There’s no need to lament the end of the summer growing season. Just slip on your gardening shoes and walk indoors. All you need is a sunny windowsill and a few smallish pots.
Photo by Silver Creek Garden
Here are some ideas for gardening indoors:
- For garlicky tasting greens, plant a few cloves in a small pot filled with light potting mix and place the pot in a sunny windowsill. Snip the greens as they grow.
- Start basil from seeds and place the pots in a south-facing window where it can get the sun and warmth it loves.
- Snip a good sized stem from your oregano plant and start it indoors in a south-facing window.
- Take a tip cutting from an outdoor sage plant to start indoors. Sage tolerates dry, indoor air well, but it needs the strong sun it will get in a south-facing window.
- Force bulbs for mid winter splashes of color.
- African violets, Begonias, Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, and Cyclamen are all flowering plants that can all be grown indoors.
If I was only allowed to give one tip for growing plants indoors it would be: don’t over-water! I read recently that over-watering is actually the number one reason why plants die, not under-watering. Water your plants only when the soil is dry an inch or two beneath the surface (stick your finger in to check).
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi, Fern
Thanks for the Shana Tova – and an excellent Shana to you and yours!
I was just looking at my windowsill space and thinking I could fit in one, possibly two, more herbs. But no inspiration. Having read this post, I decided to use up my basil, which is dying out, and plant new seeds in its pot. For the other pot, I’ll try rosemary.
I’d like to try thyme, but I’ve never had luck with it. Any tips on successful thyme-growing? Drives me crazy, ’cause I see it growing wild all over the ground in certain parts of Israel.
Mimi
Mimi — I’ve noticed that Thyme can be finioky about the amount of water it gets, or more precisely, the soil conditions. It seems to like moist but not drenched soil that dries out in between watering. Other than that and fertilizing every month or so, I ignore my thyme and it seems to do fine.
I live in an apartment in S. California and we don’t have any windows facing South! What would you recommend? I’d really like to grow indoors this winter…
Lauren–Do you have West facing windows that are unobstructed by any nearby buildings or trees? That might work too. Otherwise, you’ll need to check out grow lights. There are some that will work with regular lamps, so you don’t have to ruin your decor to give your plants supplemental light.
The front of our apartment is facing West, so it might work (we have two large windows facing that direction)… We’re on the second floor and there’s a same-level building across from us. Maybe I’ll just check out grow lights, like you suggested