Mini-vegetable garden - cultivation of beds with vegetables and herbs on the windowsill
Gathering a rich harvest of vegetables and greens is possible not only in summer. A room garden on the windowsill will allow you to get vitamin products to the table even in winter. Miniature garden beds will save money on the purchase of off-season products, protect the body from the effects of harmful chemicals, and decorate the interior of the apartment.
We plan the placement of room beds
If you are interested in the idea of creating your own garden in mini format, you should carefully consider the project.
A few helpful tips will help you organize your tiny vegetable garden.
- First, decide on a set of crops to be cultivated. It is better for inexperienced gardeners to try their hand at the most unpretentious representatives of the indoor flora.
- Carefully study the information on agricultural technology of the selected plants. You will find it on the seed package. Based on the descriptions given, select a suitable container and substrate for each copy.
- The container should have holes for draining excess liquid, and the soil (even purchased) should be watered with a solution of potassium permanganate. Do not forget about the drainage layer 3-4 cm high.
- Be scrupulous about the selection of varieties for your home garden. Requirements for crops - early return of the crop, endurance, unpretentiousness, self-fertility.
- It is important that the plants are shade-tolerant, since the lack of sunlight in winter will certainly affect the quality of the crop. Special devices will help to solve the problem with a lack of light.
- Think over the project of placing "beds" on the windowsill. Most likely, there will not be enough space there and you will have to equip the garden with additional shelves, a rack.
Advice
Do not forget to work on the design of a miniature vegetable garden. With the right approach, you can create a real art object from it that will be in harmony with the design of the room.
What you need to equip a room garden
In order for the plants on the windowsill to feel comfortable, it is necessary to recreate the optimal conditions for them. Your assistants in this matter:
- lighting;
- racks, shelves, trellises for the window sill;
Let's consider the necessary equipment in more detail.
Lighting
Since the indoor garden will function in the winter, the inhabitants of the windowsill will need additional lighting. Incandescent lamps and halogen lamps are not suitable for these purposes. Fluorescent lamps contain mercury. If there are animals or small children in the house that could damage the fixture, it is best to avoid this type of fixture.
The best option for growing vegetables, seedlings, herbs is a special phytolamp. It provides plants with radiation of the required wavelength, contributing to the growth of shoots and the development of root lobes. The device is based on LEDs that consume a minimum amount of energy and have a long service life. Diode illuminators are also suitable for indoor gardens.
Additional area
Indispensable for the cultivation of a home garden is a rack, which can be purchased or made by hand. Take measurements from the window and assemble a rack of the desired size. Along the edge, put a side 5 cm high, and attach lamps to the bottom of the shelves.
Advice
Rack parameters should not prevent the window from closing with curtains.
To grow climbing or tall crops in your indoor garden, you will need a trellis.In fact, this is a support to which the shoots will be tied as they develop. Depending on the type of vegetables grown, make a horizontal or vertical trellis, screwing the rings into the slopes of the window in 20-30 cm increments. One end of the twine must be threaded into a ring, and the other wrapped around the plant stem.
What vegetables can be grown on a windowsill in winter
Among the most unpretentious vegetables that can be grown at home, gardeners preferred the following crops:
- cucumbers;
- tomatoes;
- beans;
- sweet pepper and its bitter brother;
- tiny carrots.
It is important not only to choose a plant for a home garden, but also to take a responsible attitude to the selection of seed, pre-planting preparation.
Cucumbers
Fragrant crispy greens ripen very quickly. After about 2 months, the first fruits will appear on the lashes. It is better to select bush varieties that tolerate a lack of light. The most important point when choosing cucumbers is the ability to self-pollinate. A cucumber for a vegetable garden on a windowsill should be early maturing, because when it develops in a confined space, plant growth slows down.
The following hybrids and varieties have such properties:
- Connie F1;
- Babylon;
- Seryozha F1;
- Gribovchanka;
- Masha F1;
- Zozulya;
- April (very popular variety);
- Onega F1.
It is important to provide additional lighting to cucumbers, protect from drafts, water abundantly, avoiding stagnant moisture. Maintain the temperature in the garden area at 22-25⁰C.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes are subject to the same selection rules. You should not cultivate large-fruited vegetables at home: the bush will spend a lot of time and resources to ripen the crop.
We advise you to pay attention to varieties for home cultivation:
- The balcony miracle is the most popular variety;
- Lisa F1 - dwarf variety;
- Japanese indoor;
- Room surprise;
- Bonsai;
- Pinocchio is a dwarf variety.
Advice
Ampel varieties are especially popular. Small bushes, covered with juicy bunches of fruits, look very impressive. Cherry, Ildi, Talisma are the best representatives of the group, which are suitable for decorating a vegetable garden on the windowsill.
Tomatoes need lighting, fresh air, rare but abundant irrigation, and the correct temperature (23-27⁰C). Protect the culture from dampness!
Beans
Unpretentious culture, undemanding to care. Beans need a deep container with a volume of 2-3 liters, support, periodic feeding with potassium-phosphorus fertilizers.
Gardeners preferred the following cultivars:
- Fatima is an asparagus variety;
- Violetta is a curly variety;
- Mask, Sugar Triumph 764, Green Pod 517 - bush varieties.
The beauty of culture is that it can be grown on a windowsill without additional lighting.
Sweet pepper
It will take up to six months to wait for the harvest of juicy fruits, but you can cultivate pepper on the windowsill for several years. We'll have to provide good lighting, protect the sissy from drafts, and maintain the temperature at 22-26⁰C. It is important to periodically loosen the soil and inspect the bushes for pests.
Give preference to the following varieties for your home garden:
- Patti-Ivo - indoor yellow-fruited variety;
- Oda is a variety with purple fruits;
- Swallow;
- Jupiter F1;
- Gift from Moldova;
- The California Miracle is a high-yielding variety.
Do not forget to tie the peppers to the trellis during fruiting. They break easily under the weight of the crop.
Hot pepper
A burning fellow needs additional lighting, loosening, feeding, maintaining a constant moisture content of the substrate. The harvest on the windowsill will ripen in 65-90 days, and the bush will last up to five years.
Almost any variety can be grown on a windowsill. Ideal representatives:
- Indian summer - a variety with fruits rounded like berries;
- Curiosity;
- Light;
- Carmen;
- Serpent Gorynych is a very fruitful variety with a pronounced burning taste.
Advice
Remember about the inadmissibility of growing sweet and bitter peppers in the same room.The result of cross-pollination will be a bitter harvest.
Carrot
A somewhat capricious culture. To grow carrots on a windowsill, you need a deep pot, regular watering, and no direct sunlight. Pick up a light and fertile substrate. Mulch the soil after irrigation.
The following varieties of carrots are suitable for an indoor garden:
- Amsterdam;
- Sophie;
- Round Baby;
- Granddaughter.
Harvest is ready for harvest in 80-90 days.
Potted greens
Greens in a pot are ideal for novice gardeners, because they are very unpretentious. The pots are best placed on the kitchen windowsill, where the humidity is slightly higher. Just sow the seeds and wait for a fragrant harvest.
In the indoor garden, they usually grow:
Forcing onions on the windowsill can be done even by children. The heads can be placed with their bottom in a jar of water - and after 2-3 weeks pluck the juicy burning feathers. It is better to drive out small bulbs or sets in the ground. To enjoy a fragrant harvest all year round, periodically replace old greens in your home garden with young ones.
Selection and preparation of seed
Not all the inhabitants of the beds are suitable for the garden on the windowsill. Your choice is specialized seeds marked "for pot growing". The seeds of the "Harvest on the Window" and "Home Garden" series were created specifically for cultivation in an apartment.
Pre-planting seed preparation includes the following points:
- etching;
- soak;
- rejection.
For disinfection, gardeners use a light pink solution of potassium permanganate, in which the seed is kept for 30 minutes. The drug Fitosporin is also suitable. The seeds are kept in solution for 2 hours. Place the seeds on a damp cloth, place a clear bag on top and place in a warm place. Soaking will soften the seed coat and accelerate the emergence of the germ. After its appearance, you should wait a few days, select sprouted specimens for planting.
Advice
Planting, care, selection of containers and substrate are carried out in accordance with the recommendations indicated on the package with seeds.
Cultivation of a vegetable garden on a windowsill is an interesting and useful activity. Experienced summer residents cultivate even exotic fruits, strawberries in a small space of the windowsill, avocado... With a little experience, you can harvest these crops as well.
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