Growing An Indoor Garden In Your Apartment – The Best Advice

If you are a gardening enthusiast, you may have always wanted to be the owner of an incredibly attractive indoor garden. Indoor plants not only improve home decor  but they are also known to boost focus, increase memory and enhance the overall vibe of the place. No wonder every gardening enthusiast wants to grow an indoor garden in their apartment. But what are the prerequisites?

What all thing would you be needing? What are the things that should be kept in mind, before buying the plants? How much space is needed and how much time would you need to devote to your garden? These are some of the questions that need to be answered before starting to grow an indoor garden in your apartment. So, let js answer some of the biggest questions you will be faced with.

Get The Right Plants

A garden is made of multiple amazing indoor plants. You need to pick the best indoor plants for your garden.  A good garden in your home should have plants that are best suited for growing indoors. The right plants will have it easier inside your home. It will also make it easier for you to sort out the requirements of the plants in your indoor garden. Most indoor plants have more or less, the same needs.

You should choose the plants that are known for holding their ground in extreme conditions. If your are starting your indoor garden for the very first time, you may miss out on the finer details of plant care. So, you would need to have plants that do not have much chances of getting damaged, when faced with little neglect. You should keep your starting choices clear beforehand.

You can start with seeds or cuttings. Cuttings are essentially the branches of an existing plant, which are cut at the node and then soaked in water until new roots sprout. Most gardeners still tend to opt for the traditional way of buying some seeds at the gardening store and starting their indoor garden by planting them.

Select A Container With Drainage

So, you have selected the plants for your indoor garden. Now the second step that you need to do is- choosing the right container. An indoor plant needs the right amount of water. But it should also be kept in mind that over watering the plant can lead to water logging. While their are more than a dozen varieties of pots available at any gardening store, you need to but a pot with proper drainage.

You also need to make sure that the pots have something beneath them to keep the floor dry. You also need to make sure that the size of the container is appropriate. Most gardening enthusiasts go for small containers initially, as they are easy to maintain, only to realise that they need to repot soon. So, choose a pot as per the growth rate of the indoor plant that you plan to put it in.

Non traditional planters such as Mason Jars can also be used when planning to grown an indoor garden in your apartment. It is recommended to use pebbles at the bottom of such containers.

This will catch excess moisture and your potting soil will not be saturated. The pot is like the home of an indoor plant. If you want your little green buddies to be happy, keep them in the pot that caters to their needs. For more information on drainage read my article here.

Choosing The Right Spot

This cannot be stressed enough. Choosing the right spot can make or break your indoor garden. The perfect spot for your indoor garden would be the one that has the best access to sunlight, doesn’t come in the way of other rooms, can be safeguarded from curious pets, and also showcase your gardening skills at the same time. While this may seem difficult at first, finding such spot is pretty easy.

Talking first about the sunlight. Most indoor plants need ample sunlight pretty. You need to give your indoor plants at least 4 to 6 hours of sunlight. Anything less than that, and their growth maybe hampered. You will need to have your garden facing a window that receives proper sunlight for most part of the day. You may have some plants that need lesser light, but most herbs prefer to bathe in  sunlight.

For plants that don’t need as much sunlight, have a look at this article.

Growth maybe slow in winters when there is less light. You can use indoor garden grow lights at that time. You also need to make sure that your indoor garden is well planned out. It means that you should have a clear vision about the number of plants, the space they will take and the time that you would be able to give to them. Once you have finalised the spot and brought the right plants,

The right spot will help your indoor garden in flourishing to its full potential. It will help your indoor plants to grow faster. Indoor plants grown in the right spot will be far more graceful than those grown at a less convenient place at your home.

Watering Your Plants

Knowing about the watering needs of your indoor plants will take you a long way as a budding gardener. Your plants have different needs when it comes to watering. While some indoor plants may flourish with little water, some may need to be watered every day. You need to make sure that you are well versed with the needs of your indoor plants before installing them in your garden.

You will need very little amount of water to grow small herbs. But to keep them growing, you will need to keep the soil consistently moist. This may be a difficult task in the initial few days, but you will soon get the gist of it as you keep on watering. A small watering can or drizzle will suffice. If the leaves begin to wilt or turn yellow, the you should stop watering your indoor plants.

Harvest A Little At A Time

There are many cases of gardening enthusiasts harvesting more herbs then what they could care for. If you grow more indoor plants then you could afford to give your time to, it will come to bite you back later. Plants are nature’s delights that need proper care and tending. If you are not able to give individual care to your plants then your garden may not reflect the efforts that you would be putting in.

Planting similar kind of indoor plants at a time would also help you in tending to their needs. You will not need to have different temperature and watering conditions set for your plants, if they all follow a similar growth pattern. So, make sure that while installing the plants, you know about their growing patterns and their individual needs.

Transplanting At The Right Time

Every living thing grows. Your indoor plants will also grow their containers at some point of time. You should know when is the right time to transplant them into better plants. Once your indoor plants are too big for their pots, they need to be transplanted into bigger containers. This begs the question- when is the right time to transplant your indoor plants?

When the roots seem to come out from the drainage holes, when the growth of the plant seems to have taken a halt or the plant starts to flop over, it is an indication that the plant needs to be transplanted to a bigger container. A bigger container would mean more soil. More nutrients would be  available to your growing plant and they would have a better growth phase.

So, transplant your indoor plants in a bigger, better pot if and when the need arises. You will need to make sure that your plants are getting enough nutrients from their current pot, before planning another transplant.

These are the few basic things that should be kept in mind before growing an indoor garden in your apartment. You will need to have the right plants, the best container and the right conditions- to make your indoor garden, a magnificent place with great visual appeal!