How To DIY A Climate-Friendly Indoor Greenhouse

Millions of Americans take up gardening as a way to combat climate change. What happens when intense climate changes prevent you from doing what you love? The problem of not receiving enough sunlight to fuel your plants’ growth is prevalent in places where there are cold temperatures or extreme changes in seasons. Because of this, greenhouses are becoming more and more popular as a way to create a consistent gardening space year-round. However, innovations in gardening and hydroponics are revolutionizing this and allowing gardeners to turn their fridges into grow spaces that support plant life.

Market Testing on Smartphone-Controlled Fridge Gardens

Applications such as Everblume are still being tested and perfected for market release. These applications and devices, which sit nicely in your kitchen, create the perfect growing conditions for a variety of plants and vegetables. Following the basics of a hydroponic garden, the refrigerator box uses nutrient-rich water to grow plants instead of.It connects to your smartphone to allow you to control temperature, lighting and other important factors. While this is a great concept, it’s actually pretty simple to construct a similar box on your own using the right mini fridge. All you need is a high-quality fridge, excellent grow lights and a working knowledge of hydroponics.

The Best Plants to Grow in an Indoor Greenhouse

It’s important to know which types of plants will be more successful in this kind of environment. These types of plants will need at least 14 to 16 hours of artificial sunlight a day, which means you’ll want to invest in the proper grow lights for the job. Leafy greens such as lettuce, spinach and cabbage grow great in hydroponic greenhouses. Smaller, lightweight fruits are best in these types of conditions, such as strawberries or raspberries. If you’re more into growing herbs, you’ll find that basil grows exceptionally well in hydroponic conditions as do oregano, rosemary and dill.

Using Actual Cold Storage to Prolong the Life of Your Garden

Once you’ve got a handle on your DIY fridge-based greenhouse, you can actually make use of another mini fridge in order to store the fruits of your labor. Cold storage is a great place to store harvested fruits and vegetables in order to prolong their life and prevent them from spoiling. If you live in a place that experiences especially cold winters, this is a great way to store various plants until the spring when they can be eaten fresh. Growing all throughout the winter with the help of hydroponics and the right grow lightswill have you producing more than before. You will likely need somewhere to store the leftovers anyway.

Making Use of Winter Downtime

Just because it’s cold outside doesn’t mean your gardening has to stop. Designing your own personal indoor greenhouse is easy when you figure out how to strike the right balance of space, nutrient-rich water, and grow lights. All of this will allow you to make use of winter downtime and grow year-round.