Perhaps you’ve done some container gardening on the patio or balcony, and you’ve even raised some vegetables as well as flowers and herbs. But what if you’ve enjoyed the experience so much that you just don’t want it to come to an end through the course of the wintertime? Is it possible to grow a container garden inside as well as out?
It most definitely is, at least to a certain extent, however, there are a few prerequisites. You might not be shocked to find out that the first of these is sunlight. Should you have a sunny window, preferably facing south, this will be the first ingredient for your container garden’s success. You might also require a fluorescent lamp which you can focus on certain vegetables, such as tomatoes and peppers, to produce an adequate supply of light so they won’t grow spindly or fail to produce fruit.
Up to a point, you’ll be able to prepare the containers similar to the way you would for an outside garden, with the appropriate soil mix, ample drainage, and so on. But these pots tend to be quite a bit smaller, and being indoors throughout the winter, they may not get as much humidity as they need. One way to work around this might be to place your pots in large trays instead of on saucers, placed on a layer of pebbles, and keep water in the trays. This should not only help them access water as they require it, but it will add to the humidity around them too. Another distinction between outdoor and indoor containers is going to be that you’ll require less fertilizer, because the vegetables will grow more slowly within the house.
The choices of plants will certainly be more restrictive than in an outside container garden. Yet you can grow radishes, smaller peppers and tomatoes, a few types of lettuce, and many herbs. Together with the usual herbs like basil, thyme and sage, you can plant cilantro, parsley and chives too. You should be able to plant these in six-inch containers on a windowsill.
Radishes will probably be the fastest growing veggie to start out with. Take a six- or eight-inch pot and scatter seeds over the moist soil, then cover with another 1/4 inch of soil. To make the seeds sprout quickly, try a “greenhouse” effect, either by placing some glass over the pot to conserve moisture or stretching some plastic wrap over it until the seeds have sprouted.
Small tomatoes, peppers, and various kinds of lettuce will grow in the house, but will need sunny, warm surroundings. With the tomatoes and peppers, you’ll need to keep an eye open for whiteflies and aphids, and get rid of them with insecticidal soap or another form of insect killer when they first appear. You should manage to harvest both peppers and tomatoes about ten weeks after planting. Carrots with small roots can also be grown indoors.
Your choices of vegetables will be more limited with indoor containers than with outdoor, and you’ll have to guarantee the ideal conditions for their growth. Yet you can still have at least a partial garden to sustain you throughout the cold months, and remind you of the many possibilities for your outdoor container garden in the approaching spring.
If you’re serious about indoor gardening, you might want to think about hydroponics gardening using water instead of soil. Click here for some helpful advice on hydroponic greenhouse systems.