Hydroponic Plants Grown in a Car

by Cindy
(Nanjing city, Jiang province, China)

I want to find a kind of plant which can be put in the car to purify the air and decorate the car. You know the air in the car is very poor, especially the new car- it contains noxious gas. Furthermore, today many people would like to use plants to decorate their car compared to other decorations which I have investigated. Please give me some suggestion how can I do it, or can I use some physical device to make the plant lively all the time. Thanks very much. Best regards, Cindy.

Answer: Cindy- Any plant can be grown just about anywhere using hydroponics. For growing in a car, there are three things which will be your biggest concerns. First, controlling the temperature. If you park your car in the sun, the temperature in the car will likely kill any plants you try to grow in your car (temp can easily go over 100 degrees in the Summer sun). The opposite is true in the Winter, when freezing temperatures will also kill plants.

The second concern would be providing adequate lighting. While you are driving during the day, the plants can enjoy the sunlight through the windows. However, when you park, you cannot park in the sun or the high temperatures will kill the plants. You would likely have to use a small fluorescent light with the cord run out the car window and plugged in nearby. Obviously, this can be very inconvenient. The only other option would be to try different low-light varieties of plants.

If you can figure out clever solutions for these first two concerns, than your final consideration would be plant size. Obviously, the plants you grow in your car cannot be very large (especially if they are up against your windows trying to get light). I recommend trying to grow different herbs. Grown vegetatively, they require less light than a flowering plant. Also, they can be grown to any manageable size. Finally, you can reach over and pinch a piece of the herb and make the whole car smell wonderful. Some suggestions: mint, lemon balm, rosemary, and patchouli are all inexpensive, easy to grow, and very fragrant. Hope this helps Cindy, and Happy Growing!