In cultivating an Indoor vegetable garden there are a variety of things you must come to terms with. This is when you don’t have a backyard to grow one outdoors.
The first factor is the choice of appropriate vegetables. All plants have their requirements and when you take indoor plants into consideration their major limitation is the availability of light and space. Normally plants that are fruit-bearing will require large amounts of sunlight. Others like salad greens which include miniature cabbages, spinach, lettuce, and Swiss chard will need fewer amounts of light.
For an indoor vegetable garden, it is also important to consider that the size of the pots will determine the kinds of plants you grow. Use bigger pots as much as possible to ensure the full growth of plants. Vegetables like tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, small root carrots can thrive in smaller pots.
It is also good to look at the correct spot for growing the vegetables especially because of the lighting factor. A good indoor vegetable garden should be at a place which gives at least five hours of continuous light. To augment the natural sunlight you can also provide synthetic lighting systems to make the plants get healthy growth. Choose a spot where there will be a minimum of human and accidental contact. Make sure that the spot is out of the reach of children and pets if you have them in the home. Also, let the spot have a convenient proximity to your gardening tools and clean-up kits.
Normally indoors are subject to low humidity and this must be tackled. Vegetable plants will grow very well in areas with moderate temperatures and high humidity. When containers are used water normally gets dried out faster but be very careful not to over water them. You could put holes under the container or put a cover of gravel in it before putting in the soil to ensure good drainage. You could also maintain a good temperature by grouping the plants together. You could draw your curtains to maintain the temperature but let them be protected from drafts.
Lastly to make your indoor vegetable garden a productive one choose soil that will drain well and have nutrients good for plant growth and development. Some soils in the store come with pre-mixed fertilizers. You could also use organic soils but mix the fertilizers with the soil with a lot of caution.
