|
Indoor winter gardening can be fun and can give you a few extra homegrown vegetables during the long cold winter months if you have realistic expectations of what can be accomplished and how to do it. Different care is required by plants that are being grown indoors. Six areas need addressed to achieve a successful indoor gardening experience with vegetables or houseplants. Temperature, watering, growing medium, lighting, fertilization and pollination are all factors that need attention when doing indoor winter gardening.
Planning For Your Indoor Winter Gardening Success
Planning ahead is required because seeds and seedlings can be difficult to find in the fall. Purchasing the seeds for the plants you want to grow indoors in the winter during the spring is part of that planning. Keep the number and the size of the plants you intend to grow small as the space is likely to be much more limited and the time required to maintain the crops will be greater. Supplemental lighting is often required to have a healthy plant population so keeping an eye out for heat and grow lights in the spring while they are plentiful is a good idea. Leaf lettuce instead of head lettuce, cherry tomatoes rather than full sized tomatoes, bush instead of pole beans are example of choosing smaller sized plants for indoor winter gardening.
Environmental Considerations When Indoor Winter Gardening
Homes are kept at a comfortable temperature for humans but the places plants are commonly situated can be drafty and cold. Tender young plants do not do well with the cold that seeps through the windows that they are placed in to catch as much of the winter sunlight as possible. Heat growing lights can address both the cold problem and the need for additional sunlight. Many people install lights with timers that give the plants extra hours of light on each end of the day.
The heating in personal homes tend to dry out the air which impacts the plants so a source of humidity needs to be furnished. A gardener can purchase a humidifier or create his own at home. All it takes is a large waterproof tray filled with pebbles and water half way up the rocks. Place the pots on the pebbles. A small humidity rich area is created as the water evaporates and the plants will thrive. Keeping the plants potting soil moist is the other half of the watering equation.
The down side of the frequent watering is that it depletes the nutrients quickly. Time released fertilizers are needed to keep your crop growing. Hydroponics and aeroponic systems are addressing indoor winter gardening nutrition issues with nutrient solutions that include micro-nutrients in the proper amounts for healthy plant growth.
When all these issues are addressed indoor winter gardening can be fruitful and rewarding. One key element is thinking ahead and collecting what is needed. Preparing for the special needs of indoor winter gardening and having a plan on how to address them is a sign of a good gardener.
|
Author Bio Box: Patricia Wainwright
Get all the facts about winter gardening and organic gardening at GreenThumbArticles.com!
Didn't really find what you were looking for?
|
|
|
| |
|
|
![[Valid RSS feed]](images/rss.gif "Subscribe to our XML Feed for RSS")
(Read 100+ times)
