It looks like the cold weather is finally leaving.
After a weekend of having to cover the raised beds last weekend, the sun is finally shining again, and the vegetables that you planted are stretching their small beginnings toward that light. You know that the regional wisdom indicates that you should not plant flowers until Mother’s Day weekend, but you know that it will be difficult to resist the temptation to stop by your favorite indoor gardening store this weekend. Anxious for a little pop of color by your front door, you might even decide to buy a couple of large potted plants that. It might be too early to plant the flowers in your beds, but a couple of large pots will probably be fine, they will be close to the warmth of the house, and if you need to you can always bring them into the garage.
Whether your weakness is wandering the aisles of your favorite indoor gardening store or you enjoy the outdoor tents with thousands of starter plants, this weekend is sure to be a busy one for many of the gardening centers around the country. And while some parts of the nation are still worried about a couple more mornings of cold weather, some gardeners eliminate the worry of outdoor conditions by creating the perfect indoor garden environmental control. With plant health as a mission, these indoor gardeners make sure that they have the latest in indoor garden lighting systems and hydroponics equipment. And while indoor, climate controlled gardening is merely a past time for some gardeners who are waiting for warmer outdoor temperatures, an entire industry works to make the best use of these gardening techniques.
When Was the Last Time That You Visited an Indoor Gardening Store?
Although many people think of an indoor gardening store as a place to purchase the items needed for small home gardens, today’s indoor gardening store is also a resource for larger growing operations. From offering both lighting and watering solutions, these stores can make sure that gardeners new to the indoor growing experience, as well as seasoned pros, can get their questions answered, their problems solved, and their plans started. Consider some of these statistics about the indoor gardening industry:
- Two, three, or four tiered metal plant stands are the best way to hold many plants in a small area.
- Indoor growers can plant four times the amount of crops in the same space as that of traditional soil farming.
- The use of hydroponics can increase growth rate by as much as 50% when compared to plants grown in soil. As a result, these hydroponic plants have an increased yield.
- 76% of all households with a food garden grew vegetables in the year 2014, this was a 19% increase since the year 2008.
- 35% of all households in the U.S., which includes 42 million households, were growing food at home or in a community garden in the year 2014. This number increased up 17% since 2009.
- Indoor farmers claim that some of the aquaculture crops use 90% less water when they are compared to the same crops in traditional soil farming.
Whether you are a leisure gardener who is looking for a way to get an early start on the growing season or you a a business farmer who is looking for a way to significantly increase your yields, more and more Americans are looking at indoor gardening spaces as an option. With the controlled environment, including water application, many people see indoor gardening as a field that will expand again and again in the next decade.
In its most basic application, indoor and hydroponic gardening can help a family better answer questions about where their food is coming from. In a time when people want to live closer to the food that they eat, few things are more ideally located than a small herb garden growing in your basement. Who knows where that one small idea will grow in the future. Indoor gardening opportunities continue to expand and offer possibilities to growers across the nation. Of you are ready to start growing your own vegetables, this weekend just might be the time to put that green thump to work!