I remember as a kid that pulling weeds in the garden was a punishment. Whenever I got in an argument with one of my brothers, my parents sent us out to the garden to pull weeds. No matter how often we had these arguments, there were always weeds to be pulled. My brothers and I learned that arguing was not worth an hour of pulling weeds. Blisters, muscle aches, sunburn, dirt wedged under fingernails–nothing I can say about pulling weeds paints a nice picture. It really is a chore. Somehow my love of gardening survived these bouts with weed pulling. However, even though I have a garden of my own and no one is here to assign weed pulling as a punishment, it still feels like torture. Maybe my abiding dislike of pulling weeds is the reason why a year ago I purchased a couple of grow lights and moved my garden indoors.
If the truth be told, it wasn’t just the weeds that motivated my move indoors. I have always loved chilies. I decided that even though I had to contend with a short growing season, I was going to grow chilies in my garden. I started my chilies on the windowsill in my kitchen. I made sure they got plenty of light and kept the temperature in my house just right. When I felt like it was warm enough outside, I transplanted my chilies to my garden. I continued to baby my chilies all through the summer.
Just as I was starting to see pods growing on my plants, a rogue hail storm came through town while I was at work and wiped out my garden. This was the worst in a series of gardening frustrations. When I looked at my chili plants, I made the decision right then and there to move inside. I purchased my grow lights that same afternoon.
I really didn’t know what I was doing at first, but I knew that I was never gardening outside again. I researched online and made contact with hydroponic growers in my area. These growers were kind enough to show me how to get started with my own hydroponic garden, and combined with my online research, I soon felt confident enough to get started. Because of my inexperience with hydroponics gardening, I bought a small hydroponics kit online. I didn’t want to make my own garden because I didn’t want to commit any errors that might ruin my garden before it had a chance to really get started. The hydroponics kit I bought did not come with a grow light. I chose this path on purpose. I didn’t like any of lights I saw that came with the grow kits I was able to find. I wanted to make sure I could provide the best light possible for my garden, so I went with a couple of LED grow lights.
Because I now grow my produce in a hydroponic garden, I can now get way more yield than I did in my outdoor garden while not even using half the space. My grow lights allow me to control the amount of light my plants get. As a gardener, having the option to control the light my garden receives feels like a real blessing. With an outdoor garden, I was always worrying about whether my plants were getting enough light. I worry about light no more. Best of all, I don’t have to worry about growing seasons. I can grow fresh vegetables in my indoor garden year round. I have to say that I love gardening more now thanks to my hydroponic garden and a couple of grow lights.
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