Dave2000 said:
Would you be offended if I wrote that you're nuts? It's not remotely sane to opt to grow indoors under LED lights if you live in Arkansas. No matter what soil you use, so long as it drains well, your lights will be your limitation... unless you're some kind of mad millionaire with money to burn for the power bill and lighting equipment.
I meant that in a productive way. I just hate to see people get their hopes up and pay a lot of money to see very little reward out of it.
I'm feeling like an ass for writing that, but it seems like you're underestimating the potential of those plants and how much light they need to do well.
This is very true, people don't usually realize the cost of running lights to grow plants fully indoors.
Even if you were to try to justify something like 600 watts of some high intensity bulb of your choice. Once you get past the hundred or hundreds of dollars to get the fixtures/ballasts/bulbs, you need to consider electricity... per month. If you run 600 watts of electricity, your bill goes up, say $40 per month.
But running just the light is not going to work. There will be heat and humidity to deal with. Fans and what not will add to the electricity bill.
PLUS, when you use more electricity, the electricity you use becomes more expensive as you graduate to higher tiers. At least that's how it works around my county.
So, what people might think is OK, a $40 increase per month, can turn into a $60-80 increase real quick. And once you've bought the equipment, you're kinda obligated to complete the venture.
Now take that $60 per month and times that by the number of months it takes to veg and fruit a plant. Divide that by how many plants you have, and you will get an idea of how expensive it can be to grow a plant indoors.
I'd say you could easily get 6 or 7 plants to grow (and flower, remember full sized plants take up a lot of room) under 600 watt. So, is it worth $400 to $500 per year to grow indoors? That amount is a total guess... Well, it may be. I grow
other stuff that is WAY worth the money it takes to grow it (rather than buying it) so my set up has paid for itself over and over again. But this is not a typical case with peppers.
I find it best to start peppers indoors under lights and then move them outside if at all possible.
I know the OP may not be able to given his situation, but I just want to say I fully agree with Dave2000 on warning people of the cost of growing indoors. Though, hobbies can be expensive, so if you justify it as a hobby, it may work for ya!
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