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Wouldn't a hydroponic setup help the author with this? Dumb question, but is it difficult to setup a temperature and humidity controlled box or room where you

Wouldn't a hydroponic setup help the author with this? Dumb question, but is it difficult to setup a temperature and humidity controlled box or room where you could stow away the plants at night? A possibly dumber question, why do hydroponics always seem to involve indoor/UV lighting? Why are there no container-sized setups that you can place outdoors, but the climate and sun-light is controlled, and it's all powered by solar energy? (sorry for all the dumb questions, i don't know anything about this topic)

NooneAtAll3 1y ago
do you mean greenhouse? I guess in this case it would have to be greenhouse with good AC?
- Loughla 1y ago
  AC drops your humidity first and cools second. Plants like water and humidity, when cool weather plants (sometimes especially cool weather plants).
  - IAmBroom 1y ago
    Maybe, but restoring humidity is rather trivial compared to dropping temperature.
MathMonkeyMan 1y ago
You can do hydroponics outside, but it will still be warm at night. And with hydroponics, you need to prevent the water from getting too warm -- the roots will rot. So you might have trouble during the day, too. [This guy][1] does a bunch of hydroponics and hydroponics adjacent projects outdoors. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/@Hoocho https://www.youtube.com/@Hoocho
roughly 1y ago
All of these things are possible, but the cost difference between “put the plant in the dirt” and “put the plant in a specially constructed climate and humidity controlled box” are why large-scale hydroponics are only really used for high profit margin crops for which there’s a good reason not to just plant them outside.
progval 1y ago
> why do hydroponics always seem to involve indoor/UV lighting? Hydroponics and artificial lighting increase density (no/less volume wasted by dirt, and can stack plant beds on top of each other). UV lighting is more power-efficient artificial lighting, so it's the next logical step. And if you grow plants indoor somewhat densely, they'll leave your apartment in constant semi-darkness if you rely on sunlight. I have this issue with my basil and cherry tomatoes, for example.

NooneAtAll3 1y ago

do you mean greenhouse? I guess in this case it would have to be greenhouse with good AC?

Loughla 1y ago
AC drops your humidity first and cools second. Plants like water and humidity, when cool weather plants (sometimes especially cool weather plants).
- IAmBroom 1y ago
  Maybe, but restoring humidity is rather trivial compared to dropping temperature.

MathMonkeyMan 1y ago

You can do hydroponics outside, but it will still be warm at night. And with hydroponics, you need to prevent the water from getting too warm -- the roots will rot. So you might have trouble during the day, too. [This guy][1] does a bunch of hydroponics and hydroponics adjacent projects outdoors. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/@Hoocho https://www.youtube.com/@Hoocho

roughly 1y ago

All of these things are possible, but the cost difference between “put the plant in the dirt” and “put the plant in a specially constructed climate and humidity controlled box” are why large-scale hydroponics are only really used for high profit margin crops for which there’s a good reason not to just plant them outside.

progval 1y ago

> why do hydroponics always seem to involve indoor/UV lighting? Hydroponics and artificial lighting increase density (no/less volume wasted by dirt, and can stack plant beds on top of each other). UV lighting is more power-efficient artificial lighting, so it's the next logical step. And if you grow plants indoor somewhat densely, they'll leave your apartment in constant semi-darkness if you rely on sunlight. I have this issue with my basil and cherry tomatoes, for example.