Indoor Gardening Guide
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Indoor Gardening Guide
Growing Your Own Food in a Small Apartment
Ever wanted to grow your own fruits and
veggies but think you can't because you live in a small apartment?
Well, the truth is you can. Even if you are on a small budget with
limited space, you can grow more than you may realize is possible.
There are a few different methods you can use. I am going to start
out with the easiest.
Using emptied and clean yogurt, butter,
sour cream, ect. type plastic containers you can grow a variety of
herbs and lettuces indoors. You can buy pots as well, but for this
guide I am going to assume you want to do this as cheaply as
possible. Garden quality soil can usually be obtained from your local
city or county waste management center for a fraction of the cost,
that you would pay for a bag of potting soil, if not for free.The following plants and herbs do well
indoors using this method and thrive on indoor lighting.
Mints
Thyme
Sage
Marjoram
Chives
Parsley
Basil
Tarragon
Garlic
Ginger
Miniature or dwarf chile plants
Spinach
Beets
Radish
Lettuce
Choose your container size based upon
the plant you want to grow. Wider for lettuces and deeper for root
vegetables such as ginger, beets and radishes. Poke holes in the
bottom of the container and fill with soil, leaving about an inch
from the top make sure you place a plate or item underneath to catch
the water that drains off. You'll need to water according to the
instructions on the seed packaging.
The next method is hanging planters.
This is an excellent space saver for small areas.
You can get creative and make your own
using buckets, fishing wire, wire hangers old plastic bins or
anything else you may have handy, or you can purchase them. If you
plan on making your own make sure you have holes for drainage and
something to catch the water. Two buckets stacked inside of each
other with holes drilled into the inner buckets works.
The following plants do well using this
method if grown near a window or if you have florescent lighting in
your home.
Most Herbs
Cucumbers (small variety)
Peas
Miniature squash varieties
Cherry or grape tomatoes
Chile plants
Beans
Miniature carrots (tip: add a little
sand to the soil)
Radishes
Beets
Strawberries
Kiwi
Using the following method you can grow
just about anything, with a little extra work.
Grow boxes are an excellent way to grow
a lot of food indoors in a very small space. If you have a small
patio they also work well there.
You can purchase them from this website
here http://www.agardenpatch.com/
but that can get pricey.
With a little effort you can make them
on your own for a lot less.
I have made these myself for use on my
back porch to maximize my growing space, but the design makes them
ideal for use indoors.
What you'll need.
2 Sterilite containers of equal size.
Size depends on how much space you have.
Note: I recommend using Sterilite over
Rubbermaid due to the fact that Sterilite containers are free from
any harmful chemicals such as PVC or BPA that could leech into your
plants.
drill with ¼ bit (This is for drilling
holes. If you do not have one you can get creative or even use a
steak knife if you must)
How to:
Take the two containers and fit inside
the other. There should be a few inches of space between the bottom
of the inner one and the bottom of the outer one. Make a mark or the
outer one where the the bottom of the inner one would be.
Remove the inner container and drill
holes about 1” apart in the bottom of the inner container. This is
the most times consuming part.
Place the inner container that has had
the wholes drilled into it back in side the the outer container. Fill
with soil. Once again I recommend checking with your local waste
management program to see if they have cheap or free soil for you to
use. If you plan on growing root vegetables such as carrots or
potatoes, I recommend adding sand to the soil.
The beauty of these boxes is you never
have to worry about damage to the flooring from watering.
If you have florescent lighting in your
home and plan on having your box in a well lit area, no additional
lighting should be needed. In the case of dark rooms or closets you
can purchase lights for growing. This will be your biggest expense.
Different plants have different lighting needs so make sure you take
this into consideration when choosing your plants.
When choosing your seeds make sure to
purchase organic non GMO seeds. There are a variety of places online
to purchase GMO free seeds, and you can often times find them at
local grocery stores or Home and Garden stores. Do not rely on a
sales person to tell you if the seeds are GMO free. It will say so on
the labeling, and from my experience most sales people, even in
garden stores are unaware of what GMO's are.
Please distribute this guide. Even
claim it as your own if you wish. My only hope is that people become
aware that it is possible to grow your own food no matter where they
live, and that they do. There are of course, other methods to growing
indoors such as aquaponics. However I do not have experience with
those. The methods listed above I have used myself with success.
Ever wanted to grow your own fruits and
veggies but think you can't because you live in a small apartment?
Well, the truth is you can. Even if you are on a small budget with
limited space, you can grow more than you may realize is possible.
There are a few different methods you can use. I am going to start
out with the easiest.
Using emptied and clean yogurt, butter,
sour cream, ect. type plastic containers you can grow a variety of
herbs and lettuces indoors. You can buy pots as well, but for this
guide I am going to assume you want to do this as cheaply as
possible. Garden quality soil can usually be obtained from your local
city or county waste management center for a fraction of the cost,
that you would pay for a bag of potting soil, if not for free.The following plants and herbs do well
indoors using this method and thrive on indoor lighting.
Mints
Thyme
Sage
Marjoram
Chives
Parsley
Basil
Tarragon
Garlic
Ginger
Miniature or dwarf chile plants
Spinach
Beets
Radish
Lettuce
Choose your container size based upon
the plant you want to grow. Wider for lettuces and deeper for root
vegetables such as ginger, beets and radishes. Poke holes in the
bottom of the container and fill with soil, leaving about an inch
from the top make sure you place a plate or item underneath to catch
the water that drains off. You'll need to water according to the
instructions on the seed packaging.
The next method is hanging planters.
This is an excellent space saver for small areas.
You can get creative and make your own
using buckets, fishing wire, wire hangers old plastic bins or
anything else you may have handy, or you can purchase them. If you
plan on making your own make sure you have holes for drainage and
something to catch the water. Two buckets stacked inside of each
other with holes drilled into the inner buckets works.
The following plants do well using this
method if grown near a window or if you have florescent lighting in
your home.
Most Herbs
Cucumbers (small variety)
Peas
Miniature squash varieties
Cherry or grape tomatoes
Chile plants
Beans
Miniature carrots (tip: add a little
sand to the soil)
Radishes
Beets
Strawberries
Kiwi
Using the following method you can grow
just about anything, with a little extra work.
Grow boxes are an excellent way to grow
a lot of food indoors in a very small space. If you have a small
patio they also work well there.
You can purchase them from this website
here http://www.agardenpatch.com/
but that can get pricey.
With a little effort you can make them
on your own for a lot less.
I have made these myself for use on my
back porch to maximize my growing space, but the design makes them
ideal for use indoors.
What you'll need.
2 Sterilite containers of equal size.
Size depends on how much space you have.
Note: I recommend using Sterilite over
Rubbermaid due to the fact that Sterilite containers are free from
any harmful chemicals such as PVC or BPA that could leech into your
plants.
drill with ¼ bit (This is for drilling
holes. If you do not have one you can get creative or even use a
steak knife if you must)
How to:
Take the two containers and fit inside
the other. There should be a few inches of space between the bottom
of the inner one and the bottom of the outer one. Make a mark or the
outer one where the the bottom of the inner one would be.
Remove the inner container and drill
holes about 1” apart in the bottom of the inner container. This is
the most times consuming part.
Place the inner container that has had
the wholes drilled into it back in side the the outer container. Fill
with soil. Once again I recommend checking with your local waste
management program to see if they have cheap or free soil for you to
use. If you plan on growing root vegetables such as carrots or
potatoes, I recommend adding sand to the soil.
The beauty of these boxes is you never
have to worry about damage to the flooring from watering.
If you have florescent lighting in your
home and plan on having your box in a well lit area, no additional
lighting should be needed. In the case of dark rooms or closets you
can purchase lights for growing. This will be your biggest expense.
Different plants have different lighting needs so make sure you take
this into consideration when choosing your plants.
When choosing your seeds make sure to
purchase organic non GMO seeds. There are a variety of places online
to purchase GMO free seeds, and you can often times find them at
local grocery stores or Home and Garden stores. Do not rely on a
sales person to tell you if the seeds are GMO free. It will say so on
the labeling, and from my experience most sales people, even in
garden stores are unaware of what GMO's are.
Please distribute this guide. Even
claim it as your own if you wish. My only hope is that people become
aware that it is possible to grow your own food no matter where they
live, and that they do. There are of course, other methods to growing
indoors such as aquaponics. However I do not have experience with
those. The methods listed above I have used myself with success.
twilly- Posts : 6
Join date : 2011-09-25
Re: Indoor Gardening Guide
What about fruit trees!!?!
Oranges, lemons, limes, olives and even grapes can be grown indoors! Even guava, kiwi, passion fruit, figs, certain fruiting palms (acai berry!!!!) pomagranete, and TONS of others can all be grown indoors.
Some of the trees can even be root pruned (semi bonsai), to keep them restricted to pots, and figs can be summer planted, and dug up and potted for the winter. Same with banana**
Note on banana. There are a few edible types you can grow in pots, but the agricultural species is a type of "Musa Acuminata", that is a seedless type. I personally havnt seen these for sale, but they may be available on ebay (ive never personally checked!).
The edible kinds you can grow from seed, will also have seeds, but still tasty edible banana!
Oranges, lemons, limes, olives and even grapes can be grown indoors! Even guava, kiwi, passion fruit, figs, certain fruiting palms (acai berry!!!!) pomagranete, and TONS of others can all be grown indoors.
Some of the trees can even be root pruned (semi bonsai), to keep them restricted to pots, and figs can be summer planted, and dug up and potted for the winter. Same with banana**
Note on banana. There are a few edible types you can grow in pots, but the agricultural species is a type of "Musa Acuminata", that is a seedless type. I personally havnt seen these for sale, but they may be available on ebay (ive never personally checked!).
The edible kinds you can grow from seed, will also have seeds, but still tasty edible banana!
Time- Posts : 8
Join date : 2011-09-27
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