What's stopping me from.....

[RogueRose]

Why do you have to get all these fancy set ups with pellets and things? Can't I just use potting soil and get some herbs and lettuce growing under lights for the winter? I have this basement and it has this shower that is never used and is kinda sketchy. The whole basement is cement (house circa 1920s) and the shower is all cement. I can't really go in the basement except for the very beginning because I'm tall and it gets shorter as you go forward. The shower thankfully is in the front.

The shower...think of it like a chemistry class or meat-packers or locker gym type shower that you don't want to really go near. I'm thinking of getting a rack system in there and getting some lettuce and herbs (chives, cilantro, basil) growing in trays. I have a TON of T5, metal halide , LEDs and all sorts of lights and timers from my various fish, reptile, saltwater tanks, etc.

SO I think I can rig up a decent little green house in the shower with lighting and I can water things quite easily with the shower head and not really worry about clean up and all.

Or this all completely inconceivable?

[DoubleDogFarm]

Why do you have to get all these fancy set ups with pellets and things? Can't I just use potting soil and get some herbs and lettuce growing under lights for the winter? I have this basement and it has this shower that is never used and is kinda sketchy. The whole basement is cement (house circa 1920s) and the shower is all cement. I can't really go in the basement except for the very beginning because I'm tall and it gets shorter as you go forward. The shower thankfully is in the front.

The shower...think of it like a chemistry class or meat-packers or locker gym type shower that you don't want to really go near. I'm thinking of getting a rack system in there and getting some lettuce and herbs (chives, cilantro, basil) growing in trays. I have a TON of T5, metal halide , LEDs and all sorts of lights and timers from my various fish, reptile, saltwater tanks, etc.

SO I think I can rig up a decent little green house in the shower with lighting and I can water things quite easily with the shower head and not really worry about clean up and all.

Or this all completely inconceivable?

It's conceivable but it's not Hydroponics. There is no soil in Hydroponics. Oxygen and nutrients are in the water.

Eric

[rainbowgardener]

Agreed, you put this in hydroponics and hydroponics is soilless growing in water (that's the hydro). Post under seed starting. No reason you can't grow things in soil under lights in your basement.

I start thousands of plants (well easily 500) each year from seed in my basement, with just regular fluorescents. That does fine for getting seed starting. For growing to maturity you need more, but if you have metal halide and all that you will be fine.

My only concern off hand would be that the lights have to be over the plants. But your shower head is also over head. You definitely don't want to be watering all the lights. So if you want to use the shower for watering, you would have to be able to rig something so the lights can be easily moved in and out (and I do mean easily, you need to be able to water daily, if it is a big pain, you will give up).

But maybe just use the shower stall as a nice area to set things up where mess won't matter? If you are starting seeds, if you try to use the shower head for watering, it is going to splash soil and seeds all over. Even for plants, it might be hard to get it gentle enough. For starting seeds, I find bottom watering best... have all the pots / flats in trays and just pour a little water in the bottom of the tray. And most seeds need warm soil for germinating, which means heating pads, which also don't mix well with being watered by the shower.

[Halfway]

You can easily do this but......

hydro (done cheaply) will greatly outperform soil in speed of growth and yield.

Eliminate soil born bugs.

A simple hydro system can be set up for very little $ outlay and provide incredible results!