Longing for something fresh-grown…but concerned because you’re a beginning gardener, lack the time or space for an outdoor food garden, or don’t have a greenhouse? Or perhaps it’s off-season—winter, early spring, fall?
Given these limitations, you might think growing tasty edibles indoors is not possible.
Not true, says our Bottom Line gardening expert Teri Dunn Chace. You can grow food plants indoors. Key to success: Keep your plans simple, and set your sights on easy and proven choices. Here’s how to get started.
Start with only a few plants. Get a sense of how easy it is to grow them, and how much you end up using. Having too many edible plants or crowding them has a downside—they can’t develop well where space is limited. Elbow room keeps them healthy with good air circulation and enough light.
Select a nice warm, draft-free spot with plenty of sun. Sunlight coming through a window is critical for growth and (when applicable) fruiting. An ample windowsill, shelf or a tabletop in a south-facing room is best. Alternatively, an eastern exposure (bright morning sunshine) or a western-facing one (plentiful afternoon light) should do.
Best: Place plants up higher for maximum light exposure. Place them on an elevated shelf or a tall piece of furniture…or try hanging baskets. Just remember to keep an eye on your plants when they are not growing at eye level!
Remember: Turn pots a quarter-turn every week, so growth is even and bushy. Otherwise, plants will become lopsided and may form long “leggy” stems that lean toward the light.
The easiest plants are ones valued for their leaves—there is no need to watch expectantly for flowers or fruiting because you are only going to harvest foliage. You won’t need many because none of these are main-dish plants. Instead, you’ll just snip off pieces to enhance soups, salads and other recipes to add color, flavor and nutrition.
Kitchen herbs: Basil, thyme, parsley, chives, oregano and mint all are good choices for a beginning indoor gardener because they are easy to grow quickly. They also regenerate after you snip off bits to use in your salads or recipes.
Microgreens: These are just seedlings of familiar herbs and vegetables, harvested when still quite small. Radish, broccoli and arugula pop up in two weeks or less. Sow seeds either in a tray of light soil-less potting mix or invest in a compact kit system from a vegetable-seeds company or Gardener’s Supply Company.
Lettuce: Butterhead and looseleaf lettuces, grown from small nursery-raised plants or seed, are fun and satisfying. Their leaves can be ready to eat in a few weeks. They’ll be smaller than outdoor or market ones but tender and tasty.
Many popular crops form flowers—from cucumbers to melons to squash to apples—that need to be pollinated before they can produce. Since this can’t happen indoors, raise one of the following “self-pollinators” and watch as these modest-sized plants deliver tasty edible fruit over several weeks or months.
Hot peppers: Small-fruited ones like Thai chili peppers or habaneros tend to be easy and very productive.
Dwarf citrus trees: Consider lemon, Meyer lemon, kumquat and calamondin. A good local greenhouse or florist should have some already potted and growing.
Don’t let your indoor edibles wilt, or their health, productivity and flavor will suffer. Water evenly and regularly. Plants in smaller pots and thirsty plants (particularly mint) need water more often.
Try “bottom watering” to eliminate guesswork. Simply set your pots in a tray of water and let them slowly soak up what they need through the drainage holes in their bottoms. Wait till the top of the soil feels damp to the touch. Then return them to their usual spot.
Fertilizing edible plants grown in pots is critical because they soon use up whatever nutrition was in their potting mix. Nutrients necessary for healthy growth and development must be supplied by you.
Ordinary houseplant food such as Miracle Gro is fine for most, but get special fertilizer for citrus plants. Dilute according to the label directions so both water and food are delivered together. You even can deliver half-strength twice as often.
