Three Reasons to Get a Grow Light System gor your 8x8 indoor grow tents
You don't HAVE to have a grow light system for your 8x8 indoor grow tent in order to have great gardening success, but it certainly helps. Here are three reasons we recommend that serious/more advanced home gardeners get a grow light system:
1. Get a Jumpstart On Each Growing Season – In our Ag Zone, we start our spring and summer seeds indoors in late January through February, then transplant them outdoors after the last frost date. This gives us (and our plants) a 2-3 month head start on the warm weather growing season, which means we get to start harvesting much earlier and for much longer than if we were to direct sow our seeds outdoors once the weather warmed up. The same thing is true when we start our fall/winter seeds indoors in July-August, then transplant the seedlings outdoors in September-October. Also, if you've ever started seeds indoors without grow lights, you might also realize how hard it is to get enough sunlight through your windows (even south-facing windows) to keep your plants from getting weak and leggy.
2. Grow Food Indoors – There are indoor grow systems you can use to grow large plants like tomatoes, but that's not what we're suggesting here. The grow light system we use and recommend is designed for starting seeds for transplanting OR growing smaller plants like lettuces and other greens for indoor harvests. Using the grow light system in this article, you can easily grow enough greens and/or microgreens to get a nice daily harvest. If you live in a particularly cold climate, this benefit might be especially attractive since it's more difficult for you to grow outdoors during the winter.
3. Improve Seed Germination Rates – We start a lot of seeds indoors and outdoors. No matter where you live, an outdoor growing environment is always going to be a little less "stable" than an indoor growing environment— varying temperatures, soil moisture fluctuations, etc. You'll use less seeds and have a higher germination rate by starting your seeds indoors under grow lights. Not to mention, there might be hungry insects that are more than happy to chew down an emergent seedling soon after it punches through the soil surface in your garden—not so when you start your seeds indoors. So, you can improve your seed germination rates and plant survival rates by starting your main seedlings indoors, then transplanting them outdoors once they're 6-9 weeks old. Plus, if you have an edible landscape, more mature plants are more immediately attractive.
2. Grow Food Indoors – There are indoor grow systems you can use to grow large plants like tomatoes, but that's not what we're suggesting here. The grow light system we use and recommend is designed for starting seeds for transplanting OR growing smaller plants like lettuces and other greens for indoor harvests. Using the grow light system in this article, you can easily grow enough greens and/or microgreens to get a nice daily harvest. If you live in a particularly cold climate, this benefit might be especially attractive since it's more difficult for you to grow outdoors during the winter.
3. Improve Seed Germination Rates – We start a lot of seeds indoors and outdoors. No matter where you live, an outdoor growing environment is always going to be a little less "stable" than an indoor growing environment— varying temperatures, soil moisture fluctuations, etc. You'll use less seeds and have a higher germination rate by starting your seeds indoors under grow lights. Not to mention, there might be hungry insects that are more than happy to chew down an emergent seedling soon after it punches through the soil surface in your garden—not so when you start your seeds indoors. So, you can improve your seed germination rates and plant survival rates by starting your main seedlings indoors, then transplanting them outdoors once they're 6-9 weeks old. Plus, if you have an edible landscape, more mature plants are more immediately attractive.
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