Pimpin' the Cubicle Farm

Don't want to waste those precious photons that the American taxpayer is so graciously providing. (Can't thank you enough, America). So I put up some reflectors. Basically just taped some aluminum foil to some cardboard.

Some indoor growers use mylar for this. But mylar costs money. I'm sure there's a reason why aluminum foil is the wrong thing to use for this. But it's cheap. And I'm into cheap.

By the way, the mesclun appears to have started sprouting already. That was quick. I just sowed it Monday.

Episode V: The Cubicle Farm Strikes Back

Back in business! With the regular, outside-type garden in full swing and no gnat sightings in the office in recent memory, I thought it was time to take another crack at the cubicle farm. This time, I'll try growing some fancy mesclun salad greens in containers in a retrofitted government-issue bookshelf. Your tax dollars at work. Thank you, America. I sowed the first crop today, Monday, April 26, 2010.

I'm going to attach the LED lights to the inside of the bookshelf with some stick-on hooks.

I'm also taking the farm up a notch. Last time, I grew lettuce in an Earthbox. Pretty straightforward, except that I did it wrong. I didn't use the shower cap thingy -- the elastic-lined black plastic that goes over the top of the box. It worked fine -- i.e., the lettuce grew and was very tasty -- but the Earthbox authorities say I wasn't using the box to its fullest potential. 

This time, I'm going to use the technology appropriately -- with the shower cap. Maybe that'll help keep the gnats away. And I'm going to try to grow cherry tomatoes. If the gnats come back, hopefully I can bribe my cube neighbors into silence with fresh, delicious cherry tomatoes. 

Tomatoes are going to be a bit trickier than lettuce, I think, largely because as fruiting plants they'll need much more light. I'm attempting to deal with that while still keeping the electricity usage down (thanks again, America) by using a more powerful LED light. The type I got is called a UFO. I got it from a guy on EBay. It's 90 watts of blinding LED power. Seriously, these things are bright. I wouldn't recommend looking directly at it.

We'll see if it's bright enough to grow tomatoes in a cubicle.