Setting Realistic Expectations
Gardening indoors can be as fun and rewarding as an outdoor garden. It also requires the same sort of commitments as an outdoor garden, but maybe on a smaller scale. Indoor plants take time to maintain; some not very much while others will be higher maintenance (a little like pets!)
So, before you invest a lot of money on plants, supplies, and gardening accessories, be sure you know what you’re getting into and that you’re prepared to give your indoor garden what it’ll take for success.
Common Challenges and the Learning Curve
Most of us enjoy having a houseplant or two around the home, and the foodies among us appreciate harvesting fresh herbs for our culinary creations. However, not all of us have an appreciation of the effort required to reap the benefits of an indoor garden.
Plants can be a joy to have in the home when they’re growing well. Unhealthy plants, on the other hand, bring frustration and disappointment more than anything else. Before getting started, it’s important to learn a little about the plants you’d like to grow – what conditions do they need, how much maintenance – to ensure your indoor gardening success.
Choosing the right plants: Once you’ve evaluated your home for light, temperature and humidity levels in various locations, you’ll be able to choose your plants. You need to match your plants to the growing conditions you have to work with. If your home doesn’t have a location that provides full sun all day – and you don’t want to invest in plant lights – then don’t try to grow plants that need full sun. On the other hand, if the space you’ve chosen to use for your indoor garden is a brightly lit sunroom, then don’t choose plants that prefer more shade.
Providing the right conditions: Each type of plant requires its own specific conditions to grow well. The most important consideration is sunlight. Some plants need a lot of sun, others can grow well with just a couple of hours of direct sun. If you really want to grow herbs and veggies indoors, or a beautiful flowering hibiscus, but you don’t have a space that gets sun all day through a window, you’ll need to invest in some proper grow lights to give the plants the light they need.
Understanding a plant’s needs (and learning to read the signs): Even if you’ve chosen suitable plants, they still sometimes fail to flourish. A plant will tell you when its needs aren’t being met; lower leaves turn yellow, leaf edges go brown and crispy, or flower buds drop off before the flowers open. These are all signs that a plant isn’t getting what it needs, or the growing conditions aren’t quite right. They’re also sometimes signs of the presence of disease or plant pests.
There’s always something to learn when it comes to gardening; you’ll sometimes need to play detective and read the clues and signs a plant is giving you when it’s not happy.
Time and Maintenance Commitments
Moderate Maintenance
Recommended Plants: Monstera, Philodendron, Peace Lilies, Ferns
What to Expect: The sweet spot. You have enough time for weekly watering routines, occasional misting, and basic pruning.
One of the most common mistakes new gardeners make – indoors or outside – is in the estimation of how much time they’ll need to spend on plant maintenance. Your time commitment will vary depending on what types, and quantity, of plants you choose to grow. If you don’t want to be spending several hours a week tending your indoor garden, consider growing plants described as “low maintenance” or choose to grow fewer of them.
Watering is probably the maintenance task that will take the most time on a regular basis. You might not need to water a plant several times a week, but you will need to check on its status and water when necessary. Once you’ve had a plant for several weeks, you’ll get to know how often it needs watering in your home’s conditions. Keep in mind that watering needs will change with the growing conditions; in the summer, with higher light levels, most plants will be in active growth mode and require more frequent watering. In the winter, most plants go into a dormant stage and need far less watering. At the same time, winter indoor heating can be very drying to plants, so some may need more frequent watering in winter. Be prepared to watch your plants and learn from them.
If you don’t want to worry about your plants suffering from thirst between waterings, you could consider self-watering containers or automatic watering systems. These options can take some of the guesswork out of watering your plants.
In addition to watering, you’ll need to give your plants a health check every so often to look for signs of pests or disease. It’s important to do this regularly so you can catch – and solve – any problems before they get too far. Also, if their growing conditions aren’t quite right, your plants will send you obvious signals, such as displaying pale yellow leaves or brown crispy leaf tips. These are often signs the plant needs to be moved to another location, or that your watering routine needs adjustment.
One final word of advice: Be prepared to learn as you go; every plant will be different and growing conditions can change. Pay attention to what signs your plants are giving you, and adapt your maintenance routine as necessary. Most important of all, have fun – and you might just discover the time commitments pay for themselves in the enjoyment and benefits your plants can bring!
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