Grow indoors - our best tips
Everyone can grow their own vegetables and create a gorgeous indoor garden, no matter how and where you live. All you need is a window with lots of light or a grow light. With a grow light, you can basically grow indoors all year round. It doesn't get much more local than that. We have grown cucumbers in a dark west-facing window with a grow light and even though it didn't yield as much as the cucumbers on the south side, we were still able to harvest several small cucumbers. There are those who grow, for example, spices in basements without natural light under grow lights. Test what works for you.
Cucumber curtain - perfect for growing indoors
Below are some tips from us for you before you get started. Some general tips and advice based on our own experiences and failures. Feel free to follow our advice, but if you feel like trying something different, do it. Don't be afraid to try, fail and redo. That's how you will learn!
We have gathered all our crops we grow indoors here .
Light
The best place to grow indoors is in a large window facing south or east that is not shaded too much by, for example, surrounding trees or other houses. Preferably with at least 6 hours of sun per day. A scorching south-facing window can burn your plants on sunny days. Protect them with, for example, blinds, awnings or, for example, non-woven fabric.
You can also grow in darker windows, but then you need to supplement with grow lights. A darker location or during the dark months, you can have the grow light on for about 13-15 hours/day. The light usually comes back in late February-early March. Then we usually turn off the grow light if we grow in a south or east facing position.
Tips for sowing - Covering and warmth
To prevent the seeds from drying out when they germinate, we recommend a transparent cover with air holes. This prevents the water from evaporating so quickly. This can be, for example, plastic wrap, a recycled plastic bag or a plastic lid, as long as they are transparent and have air holes.
All those plastic bags you get when you shop are perfect to reuse and make holes in and put over the seeds. Make sure it is slightly stretched over the tray (or whatever you are putting your seeds on) so that it does not come into contact with the seeds themselves but there is a small air gap in between.
Investing in a trough or greenhouse with a lid is a convenient solution and although they are often made of plastic, they can be used for many, many years. I still have the ones I inherited from my mother, which she in turn has used for many, many years. If you have a trough or similar, you can also put a capillary mat in the bottom which provides an even and good water supply.
You can also place the seeds on another non-organic material such as a recycled takeaway box. They are perfect for pre-growing the small seeds.
Many seeds germinate faster when it's a little warmer. We usually place our seeds on the bathroom's heated floor until they sprout and peek above the surface. A heating mat or a window above a hot radiator also works well.
Water
All plants need water to grow. Water regularly - rather more and less often than dabbing a little every day. This will get the water down to the roots and the roots will also grow downwards, which will give you a stronger and more stable plant. A tip is to decide on the days you water.
The seed should always be kept moist during the germination period. But make sure that the seed does not stand in a lot of water - if the roots are too wet for too long, they can rot. In the beginning, we always water our seeds from below by pouring water into the tray. Then the briquettes or the soil absorbs what it needs. When the surface looks moist, we carefully pour off the remaining water. By not watering from above, the seed does not flatten and you also reduce the risk of washing away seeds that have not germinated.
Irrigation during the holidays
If you have a kind friend or neighbor who can come and water your pots when you are away, it is worth it. If we are traveling over the weekend, it is enough to water thoroughly before you leave and then when you get home again. However, if you are away for a whole week during the warmest, sunniest months, it is great if someone can help with watering 1-2 times per week.
If you are away for a week, you can use strings that partially go through a soft plastic tube, called a holiday watering can. You soak them overnight, water the pots through, and then put one end of the string in the pot and the other in a large jug of water. If you are going to water many pots, we put them in a group so that more people can get water from the same jug.
If you are away on vacation for a long time, someone should check on your houseplants and possibly refill the holiday watering can about once a week. For larger houseplants and plants that need a lot of water, you may need 2-3 flower watering cans.
Another simple and good tip is to use PET bottles. Water the soil thoroughly, then fill a bottle with water and press it upside down into the pot. The soil will then absorb what it needs when it needs it.
If you know you'll be away a lot, it might be worth investing in self-watering pots. There are also various drip hoses or capillary mats available.
Manure
For indoor growing, we recommend pelleted vegetable fertilizer at the final planting or liquid plant nutrition during the season. This is the easiest and does not smell. There are also other fertilizers. Read more here.
Pots
Use pots with holes in the bottom and a saucer or tray underneath so you can water thoroughly. You will see when some water starts to come out on the saucer.
When replanting, also called retraining, we recommend investing in different sizes of pots that you can repot in. A few 7x7 cm and 10x10 cm will go a long way. We think the square ones are the easiest to fit many in a tray. You can make your own from newspaper and then you can buy a few different ones in different more or less environmentally friendly materials. Our experience is that hard plastic pots made of recycled plastic are good as they last as long as you want and you don't have to constantly buy new ones. Here too, we still have plastic pots that my mother also grew in many years ago.
Some crops need to be repotted in several stages. If you repot the plants into a pot that is too large right away, the plant will focus on developing roots instead of focusing on growth. Instructions are provided under each variety.
When final planting. If you have clay pots, you need to water more often - they dry out the soil faster than a plastic pot. For plants that require large pots, you can also buy large black plastic buckets, drill holes in them and place them on a tray. We usually buy buckets that you mix cement in, which are available at hardware stores. They are also perfect for growing, for example, tomatoes in on the balcony or outdoors. Black pots absorb more heat, which is often preferable for many of the heat-loving crops that can be grown indoors.
Generally speaking: The bigger the pot - the more soil - the more nutrients - the stronger the plant - the bigger the harvest.
Soil
Buy quality, nutritious potting soil or vegetable soil. Generally, cheap soil is mixed with, for example, a lot of peat and is therefore less nutritious. To avoid pests that can sometimes come with the soil, you can instead grow in coconut fiber that you water with liquid plant nutrients. Or grow in water, so-called hydroponic cultivation.
If you grow in soil, we recommend that you sterilize the soil beforehand. The soil can carry with it, among other things, aphids , fungi and bacteria. There are a few different ways to do it. Bake the soil in the oven, grill it on the grill or water the soil in the pots with boiling water before planting in it.
STERILIZING SOIL
Grilling soil on a grill
Place a baking sheet filled with soil on a heated grill for about 20 minutes. The soil should smoke. Let the soil cool.
Bake soil in the oven
Place a baking sheet filled with soil in the oven at about 130 degrees for about 45 minutes. We usually place a sheet or container of water at the bottom of the oven so that it doesn't get too dry. Let the soil cool.
Water with boiling water
Place pots filled with soil on a tray. Water thoroughly with boiling water. Let the soil cool.
Vermin
Working with soil and living plants is like being out in nature. It gives you lots of strength, inspiration and joy, but just like in nature and with other indoor plants, you can also get affected by pests. After all, we are bringing nature into the home. Most of the time it goes well, but it is good to know and our most important tip is to act as soon as you see a fly or infestation.
Our favorite crops to grow indoors
We've gathered our favorite crops to grow indoors for both taste and aesthetics here . Beautiful and tasty vegetables and lovely herbs to have in your kitchen window.