Fluorescent fixtures are relatively small, and you can mount them to all sorts of structures. If you have only a small space on the kitchen counter under the cabinets, you can mount an individual fluorescent fixture for one HO T5 tube right there.

This is a perfect spot for a few leafy kitchen herbs, such as basil or chives.

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If you are looking for a fast, easy way to create a dedicated growing space in your home, basement, or garage, a grow tent is a good solution. Grow tents create a microenvironment in which you have much more control than you would have in, say, an open office or a basement space.

Some retailers offer bundles or kits that provide all the basic gear. Grow tents are constructed with spaces for you to connect ducts to pull in fresh outside air and ventilate the heat. Some newer grow tents come with built-in fans, thermostats, and other gadgets that help you keep tight control over the growing environment.

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To measure light for growing accurately, buy a calibrated PAR quantum flux meter, which is a light sensor connected to a light meter. Botanists and horticulturalists use these tools, which measure the spectral region between 400 and 700 nm, to obtain the incident PPF your lamp delivers each second.

Newer meters are specially calibrated for the wider nanometer range commonly emitted by LEDs. Good quantum meters are not cheap, but if you’re interested in high yields they are an excellent investment.

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A few environmental factors will influence your success with indoor bonsai. Light, of course, is a big one. Most woody plant species that are trained as bonsai need more light than they would typically get with ambient indoor lighting. A single spotlight LED, properly placed, can help your bonsai thrive.

Most woody bonsai won't survive indoors for long, especially if they don't have lots of bright light (normally they'd be outdoors in a sunny location). Adding a grow light for your bonsai is a must.

Certain tropical plants can also serve well as trained bonsai. These tropicals will be better suited to living indoors year-round, but you will still need supplemental light for many types unless they are low-light plants.

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The critical photoperiod for female cannabis plants is about 12½ hours, with about 13 hours for male plants. A traditional lighting regimen to bring plants into flower is 12 hours of dark followed by 12 hours of light.

The dark period must not be interrupted with any light, and it typically takes two weeks under this photoperiod regimen for plants to bud. You will need an enclosed growing space such as a grow tent, a sealed closet space, or a grow room.

New BOOK! Gardening Under Lights: The Complete Guide for Indoor Growers

Aquaponic systems, or aqua gardens, combine hydroponic growing and aquaculture, or fish farming. Plant roots are suspended in a grow bed. Fish and other aquatic animals inhabit a tank with a gravel bed at the bottom.

Some aquaponic gardens are very large and must be sited outdoors or in a garage, but you can place a mini aqua gardens on your counter top. Don’t forget the grow lamp so your herbs or houseplants can grow vigorously!

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Thyme is a must have herb for your indoor kitchen garden, but it favors longer periods of light. Thyme will produce more essential oils under longer days (and longer photoperiods delivered with grow lamps). BUT, longer days also encourage flowering - and what you want to harvest is the foliage. So it's good to balance out your indoor lighting periods. You can grow thyme under 12 to 13 hours of light to delay flowering, but you may have slower foliage growth - or commit to keeping flowers pinched regularly and harvest leaves regularly under longer photoperiods of 14 to 16 hours.

In the outdoor garden, thyme needs to be in full sun with 6 to 8 hours of direct light. Indoors you can maintain healthy thyme indoors using cool-spectrum HO T5, CFL, or LED lamps.

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I have staged growing areas throughout my home and garage. For edible or flowering plants that need consistently cooler room-temperature growing conditions, I use focused plant lights in living areas, and plant shelves with fluorescent or LED lamps in other spare spaces.

This corner shelf unit, built out of some recycled cedar raised garden beds, houses plants that need to come inside for the winter, tropicals, orchids and other bloomers that aren’t flowering, seasonal herbs…and of course plants I haven’t found a place for yet.

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