The Cheap Vegetable Gardener - Page 39 of 49 - Growing vegetables using grow boxes, LEDs, computers, and great soil

cilantro | cucumbers | garlic bulbs | indoor growbox | onions | outdoor seed starting | peas | tomato

Growing in dirt outside
ByThe Cheap Vegetable Gardener

I haven’t done many posts in a while about regular old gardening in actual dirt so figured a good time to do an update. Though I enjoy indoor seed starting in my LED grow box and computerized grow box, some plants need to be started outdoors. Today my daughters and I planted the last these plants for fall outdoor planting. A few weeks ago, we planted garlic, onions, spinach,…

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cheap | outdoor seed starting

Ultimate cheap cold frame/greenhouse
ByThe Cheap Vegetable Gardener

For using windows they found lying around from homes in the neighborhood getting torn down the end result looks great. Functional and doing some serious reduce/reuse/recycle in the process. Adding windows to the top would be nice, but sure finding the right ones for a weatherproof fit could be difficult. Instructables via Make

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cheap | electronics | water

How to make a cheap soil moisture sensor
ByThe Cheap Vegetable Gardener

Soil sensors can be pretty expensive to purchase but a few minutes and a few cents worth materials around your house you can make your own accurate cheap soil moisture sensor. UPDATE: Though this still a great sensor, check this post for the latest version of a more heavy duty soil moisture sensor. I mentioned in a previous post that my previous soil moisture sensor did not hold up in my…

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Uncategorized

New site design
ByThe Cheap Vegetable Gardener

If you have visited us before, you may notice some changes to the site design. Felt things were getting cluttered, so did a little spring cleaning. We have a little more tweaking to do but I am getting used to the lighter feel. What do you think?

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cheap | compost | indoor seed starting | tomato

Growing seedlings with compostable coffee cups
ByThe Cheap Vegetable Gardener

Occasionally at work I get a craving for some hot chocolate. When I do, I reach for a company provided compostable coffee cup (I know I should bring in my own cup, but I did say “occasionally”). When I am done with my delicious beverage, I simply dispose of them in the proper “compostable” reciprocal. Last week was different, with my recent frustration with the durability of some of…

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electronics | indoor growbox | indoor seed starting

Light sensitive automated grow light
ByThe Cheap Vegetable Gardener

I came across this interesting concept for an automated grow light. It uses a photoresister to detect when lights get low and proceeds to turns on some red LEDs to provide the plants a few extra hours of light. From my experience if you are growing indoors, your seedlings can use as much supplemental lighting as they can get and would recommend turning them on when there is light…

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cilantro | computer | computer power control | cucumbers | electronics | indoor growbox | tomato

Computerized grow box update
ByThe Cheap Vegetable Gardener

Haven’t mentioned the computerized grow box for a while, so think it is a good time for an update. The moisture sensor corroded away, but have plans to make a much more beefier one. With the exception of the hard drive failure, the basic functionality of the computerized grow box has been excellent and the plants have been thriving. The only physical improvement I have made is adding some…

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Uncategorized

First/Last? trip to the NW Home and Garden Show
ByThe Cheap Vegetable Gardener

My daughter and I made our first trip to the NW Home and Garden show yesterday. It was a great experience which if you want to know more you can check out my guest post on Flora’s Blog. Apparently there is a March 31st deadline to find a new owner, so keeping my fingers crossed since I would love to go next year with both my daughters.

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grocery store | organic

Grocery store Vegetables are not as nutritious as they used to be?
ByThe Cheap Vegetable Gardener

“University of Texas, Austin. Davis claims the average vegetable found in today’s supermarket is anywhere from 5% to 40% lower in minerals (including magnesium, iron, calcium and zinc) than those harvested just 50 years ago.” Not only are those vegetables you been eating at the grocery store less tasty, but may be getting marginal nutritional value. They discuss some of the potential factors in this including use for synthetic…

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electronics | LEDs

LED Plant Grow Spikes
ByThe Cheap Vegetable Gardener

Not sure how effective these would be with so few LEDs but they do look pretty cool. In their defense they do label these as supplemental lights. If you want one, unfortunately you have to make it yourself with full DIY instructions below. via Gizmodo via PopSci via Lifehacker

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alfalfa pellets | fertilizer | outdoor seed starting

Chemistry of Gardening: What nutrients do plants need?
ByThe Cheap Vegetable Gardener

If I ask my four year old what it takes for a plant to grow she can quickly respond with response, “Sun, water, air, and soil” This is a great answer for photosynthesis since plants need energy from the sun. They leverage the carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and water (H2O) to create starches and sugar. Now the soil part of this answer is where things get a…

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aeroponics | cheap | hydroponics | indoor growbox | indoor seed starting

Cheap DIY fogger aeroponic system
ByThe Cheap Vegetable Gardener

In my post about basic the basics of hydroponics I mentioned the potential high cost of entry but with a little creativity this can be avoided. I went through this exercise and here is a pretty inexpensive way to try out hydroponics without having to spend hundreds on a prebuilt system. The solution I came up with cost me $1.00 to setup though I did have many of the…

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