Garden innovations - growing vegetables indoors

Not all of us are lucky enough to have enough space for a vegetable garden, in fact, many of us have no garden at all, but don't despair, you can grow vegetable indoors! Here are some points to keep in mind:

Most leafy crops such as lettuce, endive, etc require cooler indoor temperatures. If you have a bright room which is more or less unused, it's a great place to grow your own salad greens, as is an enclosed, sunny porch where temperatures don't drop below freezing.

Vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and beans do require warmer daytime and night-time temperatures in order to flower and set fruit. Ideally, daytime temps should be above 22 degrees C and night temperatures should not drop lower than 16. A south facing indoor room with supplemental heating is idea for these crops.

The amount and intensity of light are important factors. Outdoors in summer, lighting conditions are considerably different from the typical indoor conditions of late autumn to early spring. Supplemental lighting may be required to guarantee success, and not only are six to eight hours of sunlight are required but plants also need to be situated very close to a light source. New daylight bulbs make this easier.

Soil requirements are different than those we are used to encountering when gardening outdoors. Lightweight soil mixes are the best. Don't use garden earth that hides diseases and insects which can be very difficult to control indoors. An ideal mix for indoor vegetables calls on new moisture-holding technologies, so use 1 part potting soil, 1 part vermiculite, 1 part peat, and 1 part perlite.

Vegetables will need to be watered daily due to the confined space in which they will be growing and the lack of indoor humidity during hot weather. Remember that outdoors plants get dew most nights, even if it's been burnt off by the time we reach the garden in the morning. Because frequent watering can deplete nutrients, a supplemental feeding every two weeks will be necessary too.

Pollination is something that will have to be done manually. An artist's brush helps to distribute pollen from one flower to the next, and is an indispensable tool to have on hand, you won't get tomatoes to set or cucumbers to swell without it!

Garden innovation indoor vegetables photograph by lil'bear, used under a creative commons attribution licence.