People in cities that can't grow outside or people that live in cold climates should look into hydroponics. Using the Kratky method you can grow greens under super cheap low powered LED shop lights in your basement for pennies a day of electricity, that require literally no care beyond initial setup, and for only a few cents of nutrients for the entire lifespan of the plant. I have lettuce I've been growing in my basement since August, and I've gotten tons of salads out of it and I've done nothing to care for the plants other than harvest them. They're starting to bolt now so I'll have to replant, but I've probably spent less than $6 on electricity, and less than $2 on seeds, water and nutrients, and I got like 6 months of lettuce out of it. And I did it using cheap $15 LED shop lights.
Do your research. My lights are seriously underpowered for anything more serious than greens, but with 17 hours of light a day, I estimate I'm getting about the right amount of PAR for those lettuce plants. And I'm in a cold climate where it would be impossible to do this outside. If people are interested I can give more detailed information.
People in cities that can't grow outside or people that live in cold climates should look into hydroponics. Using the Kratky method you can grow greens under super cheap low powered LED shop lights in your basement for pennies a day of electricity, that require literally no care beyond initial setup, and for only a few cents of nutrients for the entire lifespan of the plant. I have lettuce I've been growing in my basement since August, and I've gotten tons of salads out of it and I've done nothing to care for the plants other than harvest them. They're starting to bolt now so I'll have to replant, but I've probably spent less than $6 on electricity, and less than $2 on seeds, water and nutrients, and I got like 6 months of lettuce out of it. And I did it using cheap $15 LED shop lights.
Do your research. My lights are seriously underpowered for anything more serious than greens, but with 17 hours of light a day, I estimate I'm getting about the right amount of PAR for those lettuce plants. And I'm in a cold climate where it would be impossible to do this outside. If people are interested I can give more detailed information.