Easy Vegetables to Grow Indoors
Good news: The onset of winter does not need to mean the end of growing and harvesting all your favorite vegetables. With the right tools and methods, you can harvest some of your favorite varietals indoors for months before the weather turns favorable again. While growing vegetables indoors in containers does have its challenges—they’ll take more care and may not yield as much—it is possible to find great success. Start off on the right foot by choosing one of these easy-to-grow indoor varieties and you’ll be harvesting vegetables in no time.
When gardening indoors, you ultimately control all aspects of the plant’s growth and environment. You maintain its water, soil quality, and even manually fertilize the plants. A big plus is that your plants are not at the mercy of the weather or outside critters, and you’ll hopefully have vegetables year-round.
However, growing edibles indoors does have its challenges, including a lack of light levels, pollinating insects, and wind. Proper air circulation is vital for flooding the plant with carbon dioxide as well as pollinating any flowers. Also, no matter if you are inside or out, some bugs and plant diseases can follow your plants if you bring them inside for the winter.
There are a few tips to keep in mind if you’re considering growing vegetables indoors.
First, be sure to choose containers that have ample holes to allow for adequate drainage and are sized correctly for the particular plant you’re growing—shallow and rooted greens may only need about a 2-inch depth, but deep-rooted tomatoes will need at least 12 inches of soil.
Additionally, make sure to use a good quality potting mix, not garden soil—mixes dedicated to potting usually have vermiculite or perlite, which allows for better drainage.
Finally, you may want to consider some type of supplemental lighting if your home doesn’t offer enough natural light.
Here are the 7 best vegetables for indoor gardening.
Pepper plants are tropical perennials. They shrivel at just the hint of frost, but when indoors, they can thrive. Plant some sweet or hot peppers from seed or pot some plants from your garden in late summer and bring them inside. You might not get a huge harvest, but they will fruit.
Use a container that is at least 8 inches tall and ensure your peppers get at least 10 hours of light each day. Additionally, you should allow the container to dry out between waterings so you don’t risk drowning the plant. Peppers are self-pollinating, but you may need to help them along—you can do so by either jostling the plants to shake the pollen from one flower to another or use a cotton swab to dust each flower with pollen.
Lettuce (and other salad greens) is quick growing and shallow-rooted, so it will not need a deep container. Choose a planter that is two to four inches deep and fill it with moist, well-draining soil. Sow your seeds by gently pressing them into the surface of the soil, then mist to keep them moist—you should see germination within about one week. Allow the plants to grow at least four to 6 inches before you start harvesting. Cut or pull the outer leaves and allow the center of the plant to continue growing.
Microgreens are tiny fresh sprouts that are among the most effortless edibles to grow indoors, especially considering they don’t take up much space or time. Typically, they’re a mix of seeds from various greens and herbs, such as beets, radishes, kale, Swiss chard, and basil.
Since these greens will be harvested as seedlings, you don’t need much soil—a shallow tray about two inches deep typically works well. Fill it with moist soil and scatter your seeds, barely covering them with a top layer of soil (just press gently so that the seeds make good contact with the damp soil and won’t dry out). Spray to keep the soil moist, and you should see germination within a few days. Start harvesting when seedlings have developed two sets of true leaves. Use scissors to snip them off at the soil level, and you may get another spurt of growth.
