Indoor Vegetable Garden - Create Your Own Easily With These Tips

By Jay Node

An indoor vegetable garden is the answer if you want to grow your own vegetables but you don't have any kind of space to do it outside. This can be a good thing. If you set it out right, your indoor vegetable garden will not only provide delicious and healthy vegetables, but it will also allow you to set it up to blend in with the decor of your home. Follow these tips and you can turn your home into your own veggie patch in no time.

What to grow

One of the first things you need to consider is what type of vegetables you want to plant in your indoor vegetable garden. Whilst your options will be limited, there are still plenty of vegetables you can grow. You could try cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers, baby carrots, lettuce and, of course, different varieties of herbs like parsley and basil.

Containers

When choosing containers to plant your vegetables in, you will want to pick the ones that complement the theme of your home. That is understandable but be sure that they meet these basic requirements. The container must be big enough to hold the vegetable plant when it's fully matured. For example, lettuce with its shallow roots will grow very well in small containers whereas carrots will need deeper ones. The containers must have drainage holes and come with saucers to catch excess water. And, rolling platforms are handy to move any containers that are too heavy.

Soil

The type of soil to use will depend on the vegetables you are growing. Nowadays, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding good quality soil mixes to suit your needs from your local garden center. Choose an organic mix. Ordinary dirt from the garden should not be used.

Location

The type of vegetable you decide to plant will determine where you can locate the containers. As a general rule, root and leaf vegetables such as carrots and spinach do not mind being in partial shade. On the other hand, if you go with fruiting varieties like tomatoes, they need lots of sunlight. For example, tomatoes need at least 6-8 hours of sunlight each day. Therefore, you will need to organize the location of the containers based on these criteria. Consider windowsills, balconies or anywhere near a window or door where the sun shines through for a fair amount of time.

Pest Control

Vegetables grown indoors are less susceptible to pests and diseases but, if treatment is necessary, don't be tempted to use pesticides or herbicides. Instead, go for an organic product.

Fertilizers

The same applies to fertilizers. You could try something like a fish emulsion, which is totally organic.

An indoor vegetable garden is a wonderful alternative for anybody who wants to grow their own vegetable gardens but have a limit on space. Remember all those recipes that tell you to "add parsley just before serving". Now, you really can add parsley just before serving.

Jay Node operates and maintains a website totally dedicated to organic gardening of vegetables and herbs. If you would like an easy to follow, step by step guide on planting tomatoes in containers, please visit http://www.vegetablegardenplantingguide.com where you may also subscribe to the RSS feed to receive regular updates.

Copyright 2009 Jay Node

Article Source: Indoor Vegetable Garden - Create Your Own Easily With These Tips