Day 22 Update! Peppers and lettuce: The same peppers and lettuce from the previous shot. They're in the second-worst part of the UFO grow chamber -- far from the UFO in the center. Nonetheless, the peppers are doing beautifully. I've got a whole tray of them looking just like that. The lettuce, only so-so. They're putting out leaves at a good rate, but two of them never did stand up like I was hoping they would. Next up, the monsters: Okay, these pumpkins are getting a bit scary: The larger of the two now has three tendrils on it, and leaves the size of my outstretched hand. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to keep them in here before they decide to crush everything else in their path, but I'll keep them in as long as I can ;) I realized that last time I forgot to photograph my eggplants. They're doing just shiny: So, now for my crazy okra: If you'll recall, one germinated tall like a freak, but with a strong stem, and dark green leaves; one germinated short with dark green leaves; and two germinated short with pale, chlorotic yellow leaves. I credit this to using old seed. I'm pleased to report that all of them are doing great. The tall one is now working on its second true leaf, while the two chlorotic ones are starting to turn green. All three of the small ones have just started on their first true leaf; I expect they'll look like the tall one (minus the crazy height) next week. My Ronde de Nice squash that just germinated? I transplanted one, and surprisingly, the transplant is doing better than the non-transplant! Now for the one that was my biggest concern last time: my watermelon. If you'll recall, its first true leaves had turned crisp and stopped growing. Well, I'm glad to report that it has not one, but two sets of normal, healthy true leaves now! Here's a shot of some of my miscellaneous squash and melons. Not a complaint from me about a one of them; they're all growing very healthy. My cinnamon basil was looking healthy enough that I felt it time to thin it out into individual pots. The remaining plants in the original pot are below: So, what's my primary concern this time? I'm starting to suspect that I'm getting more growth in the UFO chamber (red, grow) than in the Christmas chamber (blue, veg). I'm not sure yet, though. Now, that is to be expected to some degree, since that chamber is higher wattage (~105W vs. ~85W), it may be more than that. It's really hard to tell, though, because I moved my most mature trays to the red chamber and kept the youngest trays in the veg chamber. However, I do have one good comparison point: basil. I have a basil pot in the veg chamber that's exactly the same as the basil pot in the grow chamber -- same soil, same size, same plants, and same planting time. So, next week I'm going to photograph and measure the two and see how they compare. But overall, another good week :) The plants pretty much take care of themselves (since the LEDs are pretty cool, the soil takes a long time to get dry, so I rarely even have to water). Hence, I've been busying myself readying my outdoors for the new plants, for once it gets warm enough. I'm going to be training my vining plants to strings suspended from guyed poles this year, via vine clips; should be neat to see how they do.

@cjohansen 1. i think that is normal. sometimes they can react that way to too much water, so check that you're not overwatering them. though as i said, it could be just the way they grow, some of mine do that too and they're all in the same conditions 2. you can get the air to circulate using a small computer fan, or two even but i doubt you'd need two. peppers don't mind heat that much, but still i'd be a bit more careful when they're young. @habjolokia those look really nice and healthy! i'm having trouble locating some great articles i read quite some time ago, in the mean time i'd like to comment on something i find very interesting. Up until quite recently, indoor lighting and growing was thought to be associated strictly with marijuana growers, especially on such a small scale as a couple of plants indoors. it is very interesting how things are changing and how people are recognizing that there is nothing special or daunting about indoor growing, other than making life easier for people in colder climates. This was helped immensely by new lights like high output fluorescents, which make indoor grow lighting affordable and not intensive on the electricity bill. The next big step, and we are really close to that, is the reduction of price for led grow lights. LEDs give out a very narrow spectrum of light, and led grow lights are tuned to the absorption peaks of chlorophyl, so there is less power used and most of the light is absorbed. now, don't go rushing to ebay and buying cheap panels from china, they aren't good yet. good leds are still expensive, but their price is dropping rapidly,and in a couple of years the ordinary gardener will be able to afford them. another thing, since grow lights were really used mostly by weed growers at first, so their circles are way ahead in growing techniques and especially DIY equipment. if you want to read some really great tutorials on building your own grow boxes,reflectors and stuff, i'd suggest taking a look at places like grasscity forums,thc talk or something like that. since this could be a sensitive topic, please understand i do not condone or advocate mj in any way, only the nice collection of diy ideas and tutorials on equipment that can be found on such sites, and which are very rarely seen in books, let alone all in one place.

We took ours out with the remodel. When we first moved in, I thought I would really love it, but it was a small window and was too high up for me to reach the crank to actually open it up or clean without climbing onto the sink and counters. I couldn't really see much out of it either. The cabinet valance was too low and it felt almost claustrophobic. We replaced it with a large triple window. I can reach the cranks and open up the windows (I must have fresh air!), and we actually see out the window now. I don't have very good pictures showing the actual before window. If it had been a larger window or if it had been closer to countertop level, I think I would have liked it more. Our new window has a nice large windowsill, but haven't gotten around to finding the appropriate plants for it yet :)

yes Beth. I have been tring for an hour to upload the picture. Here is plantiful package from Beth. I got the herbs planted last night and ended up weeding in the mud for an hour. The rest will be this week. some dry days ahead. I can smell the water heating up from the ground. White iris, native columbine, Kindly light lily, green zebra tomato plants, Vera lavender, golden thyme, sweet majoram, greek oregano, hosta and coral bells. Always great getting a box of plants. thank you