Indoor Herb Garden Light

NASA used light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for the growth of plants in space because this type of lighting system uses less energy, lasts longer, and outputs focused, selected light important plants. Interestingly, these qualities that make it ideal for astronauts LED to grow the plants also apply when growing plants indoors, right to your apartment. Here are some tips on how to set up an indoor herb garden with LED lights as a main light source your plants.

Lighting Hints for Indoor Herb Gardens

It is a long and loving relationship that humans have developed with herbs; evidences for which date back to around 25000 BC. The popularity of herbs somewhat suffered during the medieval ages, nevertheless, with the Catholic Church giving way to logic-based wisdom, herbs once again returned to glory.

Now, a lot of people are making herbs an integral part of their lives; while the majority is happy with being in a habit to use the commercially available herb varieties as medicines and for garnishing, a handful have opted to trust only the homegrown variety of herbs. This, however, has both up sides and down sides and for the latter, it is an inappropriate light source that mostly stays responsible.

Those who prefer to raise an herb garden outdoors usually face very little or no trouble at all regarding the light; however, they need to depend on the seasonal varieties entirely whereas those growing it indoors don't care what season it is. Besides, weeding is also a problem that never troubles them. The problems crop up in other forms; for example, lighting, which may also make the herbs grown indoors less productive, less robust and possess less flavor. The only option is making available plenty of sunlight besides a good quality soil that drains well.

Now, that takes care of a part of the problem. The spring and the summer pose no problem regarding sunlight but it does during the winter or in tropical countries like India, during the monsoon. The only option then remains is getting hold of artificial light sources, which, if selected wrongly, shall be as good as making your money flow down the drain. So here is a little lowdown on the best artificial light source available and the types of fixtures that prove to be most appropriate.

For the spring and the summer months, the windowsills make great choices; even better, if they face either the east or the south. Regarding the supplemental natural lights (grow-lights), read on.

Bright, artificial lights form an essential part of indoor herb garden kits and you must have at least eight of them. They also come handy when the natural light levels are lower than usual and for those herbs that are sensitive to direct sunlight. You need to arrange the plants in such a way that each of them receives the light from at least two or three fluorescent light sources to increase greatly their growth and yield.

Incandescent lights make the best choice in this regard; they also produce the necessary heat. Just take care that the herbs requiring strong light and heat remain at a good distance from your herbs. This will be to prevent the plants from getting burned. Ideally, an incandescent bulb of 25W should be placed at a distance of 1 foot from the plants; for 100-watt bulbs, it's 2 feet and for 150-watt bulbs, it should be between 3 and 4 feet.

On the other hand a mercury vapor lamp emitting ultraviolet radiation-giving out a strong bluish light-is preferred for the primary light source for general illumination of the herb garden. It is also a good option for the herbs that are sensitive to heat and light. A mercury vapor lamp is more powerful than any given incandescent light and generates less heat, albeit a little more expensive.

For a low-budget solution, you may consider the fluorescent lights. They burn the coolest and prove to be most energy efficient among artificial lights. However, unless you follow certain procedures regarding the usage of an herb garden light, it shall bestow upon more harm than benefits. So always remember the points mentioned underneath:

1. The light source must stay at an adequate distance. This shall make the light spread more without burning the foliages. For mercury vapor lamps, a 5 feet distance shall prove a good one; it shall help the light to spread more. With fluorescent lights, closer they are placed, the better.

2. Since light acts like food to the plants, it must be measured. A foot-candle meter is thus essential; foot-candle is a unit of luminance on a surface that is everywhere 1 foot from a point source of 1 candle. Plants usually require 250 foot-candles of light for anything between 12 and 16 hours, though for some, 1000 foot-candles are essential.

Growing an herb garden is a task as easy as it is tough,
which can't be accomplished properly if a person doesn't have an eye for details. Unless you are keen upon meeting the requirements, such as the need for an herb garden light, your herb garden shall be as good as the tinsel town offering a lot of eye candy and yet no value.

by Paul Zeman
Paul Zeman is an Herb Garden Enthusiast who enjoys helping other folks get started with this most beneficial and rewarding hobby. His latest book, the Secrets of Successful Herb Gardeningteaches herb gardeners everything they need to know about herbs and herb gardening. Paul offers his members an awesome 10-lesson mini-course free, which is packed with cutting edge information. http://www.heavenlyherbgarden.com/

How To Grow An Indoor Herb Garden

 The use of fresh herbs for the kitchen is becoming more and more popular today than it has been for a long time. Our ancestors knew both the medicinal powers of spices and herbs, but it is only recently that fresh herbs have regained their popularity with chefs at home. This combined with the fact that many of us are today who lives in an apartment without the garden means that an indoor herb garden can be both decorative and useful.

How To Grow An Indoor Herb Garden - Try Growing Window Sill Herbs

To monitor your indoor herbs and keep them watered properly, it is a good idea to put your gardening on a schedule.

That way, your herbs will never become extremely dry and be put under stress full conditions.
When it comes to indoor herbs, they require a special maintenance care but when you see them grow the rewards are remarkable.

For them to thrive properly and healthily, most varieties of herbs will need to be exposed on full sun for six hours every-day.

The soil will need to be enriched and the container must have a perfect drainage.

Many people love indoor herbs but unfortunately they do not plan to cultivate it as it seem to be little complicated.

But in reality indoor herb growth is very much simple and fun. It gives a great cultural look to your house.

Certain herbs have medicinal values and can make your house atmosphere as a place with clean and pure air. Few people have indoor herb growth as their hobby and few are interested in outdoor gardening.

Watch for pests. Indoor herbs may be susceptible to spider mites and other pests.

To discourage them, mist your plants daily with a spray bottle of water.

This will also help to keep them hydrated.

If you do see pests, prepare a large bowl of lukewarm soapy water.

Hold the plant in the pot with one hand, and tip it over so that the leaves and stems are in the soapy water.

Swish it around in the water a few times.

The soap in the water will kill the bugs.

Some of the popular indoor herbs include lemon grass, which you can grow by cultivating a stalk in a container or pot with few inches of water.

The mint leaves are excellent tea and must be grown separately from other herbs as this variety of herb can be more invasive than the others.

The main problems on indoor herbs are whiteflies and spider mites, and occasionally, aphids can get out of control, as can mealybugs and scale.

For whiteflies, spider mites and aphids, Safer's insecticidal soap spray works very well.

The key is to drench the plants with the spray so every surface of the plants is covered.

For aphids and spider mites, I recommend dipping the whole above ground portion of the plants in a bucket of insecticidal solution mixed from the spray concentrate.

The great thing about soap spray is that it is harmless to animals and humans.
Chives are my favorite indoor herbs.

They're so easy to grow in or outdoors that I think it is almost impossible to kill them.
You don't even have to have a green thumb.

Fresh chives on a baked potato in the dead of winter are a delicacy.
They are just as good in the spring or summer, but to have fresh chives when there's snow on the ground is a culinary delight.

Main advantage in growing indoor herbs is that you can carry them anywhere, and place them in any appropriate area.

Annual herbs are kept indoors all the time whereas in the case of perennial herbs, they're kept outside during summer, and basically, all herbs are brought inside just before the first frost, and this is done to avoid the loss of foliage.

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About the Author
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