Mar 29th, 2010
Helpful Hints To Get Started With Indoor Vegetable Gardening
When the summer comes, people drive out in droves to the local farm to pick their own fruit and vegetables, but with a little bit of know-how, you can actually grow your own indoor vegetable garden. It doesn’t matter how much room you have available, you can always fit in a few plants here and there. Here are a few tips on getting started on growing fresh produce inside.
If you don’t have many windows in your home where you will have enough room to start your indoor garden, consider making a growing area for your plants with fluorescent lights and bulbs that coincide with the plants you’re growing. If it’s wintertime, you will definitely need to have your own makeshift sunlight with the sunlight hours being less in the winter compared to the summer. Make sure to do your research and find out what plants need direct sunlight or light. If you can find plants that grow quite well with a normal amount of light and water, that will be less work for you.
Herbs are probably the easiest plants to grow indoors because they do very well indoors. For beginners, a basil plant is your best bet. Once the basil grows, you can use it for pasta dishes, salads and more. Besides basil, mint also grows well. You can use it for iced beverages, desserts and more. These herbs are versatile and you can find many recipes on the internet for them.
There are many choices when it comes to vegetables that can be grown indoors. Garlic is very easily grown by planting a couple of cloves in the pot with the tip up. In only a week’s time, you’ll already see green shoots, which can be used in salads, soups, and meat dishes. Green onions can also be grown in a similar manner in a short amount of time if you prefer to grow these. Other vegetables you can try your hand at are spinach, butter head lettuce, arugula and parsley, which all grow well indoors. You can visit your local garden center to find specific vegetable seeds that are meant to grow in pots, like dwarf carrots and radishes.
Gardening indoors can be very environmentally friendly. Choose organic growing medium and fertilizer for your new indoor garden, and think about being environmentally responsible with regard to the pots as well. Recycling old containers for your indoor garden is great for the environment. Consider using four liter ice cream pails, big coffee canisters, unused plant containers that you can get from friends or neighbors and more. Use your imagination and have fun with it.
If you’re serious about indoor gardening, you might want to consider hydroponic gardening using water instead of soil. Click here for some helpful advice on homemade hydroponics nutrients or find out about an indoor grow tent.
