Even when you’re working to keep costs in line, it seems there’s always just one more thing to buy at the garden center. Maybe you want to try some coconut coir to mix into your soil to improve drainage, or you’re loving those glass watering bulbs that can be stuck into a pot and left for days. When I’m trying to stick to a budget, I try to avoid going to the garden center for anything because I feel like one of the kids who saw Willy Wonka’s candy garden for the first time.
In order to properly outfit your little growing space, though, you do need a few supplies, and these come in handy:
• Automatic light timers. If you don’t want to worry about turning lights on and off during a specific timeframe, these timers are very useful, and they’re often fairly inexpensive. I use them when I’m going away for a weekend, or if I’ll be busy for a stretch of time and want to reduce my indoor garden maintenance.
• Heat mats. Also called germination mats, these are designed to be placed underneath plants so that roots stay warm in cooler areas like basements or drafty corners. They’re usually rectangular, and don’t have temperature settings; you just roll them out, plug them in, put your pots or trays on top and you’re good to go. The low temperature won’t burn your plants (unlike, say, a heating pad would) and they do help during the winter months, I’ve found. Also, if your plants seem slow to germinate, using one of these can provide a boost. One caveat: they’re usually not cheap, so if you see one on sale, snap it up.
• Plastic mister bottle. These are extremely useful, and only cost a few dollars. They can be utilized for an array of growing-related tasks, like spritzing fish emulsion on tomatoes, or spraying a soapy solution on aphid-ravaged plants. During certain times of year, my growing space feels a little drier than other times, so I often mist water over all the plants at least once per day.
• Small plastic bins/totes. Usually, I can get these for just a few bucks from places like Target, Family Dollar, or IKEA. Whenever there’s a sale, I must look like a professional organizer, because I load up on them, especially ones that are about the size of a shoebox. Put everything in these that you need: scissors, twine, Sharpies, pens, light timers, rubber bands, etc. Also, these bins will be handy for organizing seeds; I tend to use several containers so I can sort seeds according to usage (pea shoot seeds in one bin, microgreens seed in another, and so on). I really wish that the rest of my house was as organized as my indoor gardening space.