Indoor gardens are best if you are short on space. Or if you don’t want to deal with the myriad problems of outdoor gardening. Problems such as weather, pests and weeds.
If you are looking to start an indoor garden, take a closer look at what choices you have to make. Read on to find out how you can start indoor gardening now.
Types Of Indoor Gardens
You can start an indoor garden with seeds if you want to start from scratch. Or you can opt for using small plants and saplings to propagate your garden.
Start an Indoor Garden with Seeds:
Starting an indoor garden from seeds can be an inexpensive way to get the garden of your dreams. You can either buy seeds or start your own.
Remember, it is not always easy to start your own seeds. For a first attempt, it is easier to purchase seeds from stores.
Some plants that you can easily grow from seeds include strawberries, beans, peas, Sunflower, Sweet Pea, tomatoes and Petunias.
Some seeds that you can start at home are Peace Lily, Lavender, Anthuriums, cucumbers, squashes and eggplants.
Start an Indoor Garden with Saplings:
You can purchase seedlings and young plants for your indoor garden.
This would be an easier option since the live plants are already accustomed to weather conditions. Almost all indoor plants are available as young plants that you can take home and tend to.
Other than these two methods, you can also start an indoor garden with cuttings. If this is your first attempt at gardening, the cuttings can be left till you get a hang of things.
When to Start Indoor Garden
The timing of starting your indoor garden is very important. Whether using seeds or plants, the season would decide how much to water and how to tend to it.
The dormant season, late fall to early spring is the best time to plant flowers. Roses, Hibiscus and Adenium can be planted in any season, and do well indoors.
An indoor flower garden is perfect for places that have chilly winters. Winter flowers are so beautiful, they deserve to be a part of your garden. If not outdoors, then indoors.
Cool season vegetables should be maturing during the winters. So you will need to plant them a couple of months before.
Same goes for warm season vegetables. Plant them a few weeks before summer's peak, and you will have a lush garden on your hands.
What To Plant When For Best Results
Summer vegetables include Pumpkin, Spinach, Onions, Gourds, Okra, Cucumber. Plant these 7 to 8 weeks before peak summer. Water seeds sparingly and plants profusely.
Winter vegetables include Cabbage, Beetroot, Kale, Leeks, Radishes and Parsnips. For best results, plant your vegetables in October. Or 2 months before real cold weather hits. Water sparingly, both seeds and plants.
What Kind Of Soil Is Best For Indoor Plants
Indoor plants need different soil than outdoor plants. Their needs for water, sunlight, and nutrients are different from outdoor plants. And so the soil has to be the right fit for best results.
Different plants have different needs, so it would be great if the soil can be customized as per their requirements.
Cacti and succulents need well-drained and coarse soil. Some flowering plants prefer high humus content in the soil. Whereas some plants, like orchids, thrive in a mixture of moss and bark.
If you are looking for a soil solution that is best for all your indoor plants, you can use a combination of perlite, peat moss, compost, sharp sand, rich garden soil, and vermiculite.
How Deep to Plant the Seeds or Saplings:
Seeds should be planted no deeper than twice their width. Saplings can be planted as deep as the root system of the plant.
How to Ensure Soil Is Well Drained:
The main reason behind needing well-drained soil is that oxygen and water can easily reach the root system of the plant. Add sand and tiny pebbles to your potting mix for an easy fix.
In order to check whether your plants have well-drained soil, check if the water drains completely within 15 to 30 minutes.
If it doesn’t the soil needs better drainage.
If it drains faster than that, either the soil was too dry or there is too much sand in the soil.
How to Cover It and Water:
The top soil should be covering the seeds or the roots of the plants adequately. Exposed roots and seeds will most likely die or not germinate.
How Much Water And Sunlight Is Needed By Indoor Plants
Indoor plants need about 5 to 6 hours of sunlight every day. During winter months, you can use a grow light for your plants.
Then again, there are plenty of plants that need very little sunlight. Those are the plants perfect for your indoor garden.
Plants such as Pothos, Snake Plants, a lot of succulents, Ferns, and Ivy can be grown indoors without the need for moving them near the window or outdoors every day.
Water indoor plants as per specific requirements. When in doubt, do the soil test to check how dry the soil is. Rule of thumb is to water plants sparsely once a day during summers, and once in three days in winters.
What Sort Of Pots Are Best
The best pots for your indoor garden are those that give plants enough space to grow. Ceramic, stone and mud pots are ideal.
Avoid plastic planters if you can. Inorganic material stunts root growth and its breathability.
How Much Space Do the Plants or Seeds Need:
Seeds need at least ½ inch of space on all sides to germinate properly. For plants, it is ideal to grow one plant in one pot.
You will also need to transplant any seedlings into bigger pots when they grow.
Tips For Pruning, Fertilizing And Tilling
Remove any dead leaves periodically from your plants. Use pruning shears to give it shape.
Depending upon the plant, you can fertilize your indoor plants once a month to once every 3 months.
Till your pot soil once every 6 to 8 weeks.
