Posts tagged Indoor gardening

Just add water

October 14, 2008 · Filed under Indoor gardening · Tagged

I would not describe myself as greenfingered in any way. When it comes to the outdoor space I am useless and am quite content to leave the work to my husband and revel in the finished product. However I have dabbled in doing a bit of indoor gardening, though nothing too complicated.

Basically I have used indoor growing kits to successfully grow tomatoes and mushrooms. Not very exciting you might think but for me a major achievement in the growing stakes. I found the experience very satisfying and it was very inexpensive to do. I haven’t invested in any equipment, nor do I have anywhere special to grow the plants.

On my first occasion I was given a mushroom growing kit, it was a large bag which contained what I though was plain soil. I was looking for the seeds, but there were none. These mushroom growing kits contain everything you need except water. Basically all I had to do was open the bag, lengthwise and then water. The results were visible in a few days and quite soon I had a reasonable crop of mushrooms.

The tomato kit was a little more complicated, but not difficult, again everything other than water was contained in the kit. It was a little pot and some dried up material, the dried up material had to be put in the pot and water added. After a few days a few shoots started to appear and eventually these grew into tomato plants. Again with continual watering I was able to harvest a small tomato crop.

I was never going to become self-sufficient with these efforts but they were very simple to do and rewarding. They also gave me the enthusiasm to take a little more interest in the big outdoor space and I am learning a little about gardening.

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Home grown in your home

June 6, 2008 · Filed under Indoor gardening · Tagged ,

Growing your own food has many, many benefits, from your health to your pocket, and it doesn’t mean having to own a huge plot of land to be able to do it! Indoor gardening is a lot easier than first envisaged, and can use a small space to get the basics.

Planting a small trough in a window area that receives different levels of light throughout the day can be the perfect place to grow many products, search on the internet or speak to green fingered friends for tips. All you need is a small trough, good compost and a half decent memory to remind yourself to water your produce!

Different seeds are available from many shops and garden centres that will get you started on your quest, ranging from cucumbers to basil. Plant products together that require the similar amount of care and therefore you receive the most from what you plant. Sow produce in plenty of time for when you wish to harvest, all seeds have a guide on the back of the pack. But most importantly, enjoy yourself and learn what will and won’t work in your own little food factory!

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Compensating for the absence of mother nature

June 4, 2008 · Filed under Indoor gardening · Tagged , ,

An increasing number of people don’t live in houses and growing food is vastly more difficult if you live in an apartment as the garden can be difficult to reach from the tenth floor! The answer for those that like food they have grown themselves may be an indoor garden.

Why not recycle a large ice cream tub? This will not only benefit the environment but will also keep your costs down, especially when you compare it to buying organic products from your local supermarket.

Indoor gardening requires more personal attention as your produce won’t benefit from the natural influence of mother nature. It is more difficult to grow food indoors due to the availability of light being far more limited. This necessitates that you find a room that gets a minimum of six hours of sunlight each day.

Most vegetables, particularly tomatoes and lettuce, thrive on a plentiful supply of water. You do, however, have to be very careful as too much watering can cause them to go rotten.

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Make your gardening nuts and bolt free

June 3, 2008 · Filed under Growing tomatoes, Indoor gardening · Tagged ,

Tomatoes are easy to grow, both in a container and in your very own garden. You will find that you have smaller growth, quantity and yield when weeds have become a problem in your garden.

Find your area of the map and plant accordingly. Because they are hanging, they are prone to drying out, especially when the wind blows.

Bed need to be on the smaller side so that they are easily tended to for weeding and harvesting. This allows you to utilize all of your compost for planting. If you use fertilizer, it should only be used during the active growth periods.

Growing two or more vegetables in an area will also help save space. Scuffle hoes are considered to be very light and can be very effective for the smaller weeds. Try and save some money by sowing nasturtium, cosmos, sunflower, and California poppy seeds directly into the garden in spring.

Remember that some plants or bushes will take longer to develop, so you can fill in with other nectar bearing plants. Take the time to plan out what you need to do

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Real gardening is easy

May 6, 2008 · Filed under Grow lights, Indoor gardening · Tagged , ,

There are many products available for indoor gardening. One of these is the Aero garden which costs over $150 and is a stylish hydroponic system that lets you grow fruit and vegetable without natural sunlight.

When it comes to indoor gardening, the grow lights is just about the most important acquisition you will make in an indoor growing situation and you can be guaranteed that ours represent the very best there are on the market today.

There are cheaper (and I believe more fun) ways to grow food indoors however. One of the main reasons I have started my windowsill allotment is to save money on my weekly shop, so why spend lots of money on equipment? You will need compost, seeds, pots and water. Also needed is a very sunny windowsill. I spent $10 on my original shop, which was enough to get started with terracotta pots and saucers and plenty of seeds. A similar article could be a find about grow systems with a key emphasis on how hydroponics can help you jump-start you indoor gardening and extend your growing season.

I am currently growing basil, chives, spring onions, rocket, carrots, coriander and peppers. Fill a pot with compost; sow the seeds as per the packet instructions and water in. Then leave on a sunny windowsill and keep watered. Within a week you will find that some things have already started to sprout. Basil is probably one of the easiest things to grow indoors and started sprouting within 4 days, with everything else bar the peppers and coriander within 7 days.

There are many different varieties of seeds available for container growing. These are generally a different size or shape. The carrots I am growing are golf ball shape as the trough I am growing them in does not have the depth to grow long carrots. Not many of these say suitable for indoor growing, however as long as you create the right environment it is possible to grow lots of things indoors. I am yet to see how easy these are to grow over winter however, but hopefully I will be able to sustain the yield throughout the year.

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