So, I recently got a look at what will soon be my new home in the glamorous world of corporate IT.
It’s a cube in our new facility.
A grey cube.
A grey cube among approximately 1000.
In a single room.
With no windows.
In a building with five such rooms.
And a perimiter of more than a mile.
Soooo, I’m gonna need some plants.
Rather than the usual spider plant or ficus, I’d like to grow something edible. It’ll have to do well in low light, obviously, and be able to handle the, uh, methane generated by approximately 980 dudes and twenty women.
My favorite non-animal foods are onions, peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, garlic, beans, lemons, limes, and granny smith apples.
Herbs are cool, but I’d also like something that I can break off and take bite out of, or maybe slice up and put on a sammich.
Will you have any shelves that have under-cabinet lighting? I’m thinking you could swap out the tubes for some more specialized for plants, and improve the odds for whatever you try.
For decoration: As I said above, you probably won’t be able to get anything edible and leafy to survive without some supplemental light. But if you’re looking for a houseplant that’s sort of "different’ and can handle low light, I’d recommend the “ZZ plant” (AKA
Zamioculcas zamiifolia : http://www.plant-care.com/zz-zamioculcas-zamiifolia.html )
I have had good luck with that plant under very low light conditions and it doesn’t require much water either.
Having lived in a series of bleak sunless lairs with no gardens, my understanding is that a plant that produces food or flowers is a plant that wants lots of sunlight. Without plant lamps to replicate the sun’s UV, your indoor plants will spend their energy getting tall and leggy, mostly stems reaching to find good light somewhere.
Mushrooms might be an interesting pursuit, if you can tolerate the inevitable magic mushroom jokes.
You could give Nasturtiums a shot. They make nice peppery (like watercress) greens, have pretty and edible flowers, and, although they flower more in full sun, they might do ok in lower light.
You need an Aerogarden. Yes, I said need. I’ve been munching on fresh salad greens since mid-January. I think they’ve got at least another month in them, and then next I’m getting strawberries. They’ve also got herbs, cherry tomatoes and peppers. And the full-spectrum light bulbs would be great light-therapy for a grey cube in a grey office. Heck, you might even be able to finagle it out of your Health Savings account.
I put a gro-light in one of mine (they have them at Home Depot), and right now I’ve got a poinsettia that someone gave me for Christmas and an African violet under there. They both look great. I’m sure you could grow something edible that way too.
There are a fair number of hot peppers that grow in compact little shrublike shapes. They grow just fine under flourescent light, especially when they’re already fairly large when moved to the low lighting.
Some have hundreds of peppers in multiple colors (states of “ripeness”) on them at one time.
No. You need to get a gro-light. You can use the lamp, but put a proper bulb in it. You can get them at Home Depot or similiar and they aren’t expensive.
