Vegetable Gardening without a Garden

There are certainly some plants that just will not do well as an indoor plant. Most of these are plants that require a lot of space, such as vegetables as pumpkins, squash, and melons. When growing a garden in containers think small miniature varieties that can be grown indoors all year long as long as they are near sunny and bright windows. You can create a beautiful garden on your window sill or by the window as long as your have some eastern or southern sunlight exposure. Some vegetables that work great for indoor gardening would be:

• Cherry tomatoes
• Peppers
• Cucumbers
• Leaf lettuce (all types)
• Endive
• Radishes
• Bush beans
• Spinach

When doing an indoor garden your plants will require the same things as they would if grown in a typical garden. All plants require sufficient lighting, water and fertilizing. With care given to protect the plants from things like diseases and pests. This doesn't mean that you should use the typical garden soil for your garden. Indoor gardening requires a lighter type of soil. The problem with the average garden soil is that it can potentially harbor diseases and insects that may be harder to control when confined to indoor space. The best soil would be a mix of one part potting soil, one part vermiculite, one part peat and one part perlite.

The plants will need to be watered more frequently than they would if they were kept outdoors. Indoor plants require watering the plants at least every two days. Due to the frequent watering schedule, you will need to think about adding some additional nutrients to the soil. Every other week take time to give your plants a supplemental feeding. Using an organic fertilizer works best.

Another area that is a little different is how you go about choosing your plants. The best type of plant to use for indoor gardening would be that of a compact or miniature crop. These quick growing plants require less space, as well as less time, to reach harvest. You will want to harvest the leafy crops while they are still young and tender.

Try planting the indoor crops as close to the season that the crops normally would be if they were outdoors. Vegetables such as tomatoes and peppers normally require the longer days of summer, so you would want to plant this type of plant in the spring and summer. Leaf type crops and root crops do fairly well on less light so the fall and winter are better months to grow these plants indoors. The best time to start your indoor garden is actually in the fall. Gather your seeds though in the early spring or summer. The later the traditional gardening season gets the harder it is to buy your seeds.