Indoor Gardening?

[SpiritSong]

I live in an area where no fences are up and we have a lot of homeless and dishonest folks. Therefore, gardening outside is not really an option. Also, I suffer from Lyme Disease which went undiagnosed for a long time, so even though it has been treated, I still have some symptoms sometimes. So, being bitten by another tick could be highly dangerous for me. Therefore indoor gardening is something I am seriously considering.

I think grow lights are a good idea, but I am wondering how do the plants get pollinated? Or do they??

What experiences with indoor gardening have you had? I was thinking also that during the middle of the winter, it sure would be nice to have some fresh picked home grown veggies!

 

[LaSorcia]

I've had success with growing herbs and salad greens with AeroGarden. The only thing is, the plants don't keep on growing like they would in the dirt. They need to be replaced with a new pod every few months.

 

[faroukfarouk]

I live in an area where no fences are up and we have a lot of homeless and dishonest folks. Therefore, gardening outside is not really an option. Also, I suffer from Lyme Disease which went undiagnosed for a long time, so even though it has been treated, I still have some symptoms sometimes. So, being bitten by another tick could be highly dangerous for me. Therefore indoor gardening is something I am seriously considering.

I think grow lights are a good idea, but I am wondering how do the plants get pollinated? Or do they??

What experiences with indoor gardening have you had? I was thinking also that during the middle of the winter, it sure would be nice to have some fresh picked home grown veggies!

Indoor cacti are a really great idea!

(Reminds me of Cactus Jack, VP John Nance Garner....)

 

[jordansprings]

I have great success with growing herbs indoors. They don't need pollination. All they need is a sunny window, good potting mix, plant food and daily watering.

 

[LaSorcia]

All they need is a sunny window, good potting mix, plant food and daily watering.

Yeah, the sunny window requirement is where I fail lol. That's why I bought a lighted unit.

 

[SpiritSong]

I cannot keep my shades open here, because there are folks that look into your apartment, etc, looking to see what they can rob. (I am on the first floor).

I therefore will need to use grow lights.

What vegetables have you had success with indoors, folks?

 

[*LILAC]

Well, I've heard of people growing marijuana in some pretty dark closets and basements all with the use of grow lights.... lol I've never grown an indoor vegetable garden. Maybe make some inquiries at a local nursery?

 

[Servant68]

We grow avocados indoors at work for fun... The biggest plant is a year old. It's a slow process...

 

[Southernscotty]

Have you thought about aquaponics in your aquarium? Very easy and self sustaining.

 

[jordansprings]

[QUOTE="What vegetables have you had success with indoors, folks?[/QUOTE]

I find easy to grow herbs like basil, mint, thyme and rosemary are not too fussy about their conditions. If you are using a grow light, you can try growing vegetables like lettuce and tomato plants.

 

[SpiritSong]

Well, I've heard of people growing marijuana in some pretty dark closets and basements all with the use of grow lights.... lol I've never grown an indoor vegetable garden. Maybe make some inquiries at a local nursery?

I live in an apartment and we get inspected quite often by the manager, so that would not be a good idea. However, the general thought that others have had success growing anything at all indoors does seem comforting somehow.

 

[SpiritSong]

We grow avocados indoors at work for fun... The biggest plant is a year old. It's a slow process...

View attachment 225620

My mom used to do that with avocado pits too, but we never actually grew an avocado. She just enjoyed having the plants around.

 

[CassiusCritzer]

In terms of prepping, unless you had a full greenhouse and a mechanism for watering, I seriously doubt you could raise enough of a harvest even a tenth of the calories and nutrients you would require to get adequate minimums.

With something like hunter gatherers in history, many died when insufficient calories and nutrients fell off. The bulk being summer and part of autumn as then the game animals were larger and more wild edibles, typically acorns.

This is why about 10,000 BC there was a switch to agriculture. Otherwise winter was a time of death as even some supplies ran out.

A smart prepper has learned at least a hundred wild edibles,but these are typically very low in calories but provide vitamins or iron and calcium. And huge platefuls of these would help you get enough calcium but are likely to induce kidney stones due to oxalates.

Grass seed without any black rust, acorns or any nuts, silver or red maple, birch, black walnut, hickory, box elder all have syrup with different flavors and provide valuable calories.

Acorns are high in tannin and must be steamed or leached with lots of water. Nuts have protein and fat and other nutrients.

White clover blossoms are full of protein. So are the bodies of grasshoppers and crickets. Cattail has a some tender shoots, a tuber, and a pollen head.

Hunting uses up calories through work. Trapping is passive and the historical way to get the most animal protein with the least expenditure of calories through work. If you calculate how many rabbits you need to get 2000 calories, you quickly see how people starve even if there are rabbits as livestock.

A trick you should do is germinate your dried beans and sprout them to vastly increase nutrition.

Window gardening would largely be dismal as the plants would be leggy due to low sun.

 

[drjean]

You can grow tomatoes and potatoes.
Get a large bucket (like the just do it from Home Depot) and fill it half full of potting soil. You might want to buy some root hormone too, to help all your plants grow better.

Find an organic potato grower or non-hybrid potatoes and cut the "eyes" out with about two inches or so of extra potato at least. Plant these. I prefer to put a layer of about 2" of straw or hay on top of the soil and put the potatoes on top of that...gives clean potatoes you don't have to dig up. The extra potato around the eye will feed the eye til it has roots..but too much extra will cause rot. Plant at least 3.

Plant 3 tomato plants (heirloom, not hybrid) into the soil. If using plants, wet their roots first and dust the roots with root growth hormone before putting into the soil.

Planting in 3s is natures way of propagating. If you are worried you won't have ants crawling on the plants from time to time to pollinate, you can do that with a q-tip flower to flower plant to plant.

Water well and often.

What one plant gives off, feeds the other. Perfect harmony!

(Hybrid seeds and plants are genetically modified to NOT reproduce from seeds. This means you cannot keep the seeds to plant for a crop. Heirloom seeds will reproduce flowering and producing plants... and you can perpetuate your plants year after year by harvesting the seeds from the fruits and vegetables. Tomatoes are fruits. Potatoes are vegetables.)

 

[SpiritSong]

I bought an already potted and planted tomato starter, which is well above 2 feet tall now. No room to plant potatoes in the same pot. I do need to give it some Epson Salts though. I keep forgetting! I am hoping to keep the plant indoors when late Fall arrives and the temps drop. I have to buy a grow light, I guess.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

We have 10 plastic containers (about 18 by 18 by 28 inches) with potato plants in them. About 2-3 feet tall. Make sure you make holes in the bottle of the containers else the water will cause the roots to rot.
We have 8 "grow bags" with tomatoes, peppers, and a couple watermelons planted. These are very good in that you can completely control the soil and the bags maintain the perfect water content for the plants. You have to water more often, and at the same time take care not to water too much at one time as the water will wash the goodness out of the soil and you will watch it run out the bottom of the bag. We use a third potting soil, and third peat moss, and a third garden soil. We then add a couple handfuls of Black Kow. So do not water so much at one time that the nutrients wash out. These bags prevent the roots from getting all bound up as the do with regular containers. This is our first attempt at grow bags... we will let you know how it goes. The plants are about 8 - 10 inches tall now.
Also good is that the bags can be re-used for two or three years. No too expensive... I think the 10 we purchased were about 14 bucks.

 

[drjean]

I've kept outside plants nearly to Christmas by putting thick black (trash) bags over them at night or on colder days with winds too. Inside is easier in that respect.

Even setting an inside potted plant out into the sun for a day or several hours once a week will greatly help keep it healthy. We have to do that with house palms.

I'm not good with the upside down grow bags... not sure why. My dad built a plant nursery after he "retired" from his dairy job... and I helped him out for a few years...but I cannot get anything to grow in the grow bags lololol

 

[Citizen of the Kingdom]

You can grow tomatoes and potatoes.
Get a large bucket (like the just do it from Home Depot) and fill it half full of potting soil. You might want to buy some root hormone too, to help all your plants grow better.

Find an organic potato grower or non-hybrid potatoes and cut the "eyes" out with about two inches or so of extra potato at least. Plant these. I prefer to put a layer of about 2" of straw or hay on top of the soil and put the potatoes on top of that...gives clean potatoes you don't have to dig up. The extra potato around the eye will feed the eye til it has roots..but too much extra will cause rot. Plant at least 3.

Plant 3 tomato plants (heirloom, not hybrid) into the soil. If using plants, wet their roots first and dust the roots with root growth hormone before putting into the soil.

Planting in 3s is natures way of propagating. If you are worried you won't have ants crawling on the plants from time to time to pollinate, you can do that with a q-tip flower to flower plant to plant.

Water well and often.

What one plant gives off, feeds the other. Perfect harmony!

(Hybrid seeds and plants are genetically modified to NOT reproduce from seeds. This means you cannot keep the seeds to plant for a crop. Heirloom seeds will reproduce flowering and producing plants... and you can perpetuate your plants year after year by harvesting the seeds from the fruits and vegetables. Tomatoes are fruits. Potatoes are vegetables.)

Rather than root hormones if there's a willow tree nearby that shoots or branches are available to you, try this:
willow trees (any type) can be snipped of tinder twigs and put them in a 5 gallon bucket of water to soak for a few days.
Willows all have a natural growth hormone.
Use the water to stimulate young plants root systems. Yup, you can use it in veggies too!

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Rather than root hormones if there's a willow tree nearby that shoots or branches are available to you, try this:
willow trees (any type) can be snipped of tinder twigs and put them in a 5 gallon bucket of water to soak for a few days.
Willows all have a natural growth hormone.
Use the water to stimulate young plants root systems. Yup, you can use it in veggies too!

Nice information... can I use this in my next prepping book?!!!

 

[Citizen of the Kingdom]

Nice information... can I use this in my next prepping book?!!!

Sure if you can produce it before it's too late lol.