It seems like everyone today has an outdoor garden within their homes. This is where they can grow herbs, flowers, and other plants. What happens when you don’t have an outdoor yard where you can start a garden?
All hope isn’t lost here, as you can quickly start an indoor garden. However, there are limitations as to what you can grow in this garden. You can still opt to create one when you have the space for it. Here’s how you can set up your indoor garden easily.
1. Plan
Like everything else, it will go smoothly when you have a clear and thought-out plan for the garden. Work out all avenues from where you’d like it to be to what exactly you’re going to plant there—the easy options when it comes to what you can grow to include greens, herbs, and flowers.
You can choose to grow all or decide on the one you feel will be best. But when you have kids around, you can consider greens and herbs – it will be an excellent lesson for them about where greens come from.
Some of the herbs that you can grow include mint, rosemary among others. Herbs don’t need that extra care and are pretty compact and manageable. You can even have one of the kids care for them in your absence.
When you have decided what you want to grow, you need to determine where you’ll have the garden. And this may present a bit of a pickle; you need a place with light.
2. Get all Supplies
It would be best if you now got a few supplies after making the major decision regarding your indoor garden. The first is to get shallow containers that also have drainage holes. You can go for the ones with the holes at the bottom.
- You can also get a flat nursery container – this is one of the best options if you can get one.
- You also need to get a mister or a watering can – you won’t be using sprinklers for hose pipes with an indoor garden. It would help if you had the right equipment for watering this garden. It is easy to control the water flow with a watering can.
- Seeds – whatever it is you are planting, you need to get the seeds first. Choose carefully the ones you will use for your garden.
- Organic potting soil
- LED lights – if you don’t have enough light, you can get Blurple LEDs for your garden. They can help get what the plants may miss if there’s no room for sunlight.
3. Start the Garden
After you are ready with everything, it’s time to start. Below is a step-by-step on how you can go about it.
- In the containers, place at least an inch or two of the organic potting soil in each. You need to spread out the soil when pressing down and ensuring the whole pot is even.
- Once the soil is ready, you need to scatter the seeds at the top of the soil. Have as many seeds as you can. The idea here is to harvest them as soon as they sprout. The seeds you want to use here are microgreens – they won’t all sprout at the same time.
- When covering these seeds, you only need to use a thin layer of soil. Don’t be too rough in this process; you don’t want to have the seeds below the soil.
- Before you get down here, you need to decide if the soil needs to be sieved or not. If not, sift the bigger-looking particles with your hands; you want to cover the seeds with the thinnest layer.
- Place the container in a drip tray and water them. The drip tray will ensure that water doesn’t mess up your house when you water the plants. Use the watering can to shower the plants and be gentle with the watering process in your indoor garden.
- You need to mist the garden every other day. Ensure that it is in front of enough sun. When watering, give it enough to keep the soil moist. Don’t overdo the watering part of the garden.
How Long Before Harvest
It may take only a week before you see greens growing in your garden. Depending on the greens you have planted, you should be able to harvest within three weeks. Once you see the leaves unfurl, your plants are ready for harvest.
N.B. Ensure you wash these greens before you use any of them.
You can quickly start an indoor garden today if you have the right tools for it. Here are some of the things you need before starting a garden and how to create it.
