Can You Grow Vegetables Indoors?

Don't let anybody tell you that growing vegetables indoors is not possible. It certainly is! An indoor vegetable garden can allow anybody living in an apartment or other restricted space to enjoy the satisfaction of eating their own home-grown vegetables. It just takes a little know-how and planning.

Certain plants are obviously more suited than others to your aim of growing vegetables indoors. Large plants that enjoy colder climates, like the brassica family or leeks, are not the best choice for growing in a small apartment. Most root vegetables require a deeper depth of soil than you probably want to provide. However, if you have a large apartment that does not have heating directly under the windows, you can grow larger plants by placing rectangular containers on the floor in front of your windows.

Herbs are a very popular choice for people growing vegetables indoors because many of them are small plants that will grow happily on a windowsill. Herbs like fresh air and you will probably find they grow better if you can leave a window slightly open for them during the day, as long as the weather is not too cold. They also prefer well-drained soil so they are best watered little and often.

Growing your own vegetables in containers means you can move them indoors or outdoors as needed. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Of course, you do not need to restrict your indoor vegetable garden to herbs. You can grow other plants too.  For example, tomatoes enjoy sunny, sheltered spots and are perfect for growing indoors near a sunny window. They can grow rather tall and require a trellis to climb up, so you might want to site them on a small table or shelf near to your window rather than have them on the actual window sill where they could block a lot of light by growing in front of the whole window. Leafy greens like lettuce often grow well indoors as well.

It is important to choose the right containers for your plants. A seedling starts out very small but it can grow into a large plant. In order to avoid disturbing it later, it is best if, after germination, seedlings are transferred into the container appropriate for the final plant.

You will also need to think about what to put in the containers. While plants will happily grow in regular earth outside, they need more nutritionally-adapted soil to grow indoors. This is because they do not have the benefit of all of the microorganisms and other nutrients that are available in the deep beds outside. So you will need to buy compost or soil that is suitable for the specific plants that you are planning to grow. You cannot necessarily use the same compost for everything. For example, there are many brands of compost designed specifically for tomato plants.

Of course, your lifestyle can be the difference between success and failure when growing vegetables indoors. Plants in containers dry out very easily, and the more shallow the container, the truer this is. If you spend a lot of time away from home for work or social reasons, you may find it difficult to give your plants the water and other care that they need, unless you have a friendly neighbor who will take care of them for you.

Even more important are the conditions inside your home. If you have a north-facing apartment with small windows, it will be difficult for your plants to get enough sunlight. You will have to choose them very carefully to produce any worthwhile crops.

However, if you keep these points in mind, there is no reason why you should not have an indoor garden to be proud of. With a little care and planning, most apartment or city dwellers can enjoy all the benefits of successfully growing fresh vegetables indoors.

Video - Indoor Window Gardening Tips

Here is a short video with some helpful tips for indoor gardening, or planting a small window garden. From proper light conditions and sunlight exposure, to how to keep your garden from damaging your windowsills, this quick video shows some ways to establish your own little window garden easily - and even a bit of greenery is much appreciated at this time of year!

Gardening Tips : How to Make Indoor Window Gardens
Creating an indoor window garden requires a window, some sunlight and moisture. Make a windowsill garden with expert tips from a gardener in this free video on creating an indoor window garden. Expert: Yolanda Vanveen Contact: www.vanveenbulbs.com Bi...


Indoor Window Gardening Resources:
   

Building A Window Greenhouse

Instead of looking out through your glass panes and sadly watching your not-so-long-ago attractive flower beds that are now frozen in the winter, you can easily transform your window into a little greenhouse where houseplants, herbs, seedlings and flowers will thrive.

A window greenhouse is also a great project for plant lovers with limited space.  Also referred to as a window garden, even with its very small structure, this little garden can often supply you with enough space so that you can enjoy year-round blossoms. It's also a great place to start seedlings to transplant outside for your summer garden.

Greenhouse Plants (Photo credit: azmichelle)Cost, materials and your window greenhouse size are factors to be considered when deciding the style that best suits you.  Just do keep in mind that the style should match the design of your home.

There are complete kits now available for bay window style units that are energy saving and install easily. They certainly will open up any room and likewise increase the functionality of a living space. A window greenhouse seat may also be utilized as a pretty breakfast nook or a place for indoor plants that would take up a lot of floor space.

The bow greenhouse window can also be a great option. These are composed of more than four glass segments to imitate a rounded look.  Bay greenhouse windows generally come in three segments with sides that are angled at either thirty or forty-five degrees.

Your most cost-effective and simple to build option will be a complete greenhouse bow window kit as compared to building a new window greenhouse yourself.   With the kit, all you have to do is remove your existing window then enlarge the opening of the wall in accordance to the required size stipulated in the kit and just screw and nail your greenhouse window in place.

However, you should first select a size or measurement that suits your interest as well as the plants that you will be housing.  More plants will mean more time to attend to them. Starting with a smaller greenhouse window unit can be a good idea, as you can just install another one. However if your goal is to have more open space then start bigger.

Bow greenhouse windows that come in vinyl maintenance-free material or aluminum coated wood are very appealing. The interior is natural wood which can be stained or painted. With the imitation wood graining, often the stained or painted vinyl looks very real and is also maintenance-free.

Your choices when it comes to window greenhouse features are endless. For energy saving, select a bow greenhouse window structure with bendable foam insulation that is constructed into the seat board or headboard. Some really efficient kinds have foam-stuffed cavities and frames.

The glass paneling is considered to be the core of any greenhouse window for glare control, comfort, efficiency and resistance to fading.  For most temperatures and weather, low-emissive or “low-e” type of glass having argon gas between gaps is not a good choice. Select a glass with an insulating spacer.

Image via WikipediaExamine your home and look for the windows that have the qualities needed for a window greenhouse.  You need warmth, good light supply and easy water access. Maintaining and growing plants indoors requires that you provide humidity, sunlight and reasonably constant temperature.

Keep in mind that you will be working with the plants in various ways such as transplanting them when needed, watering, fertilizing and checking for disease, so you need an area of the house that is easily accessible to you, that will not clash with other activities in the home.

When you want and enjoy the sight of colorful flowers where you spend a lot of time, for instance, in the kitchen, it does not have to follow that you should have your window greenhouse in the kitchen, if there is limited space; you can rotate flowering plants to many parts of the house, and just return them regularly to the window greenhouse for some rest and sunshine.

Once you have decided where to put your window greenhouse, decide whether you will be building it yourself or you will purchase a kit. 

To fill your new greenhouse, you may purchase potted flowering plants in bloom and arrange them in your window greenhouse.  During fall, you can transplant summer flowers into pots so that you can enjoy when winter comes. And herbs are always an attractive, useful and fragrant addition to your window greenhouse. With a window greenhouse, you can have a mini-garden all year long and enjoy it no matter what the weather brings.

Window Greenhouse Resources:
   

Considering Part-Time Indoor Gardening?

What is a part-time indoor gardener? These are the ones (like me) that live in an area with cold winters – too cold for most of their outdoor plants to survive in. By transplanting or bringing the plants indoors, they can survive the colder months and add greenery inside the home. There are some considerations and preparations that should be made before you decide to become a part-time indoor gardener.

Image by wockerjabby via FlickrThe most important point to think about before bringing a plant indoors is whether or not it will survive being an inside plant. If the plant has high temperature or very high light requirements and your house does not get a lot of light in the winter time – it may not be a good solution. As a back-up you can invest in an artificial light source to supplement the natural light the plant will get.

How will you get the plant indoors? If the plant is already in a pot that will fit inside it is easy enough to move it indoors. But if the plant is in the ground you need to find a pot large enough to contain the root system and one that will not be too difficult to move. Keeping in mind that when a large plant is transplanted (re-potted or put in a pot for the first time) it may go into shock. Although with careful attention, you can nurse your plant through this.

Most likely you have been taking care of your plants outdoors and they do not have any pests or bugs on them. But it's always smart to double-check. By bringing an infested plant indoors you are putting all of your other indoor plants at risk of becoming infected too. Either forego bringing the plant inside or treat the pest problem before the cold weather arrives.

With a bit of attention to these considerations, it's easy to become a part-time indoor gardener, and you may find you enjoy having some of your plants inside all winter so much that you decide to keep some of them there come springtime!

Video - Starting Plants in Homemade Bio-Domes

Here is a pretty cool video which demonstrates step-by-step how to build a biodome (which requires no further maintenance) to start seeds. This will help your plants get a good head-start for planting out later, or in some cases you may actually be able to keep the plant in here, but it depends on the type of plant you are trying to grow (for instance, tomatoes will need more space and soil to produce fruit), but it's still a great way to start plants and get them going good before planting them outside. And hey, it's also recycling! :-)

Enjoy the video, and check out the link below as well, for an update on the seeds she planted here - and of course let us know if you try this, and what you think!:

Growing Veggies indoors. 2 Liter Bio-Dome Organic Gardening
Im really interrested in some feedback if anyone tries this. Let me know if I didnt cover something and you have a question. I will post an update on the broccoli after it comes up a bit. :)


Update Video on her Biodome Garden: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PglxavZifQ&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

These Plants Should Be Left Outside For the Winter

When you are an indoor gardener the same rules apply to your plants as they do to any other type of gardener.  Your plants will need water, food, and plenty of light as do the ones grown outside or in a green house.  Of course there are special considerations such as temperature and humidity control but they can be overcome with relatively minor adjustments.  With that being said, there are some plants that are best left to the outdoor garden.

Image by Michael Sarver via FlickrThe type of plant that won’t do well indoors is really dependant on the climate you live in.  If you live in a warm area and have the air conditioning or fans on during the day a plant that is used to higher temperature will not do well inside your home and should be left outside.  The same goes for the opposite, if your house is overheated a plant will most likely dry out from lack of moisture in the air.

Other plants that are best left outdoors are perennials and bulb plants that need the seasonal rains and temperatures outside to grow again.  You could bring some tulips or daffodils inside in a pot but they will do much better outside. 

Most trees are best left outside too; by trying to grow certain trees inside you will only have a smaller and  less sturdy version than its outside mates.  If you do decide to grow a tree indoors plan ahead for a transplant that may have to occur.  You do not want to wait until the tree becomes too heavy to move.  When a larger plant is repotted or planted elsewhere it will usually go into shock – meaning it will not grow for at least one season (it may be more depending on the size and age of the plant). 

As with other types of gardening, a little bit of planning ahead goes a long way in ensuring the success of your indoor garden.

Indoor Gardening Tips

Image via WikipediaPlants are a great addition to the home, that many people don't think about. Aside from the aesthetic value plants provide your home with, there are also health benefits - grade school science class tells us that plants cleanse the air through utilizing the carbon dioxide and producing more oxygen. Here is some important information on how to care for your indoor plants to gain the optimum health and aesthetic benefits.

Lighting

Most indoor plants need good lighting. You can provide this through natural lighting in the room of your choice or there must be electric lighting. Darker-leaved plants usually don't need as much light as others.

Here are the varieties of plants (usually those that only require medium to low light) that are known to be suitable for indoor gardening:

a. Philodendrons
b. Boston ferns
c. African violets
d. Cyclamens
e. Creeping Fig

Image via WikipediaWatering

A common mistake most people make in indoor gardening is they tend to over-water the plants, which may lead to rotting roots.  Make sure to research the type of plant you have, because each kind of plant varies on their watering needs.

Potting

Choose good quality and attractive containers for your indoor plants. Make sure that the pot is clean before placing your new plant into it to prevent infection and to encourage healthy growth.

Humidity

In indoor gardening, humidity is a big issue.  The amount of moisture in the air has effect on the growth of the plants. In the morning, you may want to spray some types of plants with water for their much-needed moisture. Also make sure the leaves don't get covered in dust, as this can block both light and moisture absorption.

Fertilization

Just like watering, fertilizing depends on the type of plant.  If you have managed to supply your indoor garden with the right amount of light, water and humidity, fertilization may not need much attention. A good indoor fertilizer can be bought from most home depot or hardware stores - make sure it's organic - you don't want to be bringing chemicals into your home! More delicate or unique plants like orchids may need special fertilizers.

With just a bit of attention to these considerations, you can have a lovely and thriving indoor garden to keep your home beautiful year-round.

Container Gardening Tips for Newbies

Well, we're getting into winter now in many areas of the country, so many of us gardening addicts are turning to our winter pastimes, such as container gardening! Check out this article for some great tips on starting a lovely container garden to sustain your green thumb through the winter.

Image via WikipediaWe won't be posting on Thursday, as most of our readers will be busy spending time with their families, but be sure to check back on Saturday for some great gift ideas for gardeners, just in time for shopping season!

Container gardens can create a natural sanctuary in a busy city street, along rooftops or on balconies. You can easily accentuate the welcoming look of a deck or patio with colorful pots of annuals, or fill your window boxes with beautiful shrub roses or any number of small perennials. Whether you arrange your pots in a group for a massed effect or highlight a smaller space with a single specimen, you'll be delighted with this simple way to create a garden.

Container gardening enables you to easily vary your color scheme, and as each plant finishes flowering, it can be replaced with another. Whether you choose to harmonize or contrast your colors, make sure there is variety in the height of each plant. Think also of the shape and texture of the leaves. Tall strap-like leaves will give a good vertical background to low-growing, wide-leaved plants. Choose plants with a long flowering season, or have others of a different type ready to replace them as they finish blooming.

Experiment with creative containers. You might have an old porcelain bowl or copper urn you can use, or perhaps you'd rather make something really modern with timber or tiles.  If you decide to buy your containers ready-made, terracotta pots look wonderful, but tend to absorb water. You don't want your plants to dry out, so paint the interior of these pots with a special sealer available from hardware stores.

Image by LollyKnit via FlickrCheaper plastic pots can also be painted on the outside with water-based paints for good effect.  When purchasing pots, don't forget to buy matching saucers to catch the drips. This will save cement floors getting stained, or timber floors rotting.

Always use a good quality potting mix in your containers. This will ensure the best performance possible from your plants.

If you have steps leading up to your front door, an attractive pot plant on each one will delight your visitors. Indoors, pots of plants or flowers help to create a cozy and welcoming atmosphere.

Decide ahead of time where you want your pots to be positioned, then buy plants that suit the situation. There is no point buying sun lovers for a shady position, for they will not do well. Some plants also have really large roots, so they are best kept for the open garden.

If you have plenty of space at your front door, a group of potted plants off to one side will be more visually appealing than two similar plants placed each side. Unless they are spectacular, they will look rather boring.
Group the pots in odd numbers rather than even, and vary the height and type. To tie the group together, add large rocks that are similar in appearance and just slightly different in size. Three or five pots of the same type and color, but in different sizes also looks affective.

With a creative mind and some determination, you will soon have a container garden that will be the envy of friends and strangers alike!

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Fertilizing Indoor Plants

Plants need different elements from the soil to grow.  If they are not present in the right amount the plants will not be as healthy or grow as they should.  This is the reason plants need fertilizer, to add the missing elements (nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium).  However, keep in mind that you can give your plants too much fertilizer and that will have the opposite effect you are going for. 

Image via WikipediaThe same species of plant that is grown indoors or outdoors will have different fertilizing needs.  Plants that are grown indoors will not need as much fertilizer as the ones grown outside.  The rate of growth is slower indoors and you can harm your plant by over-fertilizing it. 

How do you know how much fertilizer to give to your plants and when to feed it to them?  If you have purchased a plant meant for the indoors chances are the information tag it comes with will give fertilizing instructions. But a better method to follow is observing your plant for any signs that would indicate it is lacking nutrients.

Your plant might need fertilizer if it is not growing as fast as it should.  If you notice the growth of the plant is stunted and it is spring or summer you can safely add fertilizer in small amounts over a period of one to two weeks.  Many indoor gardeners will add fertilizer as part of routine maintenance each spring and that is fine too.  Just be careful not to over-fertilize.  Some signs that you have added to much fertilizer are the tip of the leaves are turning brown or the leaves are drooping downwards.

All fertilizers are not made the same; they are available in different ratios of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium.  Purchase an organic fertilizer meant for indoor plants or one that is made for a specific type of plant. (Remember not to use chemical fertilizers on anything you will eat, or any plants that are indoors - you certainly don't want to bring toxic chemical fertilizers into your home.) You can also top-dress your indoor plants with compost (made via worm composting or traditional methods), but you may want to do this in the warmer part of the year, so you can set the plants outside while adding the compost, and not make a mess.

Related articles on Fertilizing Indoor Plants:

• What is a good natural fertilizer for my plants? (greenanswers.com)
• Learn How to Make Fish Emulsion for Fertilizing Indoor Gardens (brighthub.com)