Gardening tips

Cucumbers and green beans are vining plants that can take up a lot of room if not appropriately maintained. However, you can train them to grow indoors using a trellis. If you choose to grow heavy vegetables and fruits, you can even influence their tendrils to grow around the trellis.

To grow fruits and vegetables well, keep your soil damp but not soggy. Roots experience stunted development when they get wet and dry too quickly. It’s best to check on your soil daily by pressing your finger on top. It should feel slightly damp and springy.

If there’s limited space inside your home, you can always apply vertical gardening techniques. Vertically arrange a bunch of small pots in a vertical indoor garden organizer. It can be as easy as placing containers on a bookshelf, or you can shop for a premade vertical plant stand.

This one may be an urban legend, but it’s thought that planting in the evening yields healthier plants and that tilling the soil under the cover of darkness prevents weeds from sprouting because they need sunlight to do so.

Some vegetables and fruits need direct sunlight for at least six hours every day. If your home isn’t particularly sunny, you can provide a supplemental light source to improve your garden’s chances of success. You can even use grow-tents that allow you to maximize the effects of your grow lights.

All containers and pots used for your indoor gardening should be big enough to allow your plant’s roots to grow. You’ll generally want to give greener vegetables such as kale, spinach, and lettuce, at least five inches of room to develop properly. Other vegetables, such as beans, peas, peppers, and cucumbers, need to have at least seven inches of space. Carrots, beets, potatoes, and turnips require plant containers that can provide 12 inches of room.

While it may be tempting to take a shortcut by filling your containers with dirt from your garden, don’t do it! Avoid bringing diseases and microscopic pests into your home by purchasing a sterile commercial potting mix. Additionally, a retail potting mix will help the plants grow deep, strong roots.

Maintaining your seeds viable requires proper storage of them. According to most studies, you want to keep the seeds at a constant temperature and constant humidity. Ideally, seed should be stored at temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity below 50 percent.

To ensure seeds remain tidy and don’t get lost or thrown away, find a way to store the packets properly. One clever choice is to drop them on a little picture album’s sleeves. That way, you can turn the pages around and see exactly what you have and they’re being covered.