The first day of Spring is fast approaching, and it’s time to start thinking about what you’d like to plant in your garden this year. Whether you plant an indoor herb garden that will reside on a sunny windowsill in the kitchen or start flower and vegetable seedlings inside that will be planted in the ground once warmer weather arrives, you can save money and enjoy the fruits of your labor when you plant your own indoor garden.
Starting Your Garden Indoors
In many parts of the country, chilly weather is not yet a thing of the past, and winter storms are still a viable threat to young plants. Starting your garden inside is a great way to protect your baby plants and help them grow strong enough for the move outdoors in a few weeks. Why not be the first person on your block to sport colorful flowers or fresh veggies to enjoy in the months to come? Find a warm location inside to start your seeds, and once the seeds begin to sprout, move them to a spot with good natural light, or under artificial lights if daylight is not abundant.
Choosing Your Plants
Whether you choose flowers, herb, or vegetables, the best selection of seeds can usually be found online. Some less popular plant varieties can’t be found at your local home goods store, and when purchasing seeds online, you can pick and choose what to plant. Why not choose something beautifully unique in your flower garden, like Blue Honeywort or a Kaleidoscope Butterfly Bush, or opt for the pizzazz of the Watermelon Radish or Broccoli Romanesco for your vegetable garden? View Current’s selection of seed stones to get you started!
Prepare Your Containers
Whether you go for the standard plastic seedling starters available at your local home improvement or hardware store or make your own containers at home in paper cups, there are lots of good choices for starting your seeds indoors. You can fashion an eco-friendly seedling cup by recycling leftover newspaper. Just wrap the newspaper around a 2½-inch-thick dowel, press the lower ends of the paper together to create a bottom, then remove the rod and fill the newspaper cup with potting mix. Transplanting is easy, as the entire container is biodegradable, and can be placed directly in the ground. Other biodegradable containers can be purchased at your local home improvement store. Remember to cut holes for drainage in any containers that don’t already have them.
Plant Your Seeds
Check your seed packets for the best time of year to plant in your region of the country, and don’t get too anxious to start. Plant too soon and your seedlings may not survive transplanting. Likewise, putting them in the ground before the soil has been warmed by the sun, and before the last frost of the season, could have disastrous results. If you do your research and still aren’t sure if the time is right, check with a local nursery for an expert opinion on when to plant and transplant.
Water Wisely
The trickiest part of indoor gardening is giving the plants the right amount of water, without over-watering. Drainage holes are critical, as roots that sit in excess water will rot. The trick is to water enough to moisten the soil without washing the seeds out of their containers. It’s a good idea to check soil moisture daily. Soil should be damp, but not dripping wet. It should be moist all the way through so that roots will go downward. Covering the container with damp newspaper or plastic will hold in warmth and moisture, but you’ll need to remove any coverings once your plants break through the soil.
