11 Things to Grow in a Grow Tent Any Time of Year

A home grow tent lets you grow vegetables and flowers indoors all year long.

For many gardeners, indoor growing is limited to sowing seeds on a windowsill and adding supplemental lighting for seedlings in spring. It might mean overwintering rosemary and basil in winter. However, for some gardeners, indoor growing increasingly means acquiring a grow tent to garden vegetables, fruits, and flowers year-round indoors.

Grow tents aren’t limited to hardcore gardeners. They are going mainstream because they boost people’s success in growing plants indoors.

What Is a Grow Tent?

At its simplest, a grow tent is a fabric cover stretched over framing, with an access door or panel and some lighting. While many grow tent kits and manufacturers exist, some folks prefer to DIY, and it’s totally possible to do so. Commonly, the interior surface is reflective, which enhances the efficiency of the lighting, especially to lower canopy leaves. Ventilation is important, as is a good controllable lighting system. Most kit systems come with a fan and LED lighting.

Grow tents offer several advantages, including the ability to control humidity, temperature, and lighting. If you’ve tried to grow a tomato indoors in winter, you’ve likely experienced frustration. The plant may live but set little fruit. Rosemary is notoriously difficult to overwinter indoors, and you’ve likely never met anyone who grew cucumbers in their spare bedroom in December. However, all these things are possible, especially with a grow tent.

Plants to Grow in a Grow Tent

There’s almost no limit to what you can grow in a grow tent. The tent can be as small as a tabletop system or as large as 6 feet tall with space for dozens of potted plants, and tucked into a spare bedroom. Here are some of the types of plants you might grow in a grow tent.

1. Tomatoes

Tomatoes are among the most popular vegetables to grow in regular outdoor gardens, and they can work well in a grow tent. The key is to choose small varieties of plants and keep the temperature and humidity at ideal levels. With regular feeding and light (and a bit of hand pollination), you can harvest tomatoes all winter or any time of year you want.

2. Mushrooms

If you enjoy home-grown mushrooms, a grow tent can be a perfect addition to your hobby. Providing the exact humidity, temperature, and lighting for a mushroom crop can be challenging when growing them in our homes, but those factors are easily controlled in a grow tent. You can even buy grow tents specialized for mushroom growing.

3. Leafy Greens

Lettuces, spinach, kale, chard, and other greens are a common first step into the world of growing produce indoors. They’re less picky about conditions, don’t need pollination, and are cut and come again for a prolonged harvest.

Even a small grow tent can provide a continuous harvest of leafy vegetables, and you’ll enjoy watching them grow green and lush. Succession planting is easy; just start a new pot or two every couple of weeks.

4. Peppers

Peppers of all kinds often are challenging to grow outdoors. For those in the north, it’s common to have vibrant plants that don’t set much fruit because there are not enough warm days. Many varieties need 100 days or more to mature, which can be a problem. However, peppers in a grow tent aren’t limited by cool nights, early frosts, or a lack of light. A large grow tent can easily provide more peppers than you know what to do with alongside other vegetables.

5. Strawberries

A grow tent can be very handy for growing your own fruit, and for many people, dwarf varieties are one of the easiest types of strawberries to grow indoors. Choose varieties adapted for greenhouse systems. The care is similar to growing them in containers, except they are usually grown vertically in a grow tent, allowing many plants to occupy a small footprint.

6. Root Vegetables

While root vegetables aren’t common choices for indoor growing or even growing in containers, with the 365-day growing season a grow tent provides, it’s easy enough to set radishes or even carrots in the corner of the tent and forget about them. You’ll need a deep pot, of course, but you’ll probably be surprised at how many baby carrots you can grow and how quickly they’ll be ready. Varieties like ‘Little Finger’ can be harvested in only eight to ten weeks.

7. Vining Veggies

A tall grow tent can easily work for raising climbers like cucumbers, pole beans, or peas. Give them something sturdy to climb up to maximize growing space. They’ll be fresher than the expensive and insipid selection at the grocery store and available no matter the season.

8. Culinary Herbs

Fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme, and oregano used to be available only in summer. Now, you can get an overpriced sprig of thyme or some wilted oregano at the store anytime, but in a grow tent, even a small one, a selection of herbs, including tender mint, basil, and cilantro, can all be kept growing and happy for fresh snipping and cooking. It might be the easiest and most flavorful use for a small grow tent. While these herbs can be kept alive on a shelf with light, they’ll grow better and faster in the controlled conditions offered by the grow tent.

9. Cacti

If you like to grow a selection of cacti, you might be impressed by what a grow tent allows you to do. Use a grow tent as a large terrarium to maintain the humidity, temperature, and light conditions your cacti like. Cacti that often don’t flower indoors can be coaxed into bloom because their environment is nearly perfect.

10. Orchids

These beautiful flowers can be finicky. Getting an orchid to rebloom after bringing it home is often challenging. They want high humidity and bright indirect light. If you aren’t ready to commit to a full-blown orchid cabinet, try grouping orchids in a grow tent so you can cox them to bloom more.

11. Tropical Houseplants

Many houseplants, such as pothos, bromeliads, philodendrons, and monsteras, love higher humidity than normally found in our homes. While these tropical houseplants survive in our drier and cooler homes, they thrive in grow tents where it’s easy to give them the warm and humid conditions they enjoy. Whether you want to grow an indoor jungle or keep your plants happier over the cold, dark winter, a grow tent will help you provide ideal conditions.

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Read the original article on Better Homes & Gardens.

Original post by Andy Wilcox