When I bought my little house in September 1954, the former owners moved out of the kitchen cabinet to take to their new house. However, when the rubbish collector took the top by mistake, they thought the cabinet would be worthless.
Idea Of Making a Poor Man’s Greenhouse
Then, I had the idea of making it into a poor man’s greenhouse. The space I visualized for it in my bedroom fitted it perfectly.
I knew, from experience, that a custom-built windowsill plant box, with fluorescent lights, which I kept in my midtown New York City apartment for the last three years, could be successful for growing plants under artificial lights.
It took several weeks for the project to shape up, with time available only on Saturdays to track down the various elements involved in completing it. But, eventually, all the pieces fell into place.
The handyman fitted the plywood shelves, the plumber delivered the metal pans to fit, the electrician installed the fluorescent lights, the feed store delivered the chicken grit to fill the pans, and the lights were connected.
Useful And Attractive Fixture For Bedroom
My idea was to make this a useful and attractive fixture for my bedroom without buying many new plants to fill it.
The few house plants left over from summer were not very inspiring, but I had enough cuttings from a few patient plants and geraniums in my 1956 garden to make a start. Through the trial and error method, I learned a great deal.
What I Learned From My Visit To A Local Greenhouse
I learned how to have busy plants instead of tall leggy ones, cut the parent plant back so it would make new growth, and use 3 to 4-inch pieces to root new plants.
Cigar boxes, with drainage holes punched in the bottoms filled with sand or vermiculite and kept moist, did the trick. It was no time before healthy roots developed, and the little plants were ready for transplanting.
A Place To Start Seedlings
My greenhouse also proved to be an excellent place to start seedlings, especially white petunias and pansies, as well as other annuals and perennials. I used small oblong plastic containers with their saucer trays, which I purchased at the ten-cent store.
I filled them with vermiculite and kept the trays filled with water so that the moisture rose to the top. This eliminated the problems of washing out the seeds or “damping off.”
Separate Varieties
Each variety was kept separate, and when the seedlings were ready for transplanting into their soil mixture, the vermiculite was baked in a hot oven and used again. The compact plastic containers and light in weight, are easy to clean and stack when not in use.
My project is more attractive this second season because I have eliminated all earthenware flower pots and used only the plastic type. Dark green or charcoal gray are decorative and easy to wipe off.
Ideal For Transplanting Seedlings
Empty cigar boxes are ideal for transplanting young seedlings. I use a soil mixture of one-third each of sand, peat, and humus and plant about a dozen little seedlings.
The boxes are easy to move to the cold frame for hardening off before planting the seedlings in their permanent places in the garden.
The two I have, in my city apartment and my country home, are very satisfying until I can afford a walk-in greenhouse. However, to anyone interested in making similar units, the small cost, compared to the great amount of pleasure, will pay for itself before long.
44659 by Dorothy Wallace