Photos by Hwei-Yiing Johnson.
Alumroot
Bradbury Beebalm
Yellow Wingstem
Shining Bluestar seedlings
Rose Turtlehead
Grow Light Gardening
W
hen I was in sixth grade, I started messing around with plants. The professional name for this is horticulture, although my late colleague and friend Cindy Gilberg liked to call it “hortitorture.” That’s more like what I was doing in sixth grade. I chopped plants to pieces to see what would happen. It started the winter of 1978, when I came across a gardening book sitting around the house. In it were helpful pictures and descriptions of all sorts of ways to propagate plants. One method showed how to slash a plant stem with a sharp knife, then pin and bury it in soil to stimulate root growth (simple layering) and hopefully a new plant. What sixth grade boy wouldn’t want to get his hands on a sharp knife? Another method involved scraping a stem and wrapping the wound with wet peat moss and a plastic bag (air-layering). I also learned how
to take stem cuttings by soaking them in willow water, then sticking them in potting soil to stimulate new roots (softwood cuttings). In one weekend, I tormented every plant in the house. I can’t remember if I asked for permission or forgiveness. Either way, my mom didn’t outwardly mind too much, and even helped me create my first indoor grow light garden, where I experimented with these tortured propagules, plus snapdragons that I sprouted from a packet of seed in the basement. It was an eye-opening experience. Over forty years later, my eyes are still wide open. Bill Schuler, a former horticulture volunteer at Shaw Nature Re-
SCOTT WOODBURY Horticulturist 16
February 2021 | kcgmag.com
serve, also had a grow light garden in his basement in Union, Missouri. His inflorescent lamp setup was simple like mine (although there are many different systems available now). Bill used standard, four-foot inflorescent lamps with coolwhite bulbs suspended on chains above the plants. Lamps on chains allow you to adjust height as plants grow taller. This is important because plants that grow in adequate light are more compact and fit into small spaces. When light is too distant (two to three feet), plant stems elongate, grow thin, and flop over. So keep lights as close to the plants as possible—about five to eight inches works best. This will
not burn the leaves or dry out the soil, although keep in mind that gardening indoors can be tricky. Airflow is critical to prevent fungal disease and promote stronger stems. Keep an oscillating fan going non-stop, pointed at the plants. You should also mist leaves often with water from a spray bottle in addition to watering the soil with a watering can. Cheap spray bottles work, but higher quality ones available in garden centers last much longer and have better pump mechanisms. Indoor air in winter is tough on plants, just as it is on skin. That’s why I use bath scrub all winter in the shower and why you should invest in a good spray bottle for your grow light garden. Bill mostly grew native plants from seed, although he also kept his favorite geraniums and coleus going for years by taking softwood cuttings. He experimented with anything he could get his hands
Horticulturist Scott Woodbury is the Curator of the Whitmore Wildflower Garden at Shaw Nature Reserve in Gray Summit, MO, where he has worked with native plant propagation, design, and education for 30 years, and which is supported by the Missouri Dept. of Conservation. He also is an advisor to the Missouri Prairie Foundation’s Grow Native! program.
