Rocky Mountain Gardening: What do you enjoy planting?, 2 by Solace

Solace wrote:
Nele, you can use lattice to keep out pets for a little area with south windows in your house set aside to grow plants indoors. I am moving toward the Dutch bucket system, currently have over 200 seedlings started and under a little 35 watt Sunland full spectrum flourescent light (the light has to be very close to the little seedlings). For now I'm just hand watering the seedlings which are in the blue solo plastic solo cups with holes in the bottom and the media I use is 50% vermiculite and 50% perlite. Some, are experimental with the half and half vermiculite/perlite and half soil from last year's raised bed. They're all doing very well, even the corn with the combination of sunlight from the windows and the flourescent grow light. For a fixture, I just attached the light to a long 2x4 and turned it upside down suspended from 2 cement blocks on either end of a door blank setting on more cement blocks. I will probably get another of the same light for the second level, as the door blank is already filled with plants! Good thing about those little lights (around $35 each) is you can daisy-chain them together and then just one plug in the wall outlet. It doesn't use much electricity, either. I also have a fan in there I run right after feeding them, with the window open, they get ample Co2 to grow well, and I feed them 2 teaspoons of the Foxfarm liquid hydroponics fertizer mixed with one gallon water in mornings and evenings. Growing inside seems your only worry-free option at this point. I hope we get more rain and snow in the high country.
Blessings,
DJ in the San Luis Valley
pics:
A variety of veggies, on this table and more corn, avocado trees, pineapple tree, tomatoes and green beans growing next to the windows with an aisle down the center of a 5 x 16' space (5x12 actual growing area). It's doable.