There are many reasons to create an indoor garden. Whether you have little yard space or find the idea of an easy-to-access green area appealing, an indoor garden is fun to make and a rewarding experience.
Gardens contain so many useful plants such as herbs and small vegetables that you can use daily. This guide to creating an indoor garden will help you make the most of your space and nurture plants in your own home.
How to Create an Indoor Garden
- Set up a garden space
- Choose the right plants
- Know the tips for success
- Get mature potted plants
Set up a Garden Space
Depending on your goals, your indoor garden might be in a greenhouse on an apartment balcony or in a vacant room in your home. Before you start the garden process, these spaces must be repurposed so that you can have enough light and room to meet your goals. Overall, this room should not be too cold or too hot and there should be ample sunlight. So, pick a room with large windows or be prepared to supplement with LED growing lights. Here are some expert tips on finding a good indoor gardening spot:
- Capitalize on the morning sun. Plants are the healthiest when they start the day with plenty of sunshine. For the best results, put your garden in a room with an east-facing window.
- Use high-quality grow lights. Indoor lighting conditions aren’t the same as outdoor light, so you need to supplement during times of the day when the sun isn’t around much. The experts recommend GE Grow Light 9-watt Balanced Spectrum LED bulbs and GE Red bulbs for different stages of growth.
- Make enough room for all the plants. Set up pots and planters on raised beds so that each plant has enough room to grow roots and reach its full height. Consult each plant’s seed packet instructions to find out how much room they need.
Choose the Right Plants
Not all plants will thrive indoors, so you need to be careful to choose the right types for your garden. Typically, you want plants that don’t need to take up a lot of space and don’t require full outdoor sunlight. These are the top plants that work based on an indoor garden’s typical lighting and temperature:
- Lettuce is an easy way to start. It’s a typical winter crop but the moderate temperatures indoors make it suitable for growing this plant around the year. For the best results, lettuce should be placed under a grow light that is around 3-4” above the plant.
- Arugula germinates quickly and is a fast source of nutritious greens. One plant can give you multiple harvests if you collect larger leaves but let the smaller ones to mature. Put these tasty leaves on salads for a slightly bitter kick to your veggie game.
- Kale is a hardy indoor plant that can be harvested like arugula. It also lasts a long time in the fridge and is considered a superfood for its richness in copper manganese, calcium, potassium, and vitamins A, K, B6, and C. Kale is larger than arugula, so you only need to plant a few seeds in a medium-sized pot.
- Herbs of all kinds can thrive in an indoor garden since they don’t take up a lot of space. Rosemary and mint are considered to be the easiest to grow after transferring them from a starter plant, while basil and cilantro can be easily grown straight from the seed. For each herb type, research their water and sunlight requirements to group each plant strategically.
It can be tough to remember all the sunlight, and watering frequency requirements for each plant so, keep a log and record when you water and fertilize each plant. Also, make a log of your progress and see how the plants grow under different circumstances. You may find that a new type of light works better than your old grower light. The more you practice cultivating your garden, the better you will be at your methods.
Tips for Success
Starting a garden can lead to a lot of trial-and-error moments, but if you follow these key steps you will be able to tweak your methods as you become a better gardener. These are some tips from the pros:
- Don’t water daily: While most new gardeners think that daily watering is best, it’s actually better to do less frequent but more thorough watering sessions. This helps you avoid over-watering: the #1 mistake of new gardeners. How do you know if the soil needs watering? Do a quick soil test. Stick your finger into the soil and if it feels dry when you go an inch deep, it needs to be watered.
- The soil matters: Indoor gardens require different soil. Since you are lacking some sun, you need high-quality potting soil, not the type made for in-ground gardens. This ensures your plants are getting enough nutrition.
- Fertilize: Your plants should also get more nutrition supplemented by easy-to-absorb liquid fertilizer. For the best results, you should use a liquid fertilizer at least once a month.
Get Mature Potted Plants to Boost Your Indoor Garden Mood
Many expert gardeners start plants off in small planters and then transplant them into a bigger pot of soil. However, there will be times when you just need a boost and you want to insert a mature plant into your indoor garden. When you buy a potted plant, you can instantly enhance your growing space.
For instance, when you plant a mature rosemary plant in your garden, if you carefully prune the leaves, the plant will keep on growing so you can harvest this fresh herb for a long time. This gives you more cooking ingredients to work with versus starting the rosemary plant from scratch on your own.
Also, your indoor garden isn’t just about harvesting things to eat, but you need something pretty to look at such as placing a few potted indoor plants around the house. This “Jungalow” aesthetic is quite popular in modern design. As you fill your home with beautiful potted plants, your whole house can feel like a garden — a true stress-relieving abode.
Discover Fresh Indoor Garden Plants
UrbanStems delivers a curated selection of bouquets, plants, and gifts for delivery on the same day or through advance orders. When you need a unique plant to add to your indoor garden without all the work, we can send you something gorgeous your way.
This article originally appeared on UrbanStems.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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12 green brands that plant a tree for every purchase
Around 80,000 acres of forests disappear every day, according to One Tree Planted, a nonprofit organization dedicated to global reforestation. But fortunately, we all have the power to make our money a vehicle to influence positive change. That’s why we compiled a list of businesses that plant trees with every purchase — so you can give back to the planet without ever picking up a shovel.
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These three banks and fintech companies are fueling a positive change by planting trees based on your spending habits and membership.
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Aspiration, an online-only fintech company with a debit card that plants trees when you swipe, is on track to plant over 3 million trees this year. Backed by celebrity environmental activists Leonardo DiCaprio and Orlando Bloom, Aspiration has raised $200 million in funding to put its customers — and the planet — first.
Its “Plant Your Change” program launched in April 2020, giving users the option to round up their debit purchases to the nearest dollar. In turn, Aspiration commits to planting one carbon-soaking tree for each purchase you roundup. Plus, you’ll earn cash rewards as you hit tree-planting milestones.
Aspiration also offers sustainable investments and no-fee individual retirement accounts.
But what sets this brand apart is its fees — or lack of. You decide how much you want to pay for its basic plan. And for unavoidable third-party fees, Aspiration will only charge you what it costs them and not a penny more.
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Flagship Bank plants a tree for every member that signs up for electronic statements. This initiative reduces paper by eliminating mailing statements and partners with Tree Trust, an environmental and social outreach organization that plants trees locally in Minnesota.
You’ll need to sign up for a personal or business bank account and switch to e-statements to participate in its tree-planting program.
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TreeCard is a free debit card that helps reforest the planet with every payment you make. It takes 80% of the interchange fee that merchants pay TreeCard to accept card payments and puts it toward tree-planting projects. Every $60 you spend plants a tree.
You can track your spending with the TreeCard app and get a rad wooden debit card made from sustainably-sourced cherry wood and recycled plastic bottles.
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See the world, but minimize your carbon footprint with these three travel initiatives.
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App in the Air is your personal travel assistant that helps you plan, book and manage your trips in one centralized app. You’ll get real-time notifications, automatic check-in and even a cool built-in augmented-reality baggage scanner to check your luggage size.
And it’ll plant a tree for every flight you book through the app to help offset your flight’s carbon emissions.
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Treebanks is an organization dedicated to fighting pollution and CO2 emissions. For every booking you make through its affiliate partner links with Booking.com, Kiwi.com and Agoda, Treebanks will plant a tree for free.
It’ll also plant a tree for each newsletter subscription or Treebanks T-shirt you purchase.
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Hopper is a travel-booking app that helps you get the best prices for flights and hotels. It predicts if prices will go up or down and boasts a 95% accuracy. You can book your trip right away or watch and wait to jump on a better price.
You can save money and help offset carbon dioxide emissions when you shop through the Hopper app. It’s Hopper Trees program will donate funds to plant four trees for each flight and two trees for each hotel room sold.
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Here are three places where you can shop and help the planet.
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Woodchuck USA sells a variety of wood products that you can also customize with text and graphics. You’ll find wood stationery, smartphone cases and even wood pocket squares on its website.
This socially conscious brand is also dedicated to global reforestation. So it’ll plant one tree for every product that it sells. So far, it has planted millions of trees on six different continents.
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WeWood creates eco-friendly wooden analog watches and sunglasses. Born in Italy, this brand continues to produce fashionable and unique watches from reclaimed and recycled wood materials. And it’ll plant a tree for every wood watch you purchase.
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Baronfig celebrates the tactile experience of writing with good ol’ pen and paper. This brand is the defender of ideas by giving you the tools to jot, scribble and doodle whatever is on your mind.
Its notebooks are called Confidants because they house your innermost creative thoughts. For every Confidant notebook you buy, Baronfig donates the cost to its partners to plant a tree.
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These three insurance companies will plant trees for every new client who joins their firm or for those who switch to paperless statements.
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Powers Insurance offers many lines of insurance coverage, from personal insurance, including life and auto, to green energy coverage. It’s one of the largest family-owned agencies in St. Louis and promises to plant a tree for every new client that joins its company.
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Prosper Insurance wants you to feel good about your insurance. You tell them what kind of policy you want, and its highly trained team will pitch your profile to its network of insurance companies, including Safeco Insurance and Progressive. Its network of providers bid on the policy, which gives you a competitive rate.
If you find the right fit and take out a policy, Prosper Insurance will plant a tree on your behalf.
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Philadelphia Insurance Companies (PHLY) is a national insurance carrier that caters to commercial insurance products, including commercial auto and professional liability. PHLY partners with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant trees for every independent agent, broker and policyholder that switches to paperless statements.
PHLY takes the cost savings from going paperless and funds the planting of 80,000 trees each year. For some context of the impact you can have, PHLY will plant 15 trees for each new customer who enrolls in electronic billing.
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Having more trees helps people and the Earth as a whole. Here are a few key benefits of reforestation you’ll be contributing to:
- Fights climate change: Trees absorb harmful carbon dioxide and release oxygen back into the air.
- Cleans the air and water: Trees also absorb pollutants to help you breathe easier and forested watersheds create clean drinking water to more than 180 million Americans, according to a 2013 report from the U.S. Forest Service.
- Supports wildlife: Trees provide shelter, food and nesting sites for birds and other little critters.
- Prevents soil erosion: Trees help manage rainwater runoff by absorbing rain and holding soil in place.
- Improves your mental and physical health: Seeing trees in cities has been proven to boost your mood, reduce stress and even speed up healing in hospital patients. In fact trees save an average of eight lives per year in New York City, according to the Arbor Day Foundation.
- Reduces crime: There’s been a report of less vandalism and littering in areas with more trees, according to a report by the University of Washington.
- Increases property values: In Oregon and Georgia, properties with trees sold at higher prices than those without, according to a 2008 study by the U.S. Forest Service.
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