Ever thought about getting a Marimo moss ball? They’ve definitely grown in popularity over the past few years. A Marimo moss ball is a type of plant (we like to think of it as a pet) that lives in water. The word Marimo is actually…
Leca is a grow medium that’s been trending in popularity in the gardening industry. We love using leca in gardening for a couple of reasons. It helps beginners regulate the amount of water their plant gets. Its also a reusable growing medium, making it a…
Before we jump into this post, we want to note that we are an affiliate partner for Garden tower project. Rest assured at Fig and Spruce we don’t promote anything that we aren’t in love with, but we will make a small commission off any purchases made through links in this article. Thanks!
At Fig & Spruce, we love products that help us garden in small spaces. Even using plant stands and shelves, it can be difficult in an apartment or rented area to find enough room for more than a few plants. Never mind finding enough room to produce food to feed a family.
One of our favorite ways to grow a lot of food in a tiny space is by using a stackable system like the Garden Tower Project offers. Their newest product, which is the Garden Tower 2, makes it possible to grow a large amount of food in just a 4 square foot space.
The Garden Tower 2 is a rotating tower of planters that you can plant up to 50 different plants in. It allows you to plant a large number of plants in a small 4 square foot area.
The Garden Tower 2 is super compact, while allowing you to grow a ton of plants in a super small space.
The Garden Town 2 is made up of stackable trays that have 50 spots that you can fill with different plants. To set it up, you stack the different layers, place the unit where you’d like, and then fill with soil.
From there you can plant your seeds and water as you normally would.
What sets the Garden Tower 2 apart from other comparable models is that it also has a composting chamber in the middle of the tower. This chamber is built for vermicomposting, which in short is composting using worms.
The composting chamber is designed so that your plants can actually draw nutrients directly from the compost. After setting your Garden Tower 2 up, place the worms in the soil. Then, as you gather kitchen scraps, just place them in the center compost chamber and the worms will do all the work.
As your plants grow and extend their roots, they’ll be able to pull nutrients from the composting chamber. Additionally, at the bottom of your tower there’s a removable tray that will gather the finished compost and compost tea for you to use in future gardening projects. Over the course of 9 months, the Garden Tower 2 can recycle more than 50 pounds of organic kitchen scraps.
So, as you may know, the Garden Tower 2 is a premium product, and has a higher price tag than some of its competitors. The starting kit totals up to $359 which will include everything to set up the garden tower 2 kit (aside from soil and plants).
This is higher than its competitors, but the Garden Tower 2 has several features that set it apart from other models.
As we mentioned earlier in this article, the Garden Tower 2 has a built in composting chamber to feed both the plants that you’re growing in your tower and create compost material for future use.
The Garden Tower 2 is made from food-grade plastic. It’s components are made of non-toxic, BPA & PVC free plastic.
Each garden tower 2 unit comes with a 5 year manufacturer warranty, so if you have any issues with it you can reach out to customer service through Garden Tower Project to get it fixed or replaced.
The main con is that the garden tower 2 has a much higher price tag than some of its competitors. If you’re looking for a premium product to grow a lot of vegetables in a small space, the garden tower 2 is one of the top options.
However, if you’re looking for something at a lower budget, there are other options such as this one from Amazon.
Another thing to keep in mind is that once this unit is filled with soil or plants, its very heavy and hard to move. This makes it less mobile than simply keeping your pots in plants.
Do you use the garden tower 2? Let us know in the comments below!
We’ve all done it before. We’ve all checked the moisture of our plant’s soil with our fingers. Its a good quick fix, or “rule of thumb” if you will (pun intended). However, a much more accurate and efficient way to check your soil’s moisture is…
If you’re new to hydroponics, the grow systems and entire process can be rather intimidating. However, hydroponics can be a really good way to start growing your food at home. One of the first questions most growers have when starting hydroponic gardening is: what do…
Propagating plants is a new trend emerging in the gardening industry. Propagating is essentially taking cuttings from your plant and placing them in a rooting hormone to help them root and create a new plant.
We love propagating, because its a way for you to expand your indoor plant garden without having to buy more! Its also a fun activity to pass time, which is exactly what we need while in a pandemic.
Today, we’re covering the best rooting hormone options to use when propagating plants, what factors to consider when selecting a rooting hormone, and how to use it to propagate plant cuttings.
A rooting hormone is a solution (either powder or liquid) that stimulates roots to grow from a plant. Using a rooting hormone will help increase the chance of success when attempting to propagate your plant cuttings.
With over 7,000 reviews and a 4.6 star average rating, the Hydrodynamix Clonex rooting gel is our number one overall pick for a rooting hormone to propagate with.
This solution is a mix between a liquid and a powder. Its gel formula adheres to roots, ensuring that your plant cuttings get maximum exposure to the solution and therefore the most effective results. Gels are easier for beginners to use than powders or liquids generally because of how easily they adhere.
Their formula is also full of nutrients and able to be used on all types of cuttings. From succulents, to flowers, Clonex’s rooting hormone will be able to cover it all.
Miracle Gro is well known in the gardening industry for a variety of products. Their rooting hormone, similar to Clonex’s gel is highly reviewed on amazon with over 8,000 reviews and an average of 4.4 stars out of 5.
This rooting hormone is a powder, which adheres well to root cuttings compared to a pure liquid. Reviewers note quick results and frequent root sprouting from using this powder in propagating. Another perk of this solution is its more affordable at nearly half the prices of the Clonex solution.
This rooting hormone has a lower concentration than some other solutions. It should only be used for “house, foliage, tropical and hardy ornamental plants” according to its Amazon product page.
Hormex’s rooting powder is a unique option compared to others for one main reason. Its available in different levels of concentrations, and therefore you can select exactly what level of strength you need for the plant you’re trying to propogate.
The downside with Hormex’s rooting powder is that because of the specific levels of strength, you cant use each level for any plant. This is true of some other rooting powders too – not every solution is a “one size fits all”. But it is something to consider when comparing this to CloneX’s gel solution.
Another downside if the volume of powder that you get for the price. If you’re casually propagating it will still probably take you a while to use all of any rooting powder because a little goes a long way. However, if you’re propagating frequently and know you’ll be using a lot, it may be worth considering if the value for the volume of this solution is worth it.
If you’re looking for a liquid rooting hormone option, Hormex’s Rooting Hormone Concentrate is our top pick. With liquid solutions, you’ll have to dilute the concentration before using, which adds an extra step. However, this factor gives you more flexibility when propagating to adjust the concentration level to your plant’s specific needs.
While a liquid solution is not the most beginner friendly option, if you’re pretty familiar with propagating or have used a rooting hormone before then liquid could be a better option for you.
This concentration from Hormex is highly reviewed and a little goes a long way, so the purchase of one container will last a long time.
Using a rooting hormone is fairly simple when propagating plant. Normally in propagation, you take the plant cuttings you want to use and place them in water.
When using a rooting hormone, there’s really only one additional step. If you’re using a liquid rooting hormone, you’ll need to dilute your concentration to the appropriate level for your plant (instructions should be included with your choice of concentration). You can then place your plant cuttings directly into the water.
If using a gel or powder solution, you can take the plant cuttings and dip the cut end of the plant into the powder or gel rooting hormone, and then place in water.
The speed that you see results will depend on the plant you’re propagating and the solution your using. However, a general rule of thumb is that you’ll start to see roots form within 1-2 weeks when using a rooting hormone.
There’s two main solutions of rooting hormones – liquids and powders, and each one has its pro’s and cons.
The biggest pro to a powder, and why we recommend using it over pure liquids when you’re a beginner, is that it adheres to the plant cutting much easier than a liquid does.
The biggest pro to a liquid is that its much easier to find varying levels of concentration (and control the concentration with dilution) than it is with powders.
You may have noticed that our first recommendation is a gel solution. Gel solutions are a good hybrid between powders and liquids. It has the benefits of a powder in that it adheres well to cuttings, and the benefits of a liquid in that you can find varying levels of concentrations. This is our top pick for beginner friendly solutions.
Lets go over a few frequently asked questions around propagating plants.
Its not essential, but it will increase your likelihood of success. The ease of propagating depends on what type of plant you’re using, as some are much more willing to root quickly than others. Rooting hormones can help increase the likelihood that you’ll see roots form from your cuttings.
Additionally, propagating plants can be a lengthy process. Trying to propagate a plant without a rooting hormone can take weeks, sometimes months for the plants to grow roots long enough to plant in soil.
Rooting hormones can help speed up the process of propagating. We’ve seen results that often cut the time needed in half.
One of the most common questions we get around propagating is how do I know when to move the cuttings from a jar in water to soil?
A good rule of thumb is once the plant’s roots have reached 1 inch to 1.5 inches, they’re ready to move to soil.
You can keep them in water much longer than that though. They’ll continue to live in water well after their roots reach this length.
When moving your plants to soil, we recommend placing a base layer of perlite or coco peat (also called coco coir) before a small layer of soil. This will help ensure that your plant gets the right amount of drainage.
Another option for moving a propagated plant from water to its new planter is to use leca as a growing medium.
Leca, which stands for lightweight expanded clay aggregate, is a growing medium made up of marble sized clay balls that soak up water and allow plants to pull water as they need it.
Leca can be an easier transition for a propagated plant than soil sometimes.
We like this brand of leca, but there are multiple options available online. A full comparison is done here of different leca brands available.
A mushroom log is not a well known method of gardening when it comes to growing your own food. In fact, mushrooms are often overlooked when people consider growing their own food, which is a shame! Mushrooms can be grown indoors with very little light,…
Microgreen seeds are one of the easiest ways to start growing your own food. And there are so many options on which seeds to grow! Which is the most beginner friendly? Which ones are full of flavor, while others are more mild? We’re covering our…
Growing and harvesting microgreens is one of the easier ways to get started growing your own food. Microgreens are super healthy, and add a lot of flavor to salads, sandwiches, and more!
We love growing and harvesting microgreens at home. So, today we’re covering why we love them, and how to grow and harvest them yourself.
We’re going to cover two methods for growing microgreens at home.
One method of growing microgreens at home is to use a pre made kit, like the kit from Hamama.
There are several pro’s to using a kit, the main ones being that all the materials you need will come in the kit. Beginners often find kits easier because everything is set up for them and come with easy to follow directions.
Hamama in particular does a good job of making it easy for beginners to get started growing microgreens. Each kit comes with easy to follow directions and a straightforward setup.
Additionally, Hamama offers a subscription option to deliver new seed quilts to you monthly if you want to receive regular shipments of new seeds.
We’ve done a full review of Hamama’s kits here, or you can read this article for a full comparison between different microgreen kits.
The other method, which is what we'll cover for the remainder of this article is what we're calling a DIY method.
This method involves purchasing your own materials individually. The biggest advantage of this method is you'll likely get a better price when purchasing your own individual materials. You'll likely get microgreen seeds at a much lower price, which once you get the initial setup complete this is the only recurring expense for growing microgreens at home.
However, a DIY method is less convenient than a microgreens growing kit. Additionally, some beginners can find it intimidating to purchase their own materials individually and creating a setup themselves.
We'll cover the materials needed and steps to growing microgreens later on in this article.
Let's go over some reasons why you might be interested in growing and harvesting microgreens at home.
Growing microgreens is super satisfying, especially for new gardeners because the grow cycle is roughly 7-10 days. You can grow these time and time again and have fresh microgreens grown every week!
For avid gardeners, and those without a way to sufficiently grow food indoors, winter months can be a desolate time for gardening. Growing and harvesting microgreens can be done at any time of the year, so they're especially nice to grow in the winter months! This means even in a traditional off season you can continue to grow fresh vegetables at home.
Microgreens are a super food, and therefore very nutritious to add to dishes! They make great salad toppers, sandwich toppings, and more! Scroll to the bottom of this article to read more ideas on how to incorporate microgreens into your diet.
Lets cover what you'll need to grow and harvest microgreens at home.
The most important part of the project - your seed mix! You can really grow a wide variety of seeds. If you've never tried microgreens before and are unsure where to start - we recommend a variety pack to get you started. Beyond Roots has a pack of 10 different USDA organic seeds, including dill, arugula, broccoli, daikon radish microgreens, and more!
The dish you use to grow your seeds should preferably be shallow, but with enough depth for roots to reach a height of 1 inch. It can be as large or small as you want - it all depends on how much you want to grow at one time! You can even use jars, mugs, or traditional terracotta pots.
This step is optional, but if you have chosen a pot that does not have drainage holes then you'll want to put a layer of gravel or pebbles to ensure that there will be adequate drainage for your microgreens.
To avoid over watering you'll need a spray bottle to lightly mist your seeds.
There are multiple grow mediums you can use when growing and harvesting microgreens, however your standard potting soil is probably the best option.
Coco peat, or coco coir is another popular growing medium but it can be a little more difficult than traditional potting soil, so if you're a beginner we recommend starting with soil. However, if you have some coco peat lying around that you want to use up, this can be a good option to avoid buying multiple items.
Burlap is also sometimes used in microgreens, and is very affordable. However burlap is more difficult to work with as a grow medium, and part of the beauty of growing microgreens is that its an easy and simple process. Why overcomplicate that?
We recommend a potting soil like the Burpee Premium Potting Mix for growing and harvesting microgreens. Its full of high quality nutrients and Burpee plant food, and has coco coir mixed in to help provide extra nutrients and drainage.
Next, lets go over the steps for growing and harvesting microgreens at home.
The first step to growing microgreens is to set up your planter. If there are no drainage holes - lay the gravel down at the bottom of your pot. A thin layer is fine here, you want just enough to keep your plant's roots out of the water that will sit at the bottom of your pot.
Then add the soil. You want at least 1.5 inches of soil on top of the gravel. Remember the roots of microgreens grow up to approximately 1 inch, so you'll want a little extra room to ensure they have the space they need to thrive.
You've set up your planter - now you're ready to go! Spread the seeds across the soil and lightly press them into the soil. No need to bury them, and do your best not to over compress the soil. Light pressure is just enough to help keep them in place while growing.
Water your seeds with a spray bottle and make sure the soil is thoroughly moist. Then cover your container with plastic wrap. From there - continue watering daily in a similar fashion to ensure the soil stays moist.
Once your seeds have germinated you can remove the plastic wrap.
After 7-10 days your microgreens are fully grown! They should be 1-3 inches in height by this point, and are ready to be harvested and eaten! To harvest, simply take scissors and cut at the bottom of the root (above the dirt) and put them on your plate, they're ready to eat!
There are a number of ways to add microgreens into your favorite dishes that you're already making - here are some of our favorite ways:
Do you have other ways you like to incorporate microgreens into your diet? Let us know in the comments below!
Microgreens are fairly flexible and forgiving with light. For the best results, we recommend 4-6 hours of daylight. However, if you have slightly less or more, don't worry - these guys will adapt! If you have very little natural light in the room you're planning on growing them in, you can always supplement with a grow light.
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We’re offering our free guide on growing your own herb garden. This 26 page guide covers how to care for your favorite herbs, including basil, chives, rosemary, and more!
