Everything You need to start your own Indoor Garden

Irrespective of how’s the weather at your place, you can learn How to start an indoor garden. And start growing your own vegetables inside your home. This could even make it a fun family activity to engage in growing plants inside your apartment! You may also get your little ones involved by letting them choose their favourite veggie or flower plant. In case your kids are fussy eaters, it’s likely they may eat what they grow too. So, either way, it’s a win-win situation. But if you are a beginner and wonder how to start an indoor garden. Or which tools or items you might need to get your indoor garden started, keep reading. In this post today, I am sharing a detailed list of everything you need to start growing your own indoor garden.

Must Read: Top 10 Indoor Plants for beginner gardeners

That’s right. With the right tools and a little bit of planning, you can grow and enjoy fresh greens, right inside your home. Also, whether you choose to grow herbs, greens, veggies or flowers, they are all perfect gardening activities for kids. They would not only beautify your house but also add more oxygen.

Decide and plan what you want to grow?

The first step would be to decide what you want to grow – herbs, Micro Greens, flowering plants, veggies or simple greens. Growing herbs and greens are both great ways to teach kids about food and cooking.

Herbs and microgreens:

• These are easy-to-grow edible plants and a great way to start an indoor garden. They are compact and would take less space. So if growing herbs is what you want, take a small planter, find a sunny spot and grow from the seeds you have in your kitchen.
• you may start with Coriander, Ajwayain, Fenugreek, Mint or basil. You may also choose to start with store-bought seeds. They have a generally higher germination ratio as they are treated with pesticides. There are many plants that can be grown as microgreens. They add a bit of colour and fun to your salads and are also used to garnish main dishes.

Flowers or Vegetable Plants

• Flowering plants add to beautify your house and keep you happier.  You may easily pick on flowering plants as per the season. Buy baby plants from a nursery near you or pick up seeds.
• For vegetable plants, you may again use vegetable seeds from your own kitchen.

Top 10 Indoor Plants for beginner gardeners

Once you have decided what plant you would like to start with, here’s what you need to do.

• Find a perfect spot for setting-up your garden– a sunny, south-facing window would be best to start with.
• Make or buy planters with drainage holes. – Start with some plastic containers or buy a set of Pots from a nursery
• Arrange some basic supplies- like organic potting soil, seeds, basic gardening tools and a watering can.

Once you have all of these things ready together, you are ready to start planting your own garden! Read about all the points in detail below. This is exactly everything you need to start growing your own indoor garden!

Must Read: Experimenting with painting pots with Kids.

everything you need to start growing your own indoor garden

 

Microgreen- an easy way to start your greens

1. Put one to two inches of organic potting soil into your container.
2. Smooth the surface or gently push down, creating an even surface to start.
3. Spread some seeds over the surface of the soil. It may seem like you are using a lot of seeds. But the trick with microgreens is that you would b  growing a lot of them very quickly and harvesting when they are still sprout-sized.
4. Now,  you need to cover your seeds with a thin layer of soil. press it a little, and be very gentle.  You may also use a mesh sieve to make sure the soil is spread fine.
5. Put the container with the seeds into a drip tray, and give it a gentle shower. Use a small spray watering bottle that diffuses the water. or gently sprinkle using your hand.
6. Once the tray is in the sunny spot or under grow lights, mist them with water every few days (just enough to keep the soil moist). But you don’t want soggy soil, so if you see water accumulating in your drip tray, remove it.
7. You should expect to see your greens growing within a week, and they will typically be ready to harvest in 2-3 weeks. It depends on what type of green you’re growing. But once the leaves unfurl, they are ready.
8. Then, when it’s harvest time, trim your microgreens right above the soil line. Give them a rinse, and enjoy!

How to Start Growing your own greens inside

1. Dedicate an indoor gardening space–

1. Pick a convenient spot in the house for the garden. When the seeds are planted, initially heat is more important than light. So better is to start the seeds in a warm location. But once the seedlings break through, they need sunlight. So, you can start seeds in a corner or even in front of a large window that gets lots of sunlight for warmth. If the window is drafty, though, pick another spot—seeds and bulbs do best in warm soil. When the seedlings are visible, you can move them to a bright location under artificial lights. Or, better yet, a spot that receives sunlight as well as artificial light.
2. Start with easy-to-maintain and all-season plants. 
3. Use the right soil and compost for the right growth. Feeding the plants a natural compost every 15-20 days would help them grow better.

2. Choose the right plants.

1. Initiate with some easy-to-grow seeds from your own kitchen or buy  seeds from 
2. You may also start with some easy-to-maintain plans available at the nursery near you. 
3. Some lesser-known or less popular plants, or newer varieties, aren’t available yet in stores, so you have to start with seeds,” she says. And with seeds, you can get what you want. Myers says gardeners should take advantage of online or mail orders by buying something unique rather than buying easy-to-find radishes or roses that every home centre carries. Seeds are less expensive than plants, so you’ll save money, but the package may contain more seeds than you need. In that case, Myers says, save some for next year. Or, plant them all and swap seedlings with friends when it’s time to transplant them outdoors.

3. Make, Buy or reuse Planters-

1. When you grow seeds indoors, any number of items can make good containers. Empty yoghurt cups are a perfect size with about 2 inches square by 2 to 3 inches deep. 
2. Prepare the potting soil and plant the seeds when the time is right- Preparing the perfect potting mix/ soil is much easier for indoor gardens than for outdoor because it needs a lot less space. You may use a seed-starting or potting mix right out of the potting mix bag. 
3. Water them when required. One of the trickiest parts of indoor gardening is giving the right amount of water to plants. There should be no under or over-watering. Having multiple drainage holes in your containers will help out the removal of excess water and avoid roil rotting. 
4. How to know when your plant needs water.  The easiest way to know “if your plant needs water or not is to check the soil daily”. Stick your finger into the potting soil, if the soil sticks, it means it has enough water. If your finger comes out dry with no soil, it’s time to water the plant.
5. The Perfect Sunlight – Keeping the plants in a bright light would really help. During the gloomy rainy season, you may even add LEDs for more energy-efficient and artificial lighting. The artificial lights need to be placed around 6 inches over the plants. You may either lower the containers as those plants grow or keep raising the lights,

This post is my attempt to share gardening tips and tricks for beginners who need to know everything you need to start growing your own indoor garden. Hope you like the post. Don’t forget to leave a comment and share it with your family and friends. You can also tag me on social media in stories or posts. Follow us for many such ideas on Instagram @theGunjanUpadhyay and Facebook @tuggunmommy 

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