Indoor Garden
Sticking fake trees in the rooms has been now modified into Indoor Gardening. Indoor gardens are limited primarily by the space you can dedicate to gardening. Indoor gardening is a wonderful tool for those who love gardening but have very little space. Indoor Gardening is a beautiful decoration which provide clean air by removing carbon dioxide, poisonous toxins and pollutants from the air. Indoor gardening is easier to maintain as there is no soil preparation required ie weeding, tillage etc. and also there are low risks of diseases in Indoor gardening.
Here are same basic schedule for starting a successful indoor garden.
Pots
Indoor plants can be grown easily in any pot or container. Ceramic containers seem to be the favorite among indoor gardeners. The most important part of the container is making sure that there is drainage in the bottom. Make sure you clean it out, otherwise some disease may effect the next plant.
Plant stands can be easily made with bricks and any boards. Window sills, ladders, ledges, shelves, tables, and just about anything, can be used to make a beautiful indoor garden. Large number of plants can be grown in small space.
Soil
The soil should be lightweight and drain well, equal amount by volume of silica, sand, perlite and forest mulch, equal parts of sharp coarse sand, native soil and compost or peat moss. If your vegetables are growing in hanging containers, you will need a light mix of equal parts of perlite, black peat moss and vermiculite. The soil should be lightly packed to ease for root development, aeration and drainage. Packed soil will create problems in root development.
Garden Grow Lights
Choosing Garden Grow Lights is the most important and expensive step of Indoor gardening. There are three types of hydroponic grow lights
1. Incandescent
2. Fluorescent
3. High-Intensity Discharge (HID).
Incandescent light is a poor choice, due to their inefficiency and limited light spectrum. HID grow lights are more efficient and produce more light, but are more expensive and also produce heat therefore, require maintenance.
You can also use natural sunlight to grow indoors and skip the expense of purchasing garden grow lights. This can be done with a greenhouse, solar room, or even a large window that gets plenty of sunlight.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs are also another popular choice for indoor gardening. They are not efficient as HID but are in-expensive and easily available.
A general rule for your garden's required lighting is that 1000W that will adequately penetrate about 16-25 square feet of plant area.
Put the plants outside in summer, if possible, this will boost up the plant also you should rotate the plant, this will promote an upright growth.
Temperature
Different plants have different light requirements, but most of house plants require 65-75 degrees Fahrenheit, during the day and 10-15 degrees cooler at night. Plants may die if there is rapid change in temperature either hot or cold.
Room temperature can be checked using room temperature measuring scales.
The level of moisture in the air can also effect the plant growth. Low humidity, in most plants, not all, will cause dry leaves and curling. Increase the humidity of the room with a humidifier (as shown in figure), especially during winter when the heat is on and the humidity drops. You could also spray the leaves with water, but do it in the morning, if done overnight the leaves can rot.
Plants
The most important thing to remember when you want to begin an indoor garden is that you purchase the right kind of plant. Here are a few tried indoor plants that can survive well. These plants can be categorized as
Low Maintenance Required
Following are the plants which can survive the low maintenance.
Following are the plants which can survive the low maintenance.
Epipremnum aureum, also known as the Pothos and more commonly known by Money Plant, Pothos is a nice evergreen indoor plant.
Spider Plant, Chlorophytum comosum is another popular houseplant.
Snake Plant is a species of Sansevieria, also a popular houseplant.
Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) is a very attractive plant belonging to the monocot.
Moderate Care Required
These plants require a bit more care than the above plants.
Dragon Trees
Jade Plant Commonly known as jade plant, friendship tree, lucky plant or Money Plant, Crassula ovata is a succulent plant with small pink or white flowers.
Sword Fern is an evergreen fern
Plants that need care
Bonsai, Orchids are plants that need more care.
Vegetable such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and lettuce are a natural fit for indoor gardening. Herb gardens can also work well for very small spaces (even as small as a windowsill)
Herbs are also a good choice, once they sprout, shouldn't be over watered. Once the herbs are established, you can snip the herbs down as often as you want, the snipping will actually promote further growth. You can start vegetables from seed much easier indoors because you don’t have to wait for certain weather conditions. As the seeds sprout, make sure that you thin them.
Every plant differs as to how much water they require depending on variety of plant, type of pot and humidity level in your room. The successful Indoor garden require an adequate nutrition, watering, temperature and light. Plants need water to stay cool. Transpiration stops the plants from overheating when the temperature is warm or hot. Plants that have been over-watered will sag, wilt and eventually die just as they would if they were dehydrated.
Feeding
There are different fertilizers available in the market for specific plant, fertilizing depends upon the type of plant, different plants need different fertilizer levels. you should fertilize every two to three months, but for dormant plants, you shouldn't fertilize at all. Liquid fertilizers are easy to fix when watering your plants, too much fertilizer may harm your plant therefor an adequate amount of fertilizer should be applied. A successful indoor garden is dependent upon consistent watering and feeding schedule, consistent light, and consistent temperature.
Re-potting
Plant need to be re-potted, if roots are growing out through the drainage holes or if they are coiling around the container's inner edges.
1. Select a larger pot than the current container.
2. Layer the bottom of your pot with rocks, shards of pottery, or chipped wood in order to assist with drainage but prevent soil loss through the drainage holes.
3. Fill the container with good soil up to where you want the roots to rest.
4. Gently loosen the rots of the plants and rest it on the soil, filling in around it with the remaining soil to about one inch from the top of the container.
5. Scrape away; the root ball will tell you when you can't go deeper and ripping a few smaller roots is no more than happens in nature. This is known as top dressing, and done on a yearly basis it can keep a plant in the same container for decades or longer; this is part of the basis for the art of bonsai.
Removing dead leaves and flowers as well as wiping or dusting the leaves of your plants will keep them happy and healthy and keep your indoor garden looking gorgeous.
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