A hydroponic winter garden allows you to grow your own herbs and vegetables indoors
. If you are growing indoors during the winter months then all those things that cause heat build-up during the summer months no longer present quite as much of a problem during the winter months. In fact during the winter, the opposite can be true, with the lower third of your grow room, your hydroponics reservoir water and your hydroponics grow room floor too cold for your plants.
Generally speaking, too cold means below 68F. The shocking of roots and slowing of nutrient uptake is usually caused by a colder root zone area in either the air surrounding the containers or in the nutrient solution itself.
Other problems also occur when room, floor or nutrient temps fall below 68F. Your plants can become stressed making them more susceptible to disease and pests. The worst thing is that the low temperature gives fungi, pests and disease a good environment to thrive in. The weaker the plants the more at risk they become.
As a caring grower who wants the best possible yields you probably have taken steps to upgrade your grow room climate control. The air mixing/circulation and root zone temperature so that your winter grow will continue to provide you with the huge harvests you enjoy during the warmer months. Youve made sure that your temps from floor to ceiling are between 68F and 74F.
The great thing about winter is that you can divert a lot of the excess heat back into other areas of your home especially the heat produced by HID and MH lighting. You can also allow any excess HID heat to help warm your grow room. This can really help you to save on the cost of heating!
Its easy to use your indoor garden to propagate new plants ready for planting out in the spring. Take care to allow the young plants to get used to direct sun a little at a time with some shading. Until then, stay warm, but not too warm, and enjoy your indoor hydroponics summery environment while the cold weather rages outside!