stokes Seeds.

Eggplant. Can be grown as a perennial and will grow into a woody bush that blossoms and fruits several times a year-size of plant limited only by amount of medium. You might choose dwarf-growing varieties. When fruit begins to develop, reduce nitrogen. Pollinate blossoms as with tomatoes.

 Flowers. Nearly all do well ... from long-stemmed roses and orchids that require special care to vining nasturtiums that will grow wild through your other plants and contribute young leaves and spicy flowers (without aphids) to salads.

 Herbs. Lush herbs such as basil thrive. Arid land aromatics such as thyme do better outside in the rock garden. We are told that "extralegal" exotics, including certain varieties of cactus, mushroom, poppy, and rope fiber, are cultivated under lights in many rural locales. But we also hear that the DEA (federal narcs) monitors sales of hydroponics gear and likes to bug or tail large shipments of FloraGro or Hi-Intensity lamps going by UPS to. some isolated, rundown old farmhouse in the country. The Internet abounds with information and equipment for indoor exotic-herb growing. For example, you can find a fullyenclosed self-contained growing chamber six feet high and over a yard through. it costs $2,000 and You'd have a hard time convincing the SWAT, team leader that you want it to grow sweet corn in January. MOTHER suggests you stick with tomatoes and cucumbers.

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