Recommendation points
- Place for “beds”
- What to put in
- How to prepare the soil
- “Indoor” vegetables
- Tomatoes at home
- Peppers on the window
- How to grow cucumbers in winter
- Greenery on the windowsill
- The main thing for a mini-garden is lighting.
In winter, amateur gardeners especially miss their gardening business. To get rid of the longing for active earthworks, you can start a miniature garden at home on the windowsill. To obtain a harvest on “indoor” beds, several conditions must be met, the main of which are lighting and air humidity.
Place for “beds”
First of all, it is necessary to prepare a place for a mini-garden – a window sill, in an ordinary apartment it is too narrow, therefore they increase the area of the window sill in all possible ways: by arranging wooden boxes with your own hands or by decorating the window with beautiful pots.
What to put in
Ceramic or plastic pots, balcony boxes or cropped 5 liter water bottles are used as containers for plants..
The volume of the container depends on the size of the plant for which it is intended..
For low-growing plants, a 5-liter pot is suitable, and tall plants need 8-10 liters with a container height of 20 cm for the development of their root system and maintaining optimal moisture.
How to prepare the soil
The soil for a mini-garden should contain approximately 60% garden land, 20% humus and 20% sand. Before planting, the earth is disinfected by freezing or pouring boiling water. Cover the bottom of the pot with a layer of 3 cm of sand, expanded clay or small pebbles.
“Indoor” vegetables
The most common garden crops – tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers – can be easily grown at home, providing them with the necessary conditions for growth, flowering and fruiting..
Tomatoes at home
To get a harvest on the windowsill, it is enough to follow the same agricultural techniques as when growing tomatoes in a greenhouse:
- regularly ventilate the room;
- water abundantly with lukewarm water under the root;
- periodically feed – 2 tbsp. l. manure and 1 tsp. ash per 1 liter of water;
- pinch for fruit formation.
Tomato seeds are sown in January, in February they sprout, in March they are transplanted into roomy pots, by June the tomatoes reach a meter, and in July the first harvest can be taken – about 20 fruits per bush. Tomatoes grow, bloom until November and yield 2-3 more times.
Peppers on the window
Before sowing, pepper seeds are soaked in a damp cloth for 2 days.
Pots with a diameter of 15 cm are filled with fertile soil poured with boiling water. Before emergence, the pots are covered with foil and kept in a warm place..
Peppers are regularly fed using a solution: 1 tsp. urea per 10 liters of water, consumption of 0.5 liters per bush. The water temperature during feeding and watering should be at least 30 degrees.
When the plant reaches a height of 1 m, pinch the top. With good care, nutrition and lighting, peppers bear fruit almost all year round..
How to grow cucumbers in winter
Cucumber loves light and warmth, therefore, to grow this crop, it is necessary to have a plastic window facing south, southeast and southwest, without drafts. One plant requires about 5 liters of soil, not abundant, but frequent watering. Fertilize cucumbers with mineral fertilizer every week. The main shoot is pinched over 11-12 leaves – the plant begins to actively bear fruit.
Greenery on the windowsill
Perennial spicy plants that grow all summer in the garden and delight with fresh greens can be transplanted into indoor pots for the winter. Timely watering, moderate air temperature from 18 to 20 degrees – and uninterrupted growing of parsley, basil, tarragon is provided for the whole winter.
Parsley is planted in separate pots for 2-3 grains. On a light windowsill, when watering once a week, without waterlogging, subject to the temperature regime, greens can be cut off after 2 weeks.
By planting a few grains of basil in a soil mixture on a sunny, draft-free place and sprinkling it a day or two before germination, you can enjoy the generous fragrant seasoning all winter.
The main thing for a mini-garden is lighting.
To grow plants in winter on a windowsill, you need to install additional lighting for plants for 10-12 hours in December-January.
If you have enough patience until the end of winter, you can do without expensive lighting equipment. In January, daylight hours increase and crops give quick shoots, but provided that the garden is located on the southern, southeastern or southwestern windowsill.
Other directions of the cardinal points for indoor vegetable growing are not very suitable without installing additional lighting.
