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How To Start Indoor Vegetable Gardens?

Published May 16, 2023

Nowadays, you don’t need outdoor space or a backyard to grow a large amount of organic, chemical-free produce!

In fact, indoor vegetable gardens are much easier to maintain than your traditional outdoor garden.

Say goodbye to pesky weeds, messy soil, back-breaking labor and disturbing roots, and say hello to the easiest and safest way of gardening to grow your own food at home!

Turns out, indoor vegetable gardens have way more benefits than growing in soil outdoors.

Here’s why:

Use less water, reduce your environmental imprint;
Grow an abundance of organic produce without worrying about contaminants in the soil or good air circulation;
Indoor vegetable gardens are ideal for small homes as they take up significantly less room, with higher yields and can be grown in a container;
Cut down your carbon footprint;
Save money;
Eat more nutrient-dense produce, not produce grown in monoculture commercial growing conditions in depleted soils.

Overall, indoor vegetable gardens provide the corrective path to live a more sustainable lifestyle while feeding your family healthier foods, and cultivating a unique and intimate relationship with the food that nourishes you!

Why Plant Vegetables Indoors?

There are endless reasons why you should start indoor gardening. First and foremost, health is wealth!

Studies have repeatedly shown that what you eat is central to your overall health. The food we eat affects many aspects of our physical health, mental health, and long-term health. Additionally, while taking a multitude of supplements works for some people, it is not the ideal way to get all your nutrients.

In an ideal world, one food would provide all the nutrients that we need.

Growing an indoor vegetable garden or growing your own food, period, is the best way to reclaim your health and ditch all those supplements.

Even if you’re buying organic produce from the store, most organic produce grown commercially is significantly lacking in nutrients due to poor soil health and monoculture farming.

Not only will you be eating healthier, but you will also be saving money in the long run. When you get an indoor vegetable garden kit, you can eat fresh, organic, chemical-free food from that initial investment for months and years to come.

Not only that, but you are significantly reducing your carbon footprint by growing your own food using an indoor vegetable garden.

You can grow fragrant flowers, herbs, fruits and vegetables for the whole family and friends!

Have you ever added edible flowers, microgreens, or homegrown herbs to a dish? It’s a great way to take the entire culinary experience to the next level and can give you some creative ideas to experiment in the kitchen.

Curious to know how Gardyn’s indoor vegetable gardens work? Check out our tips for more information and learn all about it here.

How To Choose Your Plants For Your Indoor Vegetable Garden?

The best part of having an indoor vegetable garden? You get to choose what you grow!

You are no longer limited to what’s available at your local grocery store to make your salad.

Grow heirloom varieties of nutrient-rich greens and veggies, rare edible flowers, and even fruits!

Never worry about what’s in or out of season! With an indoor vegetable garden, you will have a climate-controlled, self-sustaining indoor vegetable garden that essentially takes care of itself!

Even if all you have to work with is a windowsill, you can still grow delicious food from the comfort of your own home.

Grow What You Love

An easy way to pick what plants to grow in your indoor garden is to search for a type of veggie, herb, or fruit that you already love to eat.

What are your two or three must-have fruits and vegetables on your list when you go for food shopping? What could you grow yourself in a pot by the window that will lessen your monthly costs and add to your quality of life?

From there, it’s as simple as finding the varieties and seeds you want to grow. Or you can buy an indoor vegetable garden kit that comes with your selection of veggies, greens, and herbs, so you don’t have to go through the hassle of finding the right seeds online.

Easiest Veggies and Plants to Grow Indoors

While the possibilities are truly endless when it comes to what you can grow indoors, there are a few veggies, herbs, flowers, and fruits that thrive indoors or in a controlled setting, such as an indoor vegetable garden.

Turns out, a lot of plants that do well indoors are common veggies and leafy greens that most people are already familiar with! Plus, a few rare varieties of common plants that you can’t get elsewhere.

Some of the easiest vegetables to grow indoors are different lettuce varieties, leafy greens like spinach, arugula, kale, romaine, watercress, Swiss chard, mustard greens, microgreens, and your typical ‘power greens.’

Tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, radishes, beets, and more are some of the heartier veggies to grow in an indoor vegetable garden.

You can also grow herbs like fennel, parsley, cilantro, dill, rosemary, thyme, sage, basil, and more. Grow edible flowers such as nasturtiums, sunflowers, violet, pansy, borage, marigold, lavender, calendula, chives, and more!

Consider Your Growing Conditions

Even though growing vegetables indoors is pretty straightforward, there are still some important things to consider before you get started.

Such as, what is the lighting like where you want to grow your indoor vegetable garden? Can it easily get full hours of sun? Is there a cold draft or hot air from a heater?

These are all critical factors to consider when starting a DIY indoor garden.

However, with smart indoor gardens or hydroponic kits, you don’t have to worry about every outside factor such as lighting or temperature.

The best smart indoor garden home kits come with LED lighting, temperature control regulation, and more. This way, you can grow heaps of food in any part of your apartment, regardless of lighting requirements.

Consider Harvest Time

If you are looking for plants with a quick turnaround from seed to harvest, certain plants are better to choose than others.

If you’re looking for a harvest within a few weeks to a month, try lettuces and leafy greens such as romaine, arugula, pak choi, kale, chard, mizuna, and more. Additionally, microgreens have a super quick turnaround of about a few weeks.

On the other hand, if you’re playing the long game, there are plenty of plants to choose from.
Remember, patience is a virtue!

For example, tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers take a bit longer to mature than your typical fast-growing leafy greens, so keep this in mind when choosing your plants for your indoor vegetable garden.

Discover More

Want Plant That Will Provide Multiple Harvests?

You can opt for over 25 varieties of leafy greens from our yCube portfolio if you prefer a plant that can offer multiple harvests rather than quick results. The choice is yours!

How To Grow And Maintaining Your Indoor Vegetable Garden?

Whether you have a windowsill garden or a fully functional indoor smart garden, there are a few things you should keep in mind to reap the highest yields from your indoor vegetable garden!

Make Sure You Have Adequate Lighting

Lighting is everything when it comes to growing food indoors or outdoors. Light is responsible for the process of photosynthesis, which is what allows plants to grow in the first place.

With a smart indoor garden, you never have to worry about it having access to direct sunlight as these systems usually come with LED lights that ensure even light distribution to all your plants, encouraging the most optimal growth.

If you are growing on your windowsill, be sure to choose a windowsill that may get adequate light all day. 6-8 hours is ideal.

Fertilizer and Nutrients

Just like us, plants need to eat too. If these plants were growing in the wild, they would be receiving their water nutrients from the soil as well as through mycorrhizal relationships with other plants and organisms.

Since you’re going to be growing indoors, you have to ensure that you are always feeding your plants adequate nutrients as they won’t have access to the underground reserves of minerals and nutrients as they would if they were growing in the ground.

When using an indoor smart garden or hydronic home kit, often the kit will come with nutrients and directions for how to feed your plants for optimal absorption.

If you are growing in pots with soil, be sure to add organic compost and other natural amendments to help your plants grow.

Harvest Regularly

Harvesting your plants regularly ensures that your plants will continue to grow and produce. The best way to do this is to cut the outer leaves of a kale or other leafy green veggie with a knife or clean clippers.

This way, the inner leaves will continue to grow, producing new growth so you can continually harvest off of the same plant.

Also, wait to harvest until the plant is about 4-6 inches tall, as harvesting when a plant is too young will slow overall growth.

Watch Your Plants Closely

Not all smart indoor vegetable gardens come equipped with cameras and an AI monitoring system that keeps an eye on your plants for you, letting you know of any potential problems in advance and how to care for your plants step by step.

If you don’t have a cutting-edge system that monitors your plants for you, you are going to have to check in on your plants daily and check for any pests or diseases like mealy bugs, powdery mildew, etc.

Either way, it’s a good practice to keep an eye on your plants and be a part of the growth process step by step.

Meet our new

Microgreens

Now, choose between 7 different flavor-packed varieties.

SPICY BLEND

MILD BLEND

KALEFETTI

Start to Produce Your Own Food With Gardyn

Avoid the unpredictable nature of growing in soil, dealing with pests, hand watering, and worrying about light requirements when you choose to use a smart indoor vegetable garden like the Home Kit 3.0.

Save money, help save the planet, eat more nutrient-rich food, reclaim your health and autonomy, and enjoy the satisfaction of eating food you grew yourself!

Step up and start your Gardyning journey today and choose which indoor vegetable garden is right for you.

Start to Harvest Your Microgreens Indoors Today!

For those who own a Gardyn Sprout Nursery

$54.99

$29.99

$14.99

$24.99 - $49.99

Start to Harvest Your Microgreens Indoors Today!

For those who own a Gardyn Sprout Nursery

Feel good about growing microgreens indoors using our Gardyn Microgreens Complete Kit. Skip the hassle of buying all the separate materials, and order your complete kit today! You will be crafting nutrient-rich, gourmet, delicious meals in no time and enjoying the fruits of your (minimal) labor!

Large Grow Pack

$54.99