Microgreens can be grown year-round in side your house. They do not take up much room and grow quickly. You need only about 2 square feet of space to grow a full tray of microgreens. Microgreens need bright light as they germinate. Grow with LED or HOT5 fluorescent grow lamps.

Shallow trays and bowls make good containers for growing microgreens. Harvest after the seedlings have developed only a few true leaves, which typically occurs in 9 to 14 days. Use sharp scissors or herb snips to cut the greens off just above where they are rooting. Use fresh as harvested microgreens don't keep long in the refrigerator.

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Plants have varying requirements for how, where, and when to take cuttings, the ideal size of the cuttings, and how long they may take to root. Some plants, such as succulents, will root from the base of a leaf.

Others, such as begonias and African violets, will root straight from the leaf surface. This practice is called taking a split-leaf cutting.

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If you are considering using an HPS lamp exclusively in an enclosed space that does not receive any natural light, your plants may tend to elongate with thinner stems in a shade-avoidance response.

The bean plants on the right was grown from seed under only HPS lighting; note its very elongated internodes. The bean plants on the left was grown under a CMH lamp.

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White full-spectrum grow LEDs are not really white; they are blue diodes coated with a yellow phosphor, which creates the appearance of white light. Over time this phosphor coating can degrade, and the color of light it produces will change.

Full-spectrum LEDs will usually lean to the cool or the warm side, and you can use them accordingly for either foliage or flowering plants.

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Want to get a jump start on growing strawberries indoors? Look for bare-root plants you can pot up. Bare-root strawberries will arrive without any soil and bare roots - typically rubber banded together in bunches. To pot up, you'll separate each bare-root plant, make a hole in the potting mix to accommodate the roots, then gently set the plant roots into the mix and cover. Always make sure the growing crown of the strawberry plant is above the soil line. Water thoroughly.

Want to grow strawberries indoors? Look for day-neutral varieties such as alpine strawberries. Seed and plugs are available for Alpine and species strawberries. You can purchase bare-root plugs or transplants for Alpine strawberries and Everbearing (day-neutral) types.

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Using my quantum flux meter, I can measure PPF and PPFD output from my fluorescent grow lamps. Not enough light for the full-sun strawberry plant on the shelf, but just enough for small light-sensitive African violet plantlets I propagated.

To determine your average PPFD for a given lamp and space, take several measurements around the actual plant canopy (only the area where plants will be growing) from a specific distance from the light fixture. Average these numbers to get a meaningful PPFD value.

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

When choosing a container for starting your seeds, look for one that is only 2 to 3 inches deep and has drainage holes. Reusing plastic pots from your last garden center purchase is always a great idea. Larger containers that hold more soil may cause problems for tiny seedlings, as they can hold too much moisture or wick moisture away from the small root system.

Before you reuse plastic pots, make sure to disinfect them to prevent the spread of disease.

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Switching between color spectrums and types of lamps can help you influence plant-growth habit and trigger different stages of development. You can also mix and match different spectrums of light.

Fluorescent grow lamps are available in varying spectrums that you can switch out in your fluorescent fixture. You can mix fluorescent tubes of different spectrums in the same fixture to create your own light recipe.

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