Great Indoor Fruits/Veggies to Grow In A Container Inside

[Natureboy44]

Hello all! I am new to this forum and gardening in general. I have recently discovered gardening and its soo cool! I just purchased a few herbs for my window seal for my apartment....basil, oregano, and double mint! They are awesome! Few questions for you though as I wish to expand my container indoor garden. What veggies are grown easily indoors with little space? Remember I am a beginner. Also any fruits? I live in Colorado so it's pretty dry outside and it starting to get cold but not too cold. I could keep it outside now in a container and bring it in at night until it gets too cold to keep the plant outside during the day or night. Let me know what you guys think! thanks I live in an apartment so I hate that I can't grow a garden so I'd love to find out I can still grow stuff indoors besides herbs! If this question has been asked before and you're tired of answering directing me to a link with a correct answer to my question would help too!

[cynthia_h]

Have I got a book for you!

The Bountiful Container, by McGee & Stuckey, addresses all gardeners who either choose to or must grow food in containers. They give advice on which vegetables and fruits will not only survive, but thrive, in containers and how to induce them to do so.

What kind of planting medium? What size container? What exposure? are all addressed.

More than one variety per pot? Herbs & veggies in the same pot? Yes again; these are discussed.

I checked out The Bountiful Container from my local library before deciding that I had to have my very own copy; maybe this tactic will work for you, too.

And here's someone else's review so that you know there are at least *two* of us who rave about the book!

https://www.motherearthnews.com/shopping/detail.aspx?itemnumber=3969

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[rainbowgardener]

Think about leafy greens, spinach, lettuce, etc. Much easier to grow indoors than fruiting things. If you want to grow fruits and fruiting veggies (I.e. things like tomatoes and peppers) inside, you are probably going to need to invest in some supplemental lighting. Would probably be good to get a little growing experience first before you start buying lots of stuff....

[gixxerific]

I had a thread earlier about a book I found at the library called Crops in pots. Here is the link to that thread. https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=101288&highlight=edible#101288

You can do most anything in pots. Though greens will be the easiest. For veggies like peppers and tomatoes or what ever, look for dwarf variety's. Plants that won't grow through the ceiling.

[cujokay]

Hello to everyone.

I posted this same message in the "introduce yourself" thread, but thought it would be better suited in here. (I'm sorry about double posting - Mod, please feel free to delete the other one).

I am a newbie here and in container gardening. I have never tried to grow fruit or veggies before. I recently retired and decided to take up a hobby. Since I love to cook, I'd thought I'd try my hand at container gardening.

I've recently purchased seeds for lettuce, tomatoes, baby watermelon, dwarf citrus trees and other things. I know that not everything I try will grow to fruition, so I thought I'd try a lot of different stuff to see what actually grows. Any suggestions?

I have a lot of different seeds I purchased and was given by friends/family that know I want to try my hand at gardening. They live all over the country, so I'm sure some things do better in certain climates.

I have thousands of questions, if you guys are willing to help me out.

First, I need to know if I can grow fruit/veggies in 5 gallon containers, if so, what does well in these size containers?

What should I put in larger, 10 or 20 gallon containers?

What kind of soil do I need? Fertilizer, etc. I really know nothing and am shooting for the stars here.

Any help will be greatly appreciated? Are there any special rules/formulas I should study?

Thanks in advance for any assistance provided.

[rainbowgardener]

Most veggies will grow fine in your 5 gallon containers. The tomatoes would be ONE plant in a container that size and it might even do better in one of the 10 gallon ones. It will need staking.

The only thing that would need the big containers would be trees. But it sounds like you are trying to start trees from seed (a slow process) you would not start the tree in a big container.

What you need for starting all those seeds in a whole bunch of little containers, 3 inch pots or things like sour cream containers that you punch holes in. Type seed starting into the Keyword box that comes up when you click on Search the Forum and you will find lots of information about how to start things from seeds. The plants get transplanted into the big containers later. It is very difficult to maintain the right conditions for them starting them in big containers.

The critical factor here will be LIGHTING. You will need supplemental lighting, which will be discussed in the seed starting threads.

Basic potting soil that you can buy in big bags will be fine.

Are you planning to try to grow things totally indoors (in which case lighting will be even more critical -- to get things like watermelon and tomatoes to fruit, you need high intensity light in the right frequencies) or will they be transplanted outdoors at some point? I'm in southeastern Ohio and I don't start my tomato seeds for transplanting outdoors until Valentines day.

I just realized you said container gardening, but you didn't say whether indoor or outdoor containers. I assumed indoors, because you are in NE Ohio and there's not much outdoor growing weather left.

Watermelons would not be easy to grow indoors ... even baby watermelon plants get big. They grow long vines (which you can grow up a trellis) and you have to provide light all along the vine. But they are warm weather plants. It will be next June before you could plant one outside.