Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Can I grow vegetables indoors?? I have a "black" thumb... :(
I don't have a green thumb - not by a long shot so I apologize if my question seems a little ridiculous.
My son's kindergarten class just finished growing a garden (they've been working on it for a little while now). My son brought home his plant, which is a green bean plant. It's growing in a cup. So far it has done OK - we keep it in the windowsill and keep it watered, and it has sprouted 3 pods. But he wants to do more.
My son wants to garden and I want to help him with this but I don't know the first thing about gardening! Any plant I touch dies, lol.
I would love to grow some strawberries, or tomatos, or more green beans.... whatever. But I don't want them to get attacked by bugs or other hungry critters. And I also want to keep the plant alive!
Is there a way to grow something small indoors? Is there a kit of any sort? I noticed the "aerogarden" when searching on google, but I'm not sure about that. Is there anything else?? Something that's not super-expensive?
Any advice at all would be appreciated!
Re: Can I grow vegetables indoors?? I have a "black" thumb... :(
Most vegetables are not going to do well indoors. Especially larger ones where you're eating the fruit. Herbs where you're just eating the leaves can do okay, that's usually what the Aerogardens offer.
My SIL loves her Aerogarden for fresh herbs and lettuce. It keeps a controlled environment fairly well, measures out sufficient light and keeps track of the moisture. Of course, you pay a premium for that. If you want to do your own set-up you can buy a sun lamp, seeding mat (heats the soil enough for germination) and keep track of the water yourself. I'd stick with greens over fruiting plants.
Or, more simply and cheaply, you can plant outdoors. Many veggies do well in containers. Peppers, tomatoes, eggplants all have varieties that you can stick in a large container in a sunny spot. Strawberries do exceptionally well in pots. You might get some pests, but they should be minimal. If you notice damage, come back here or call your extension service for advice.
FYI, minor pest damage won't harm your plants if that's why you're worried. Not watering them or giving them too much shade are your biggest plant-killers. And sometimes a plant doesn't work out, even for expert gardeners (or so they tell me).
Here's some inspiration for a container garden:
"The meek shall inherit the earth" isn't about children. It's about deer. We're all going to get messed the fuckup by a bunch of cloned super-deer.- samfish2bcrab
Sometimes I wonder if scientists have never seen a sci-fi movie before. "Oh yes, let's create a super species of deer. NOTHING COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG." I wonder if State Farm offers a Zombie Deer Attack policy. -CaliopeSpidrman
pdxmouse gave some great advice. To add, if you have a lot of wildlife, you may need to put up a small fence. That's what I had to do because bunnies kept eating my seedlings. Square Foot Gardening would be great for a first garden. http://www.squarefootgardening.org/ if you don't want to do the container thing. Containers are beautiful, but you do have to be more vigilant about watering.