Vegetable container gardening is an easy way to grow vegetables even if you lack outdoor yard space. If you only have a small backyard or a tiny patio, balcony, or window sill, explore the world of container gardening. You can grow fresh vegetables in small containers indoors for up to one year without much effort. If space is limited, use hanging baskets, tubs, bins, and other containers on your deck or patio. Use old barrels (a good way to recycle) and other containers as well as old boxes at your garage sale or thrift store.
You can use a light house for growing vegetables indoors for a few months. If you live in an area that has mild winters, move the pots outside in the fall. You can even buy an indoor vegetable garden kit and fill it with gravel or sand for planting in the fall. Just make sure the plants get all the water they need, because watering is one of the most important things you should remember for successful indoor vegetable gardening. Another thing to consider when growing vegetables in pots is the nutrients your soil needs for thriving.
One of the best ways to start planting an indoor vegetable garden is with window boxes. You can either grow them from seed or purchase a pre-established window box. The seeds can be bought in bulk at a nursery or online. You can save money by growing your vegetables from seeds. If you decide to try to plant from seeds, then you will want to buy several small packets of starter plants and soil, along with some fertilizer. Make sure the soil has plenty of nutrients for healthy growing.
Planting with sunlight is not a problem for container vegetable gardeners. The trick is finding the right spot to place your window box or other structure with the highest window coverage possible. In southern states, Southern California and the Coastal Range are the best places for planting tomatoes and peppers. These plants love the sun so much, they rarely need additional shade during hot, dry summers. In the north, such areas as Alaska and Montana, planting tomatoes and peppers will be better off with cool climate vegetables such as lettuce, spinach or collards.
Container vegetable gardening is popular in the kitchen because it can be used to replace expensive imported vegetables that may be too pricey. You can easily create your own fresh produce almost everywhere. Fresh tomatoes, onions, peppers and herbs grown in a growing container are great for any cook, but using this method is particularly economical when you are growing them indoors. The beauty of indoor gardening, however, is that you can have all of the benefits of growing exotic vegetables while keeping your home clean, green and healthy.
One of the most important things to remember when you plant vegetables with the intent of growing them in containers is to make sure you create just the right amount of drainage holes. Pots retain moisture better than anything else, so making sure there are adequate drainage holes ensure that your plants will stay healthy. Without drainage holes, the roots of your favorite vegetables could sit directly on the concrete or gravel in your patio. This type of exposure will result in root rot and potentially even rotting. With container gardening, by creating drainage holes and putting sloped, slightly larger pots in the ground below, you will create an ideal environment for your vegetables.
Gardening with herbs or spices is an easy way to grow vegetables indoors, too. Herbs can add wonderful flavor to your cooking and they do not require replanting. Garlic, Rosemary and oregano will all help you create fabulous Italian dishes while sage will give you a wonderful herb for adding fresh flavor to your baked goods. There are many herbs you can use for this purpose including thyme, dill, sage, basil, oregano, parsley, Rosemary, thyme, lavender, marjoram and chives. If you are a bit creative, you might want to add some other seasonal plants and herbs as well. Some folks even like to include strawberries, grapes and blueberries to their gardens.
One of the easiest vegetables to care for indoors is lettuce. It is important that you get plenty of sunlight and that it gets morning light. Lettuce is very sensitive to frost. When you grow lettuce in containers, you should try to alternate seasons so that the leaves get plenty of sunlight exposure. There are many varieties of lettuce you can grow, but among the favorites are iceberg lettuce, French lettuce and spinach.