By Deborah J. Benoit
Gardeners bid farewell to their outdoor growing spaces each winter and turn their attention to other ways to occupy their days. Magazines and seed catalogs provide inspiration, but there’s nothing like gardening indoors to satisfy your inner gardener.
Plant stands with grow lights are a convenient way to bring your garden inside. They provide a place to gather plants together when you lack space, available windows, or sufficient light. With your plants in one place, it’s easy to monitor their health and be sure they’re receiving sufficient humidity (a common problem with the dry air inside during winter).
Plant stands can be plain or fancy. Some are made of wood and can be embellished to create a piece of furniture that would look good in any room. A homemade plant stand can be assembled from purchased components such as a wire shelving unit, and some grow lights.
Wire shelves may appear more utilitarian, but they add a clean look to your indoor garden and aid in air circulation, which is necessary for plant health. Purchased plant stands make setup quick and eliminate the need to select separate grow lights.
If you’ll be using multiple grow lights, be sure the power strip they’re plugged into is away from dripping or splashing water. Consider adding a timer to turn lights on and off for consistent hours of light.
For best results, lights should be positioned close to the top of plants but not touch foliage. A short chain between the light fixture and a hook attaching it to the plant stand makes adjustments easy. If the light is in a fixed position, you can always add a book or similar object below plants to move them closer to the light.
To learn more about choosing and using grow lights, visit: go.uvm.edu/grow-lights.
Some indoor gardeners display flowering houseplants such as African violets (Saintpaulia) or Cape primrose (Streptocarpus) on plant stands. Others may need a place for tender perennials saved from last year’s garden. Plant stands can also serve as a propagation or seed-starting station.
If you’re overwintering outdoor plants, particularly those needing “full sun,” a plant stand can make sure they receive sufficient light to survive the cold season in good health.
These stands also provide a great place to root cuttings from plants such as coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides) or herbs like basil (Ocimum basilicum) and rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis). Information on rooting cuttings can be found at go.uvm.edu/perennials.
Many herbs grow well in pots, and a plant stand can provide the light they’ll need to provide you with fresh herbs through the winter and into the warm weather months. When choosing which herbs to grow, consider their mature size and whether your plant stand will comfortably accommodate them.
One of the best uses for a plant stand this time of year is for starting seeds for the upcoming gardening season. Providing sufficient light will help prevent spindly, leggy seedlings. You can monitor their progress easily from germination to potting up those baby plants. For information on seed starting, visit: go.uvm.edu/seed-starting.
When it’s time to move your indoor garden outdoors, remember that the sun is much brighter than a grow light and can damage plants grown indoors. Be sure to introduce plants to outdoor conditions by slowly increasing their exposure each day over the course of a week or two.
It doesn’t matter if you buy a plant stand complete with state-of-the-art grow lights or build one yourself. A plant stand can keep your inner gardener content through the long winter months and help provide a head start on the upcoming gardening season.
Deborah J. Benoit is a UVM Extension Master Gardener from North Adams, Massachusetts, part of the Bennington County Chapter.
