Gardening? In an apartment? That’s right. You don’t need a backyard to grow plants. Many plants can be grown indoors or on a balcony. Growing these plants could have many benefits including helping to create a greater connection to the outdoors and helping to improve air quality. You can even grow plants that produce fruit and vegetables indoors to add to your cooking. This post offers just a few tips on how to start up a gardening hobby from inside an apartment.
Create a herb garden on your kitchen windowsill
Many herb and spice plants can be grown in small pots that are ideal for placing on a windowsill. Placing them in your kitchen could allow you to harvest them and put them straight into meals. Herbs and spices that you can grow in your kitchen include basil, cilantro, chives, rosemary, thyme, mint, parsley and chillies.
Consider sunlight levels throughout the day
Some plants need a lot of sunlight, while others can thrive while only receiving low levels of sunlight. When choosing where to place plants in your apartment, consider which areas get the most sunlight and which only get a small amount of sunlight. Jade plants and aloe vera typically need lots of direct sun and are great for placing near large windows that get sunlight for long periods. Snake plants and ZZ plants meanwhile need very little sunlight.
Grow humidity-loving plants in your bathroom
Spider plants, orchids and boston ferns love humidity. As a result they can be great plants for steamy spaces – such as your bathroom. Many of these plants also don’t need too much sunlight, although you may still want to keep them fairly near a window.
Keep it simple with succulents
Succulents are very low-maintenance plants and are great houseplants for adding to your apartment if you want to add some greenery but don’t want to be constantly attending to them. Most succulents do require at least 6 hours of direct sunlight each day to thrive, but there are some that don’t. Look into this before choosing succulents.
Plant a tree in your apartment
Olive trees, money trees and certain palms are known for not growing too tall and not taking up too much space. These trees can be great for growing in pots within your home. Obviously, you need to choose fairly large pots. Place these trees in areas that get a lot of sunlight to help them grow.
Explore the possibilities of hydroponics
Hydroponics is a way of growing plants without soil. Such plants are also often grown without sunlight – relying instead on grow lights. This method of growing can allow you to grow plants pretty much anywhere in your home. You can even grow fruit-producing plants such as hydroponic strawberries indoors.
Consider balcony weight restrictions
If you have a balcony, this may seem like the best place to grow the majority of your plants. Indeed, balconies can provide access to rain and pollinating insects. You do however need to be careful of growing heavy plants in heavy pots on your balcony – many balconies have weight restrictions and you cannot exceed these. Balconies falling due to overloading are a rare event, however issues like cracking and displacement of posts due to overloading do happen frequently and could be expensive to fix.
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