Gardening, as a hobby, appeals to many. Particularly, during winters, you might think of growing your plants indoors. Container gardening has been a popular practice for ages. You can bring the earthly greenery and pleasant aromas indoors. Indoor container plants come across various categories. You can simply choose the one you would like to grow. You can easily create indoor planters, and take care of the plants, while you work indoors.
What Are The Benefits Of Indoor Gardening?
One of the benefits of growing your plants indoors, in containers, is that you can enjoy the greenery inside your home around the year. Particularly, in winter, when it becomes difficult to take care of your plants outdoors, you can grow these plants inside.
At times, the crops get affected by frost, and the prices in the supermarkets rise. When you grow vegetables in containers indoors, you can protect yourself against these hikes. At the same time, you would enjoy the freshness of organic food.
Having indoor plants enhances the aesthetics of your home. It is for this reason, that people prefer having plants indoors in containers, particularly in winter.
Tips For Container Gardening In Winter
Here are certain guidelines, that will help you while growing plants indoors in containers.
Choosing The Pots: You can choose any kind of pot for growing plants indoors. Make sure that the space for roots is large enough, and the container comes with holes at the bottom. This will allow the excess water to drain off the container. It is recommended to use plastic containers with squarish bottoms for growing indoor plants. This ensures that the roots will get adequate space to spread. You might also use light clay pots for this purpose.
Type Of Soil: Most of the time, people prefer using regular soil for indoor gardening. At regular intervals, you need to apply a good fertilizer to boost up the growth of plants. You might be growing vegetables like broccoli in indoor containers. In this case, you would need around 20 pounds of soil for an 11’’ container. However, for other plants and vegetables, smaller containers would do.
Watering The Plants: When you grow plants in containers in winter, make sure not to give them excess water. During summer, watering the plants in containers twice a day would do. However, reduce the frequency in winter and keep an eye on the level of moisture in the soil. Excess water may get drained out and damage your walls and floor. Therefore, make sure to keep the level of water optimal, when you grow plants in containers indoor.
Source Of Sunlight: You may place the containers in your balcony, or by the window sills. In any case, remember that leafy crops would require at least six hours of sunlight in a day. Again, if you grow flowering plants indoors, they must be exposed to sunlight for around nine to ten hours a day. In case you place the containers away from the sun, the growth might be stunted, and the flowers might come out late.
Besides, take care of the quality of soil from time to time. Growing container plants in winter can be a pleasant pursuit when you know how to take care of these plants.