Depending on provenance (area from which the genetic material of the plant originated) some (but not all, varieties) of F carica can be grown indoors under lights all winter. That said, it's not likely that a tree that does well or is from genetic material that does well in your zone will tolerate a lack of a chill period and/or the indoor stay. Just growing the plant under lights may not be enough, and certainly, humidity should be a consideration. Plants that are grown in marginal conditions may be tolerating continual decline and showing a net loss in energy reserves during the duration of exposure to the conditions. A steady decline over winter can leave the plant weakened and with little in the way of energy reserves to fight off disease and insects. Forward thinking, advance now - further along in the growth cycle, should leave us with the general feeling that an indoor stay was not nature's intent, and that nature has honed the survival mechanisms of your tree over eons through natural selection. Short answer: You can probably make it work to varying degrees depending on the tree itself and your abilities to provide cultural conditions the tree would prefer, but your tree will assuredly show a greater gain in biomass (showing that it would be stronger and grow better) if you allowed it a period of dormancy followed by quiescence (more quiet/cool rest) until danger of frost is past and you can put the tree outdoors come spring. Al

Just guessing,but I would imagine red Russian would still work for smoothies, though you may need more of it, since it's a thinner leaf. But as already stated, it may be tough to grow enough indoors for a daily habit. If you're interested in micro greens, I was given this contraption that works really well for starting greens especially. 3-4 days to sprout, then cut when ready. I have grown lettuce up to small baby size before either eating or transferring to an earthbox to grow larger. All the trays means you can have several stages of seedlings. I have no idea whether micro greens would add enough flavor to a smoothie--DH likes sunflower or basil best for salads. Have used coir, seed starter mix, and reg potting soil with this, all with good results. Here is a link that might be useful: Seed starter tray

I grew very robust basil under 6500k T5HO lights last year. Foliage plants such as basil, herbs and lettuce require far less light then fruiting plants. I would go as far to say the basil did better under the T5 then it did when I moved it outside in the sun, where it might have gotten too much light.

Hi Everyone, I'm new here so forgive me if I'm posting in the wrong area of the site. I've been growing various herbs outside in my garden but the weather is a little too cold now so I'm looking at bringing my herb garden indoors. I've been doing a little research and have decided that a grow tent is the best way to go. I have also learnt that a Blue Fluorescent is best for the likes of Basil and Coriander, is this correct and will I need any other kind of light? This is the Grow Tent that I'm interested in growing in - 80 x 80 x 160cm. Does anyone have any experience of grow inside a tent, if so what are the pitfalls? Any help would be greatly appreciated.