Did you know? You can harvest peppers at different stages of ripeness, from green to red to dry on the plant. Most peppers change in color from green to purple and then mature to yellow, orange, or red, as they become more ripe.

Peppers are a generally compact and easy-to-grow crop for the outdoor and indoor garden. Hot peppers are some of the easiest edibles to grow, and I highly recommend them as a first crop for new gardeners.

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

Sooty mold can completely cover leaves of infected plants. It is made up of several types of fungal species and is a grey- to black-colored mold that grows on the honeydew residue produced by aphids, scale, and whiteflies.

To correct sooty mold, wipe plant leaves with soapy water, a plant wash product, or neem oil.

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Your space can be darker than you think just a few feet away from a window. Especially if you tend to keep binds or curtains pulled for privacy or to reduce glare in your room. What seemed like a bright space, might not be bright enough for your plants. What's the solution? Grow lights!

Hanging LED spotlights on the wall can keep your plants happy even in darker spaces.

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

Some plants develop lateral or aerial roots that let you know where you can root them. This section of tomato stem is begging to be rooted.

In this photo you can see these aerial roots, or adventitious roots, just waiting to pop out from the stems of this tomato plant. You can bury the tomato plant deeper in the soil, where these aerial roots will make the plant stronger. Or, you can take a cutting from this section of the plant, which will root more quickly.

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Want to grow bonsai indoors? Temperature and dormancy requirements of certain species will imparct your success with indoor bonsai. Deciduous species of tree bonsai--such as elm--will drop their leaves, just as they would in fall and winter outdoors.

Give them some time in a dormant period outside, as temperatures cool in the fall, before transitioning them back indoors, which will trigger them to begin growing and leafing again. We all need a break sometimes!

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

Aeroponic propagators can be used to root cuttings of all sorts of plants. While you can't see what's going on below the soil or in the propagator, roots are slowly forming.

Some plants can take a couple of months to root, while others will root in a week’s time. For plants that like warm growing conditions, or if you’re starting cuttings in winter or in a cool part of your home, use a seedling heat mat under the rooting tray to speed things up.

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Propagation incubators, such as deep-water propagators, can make rooting plant cuttings ( cloning) much easier. They typically use hydroponic or aeroponic methods for root cuttings.

These deep-water propagator setups will provide moisture, air, and rooting hormones at the right levels to deliver a high rate of success with your cuttings.

Gardening Under Lights Book

There are many types of plants that simply can't thrive indoors without supplemental lighting from grow lamps. But there are a few lower-light house plants that can thrive in medium- to low-light conditions indoors. Chinese evergreen is one such houseplant.

In particular, I'm fond of this variety, simply called 'Red'. Now, low-light doesn't mean NO light! If it's too dark in your space, then even these tough, easy houseplants won't thrive. A bright room without direct hot sunlight is best. Of course, you can always use spotlight LEDs or CFLs to provide supplemental light to individual houseplants if they aren't getting enough natural light.

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