In order to receive the required amount of vitamins during the cold season, you need vegetables and fresh herbs. Let's learn how to grow healthy crops on the windowsill.
In the cold season, when the body lacks vitamins, leafy vegetables and fresh aromatic herbs will come to your aid. Let's figure out how to grow a crop of these healthy plants on the windowsill in winter.
Healthy harvest on the windowsill
- General agricultural techniques
- Growing greens
- We grow herbs
- Growing leafy vegetables
Buying fresh vegetables at any time of the year is not a problem now. However, when purchasing beautiful-looking cucumbers or tomatoes, parsley, coriander or dill, you must remember that, due to their high nitrate content, they can be harmful to health, and their price in winter can be high.
In addition, at this time, store-bought vegetables have neither taste nor aroma. If you want to pamper yourself with vitamin-rich salads and dishes with the addition of leafy vegetables and herbs at any time of the year, you can organize a small vegetable garden on a windowsill or on a heated loggia.Cucumbers, tomatoes, hot and sweet peppers and even eggplant are grown in apartment conditions. And growing greens and leafy vegetables in the kitchen window in winter is not a problem at all.
What containers can be used for growing
Small beds can be organized using wooden or plastic pallets, boxes, ceramic or plastic pots, as well as clay or plastic bowls available on the farm. The only condition in this case is the presence of holes at the bottom of the container for water drainage.
Boxes can be made independently from pine or spruce boards. The optimal dimensions of the boxes are as follows: length - 40...50 cm, width - 20...30 cm, height - 12...15 cm. For manufacturing, you can use a board with a thickness of 1 to 1.5 cm. It should be noted that It is not recommended to make boxes from furniture scraps, since high humidity will promote peeling of the coating, and harmful substances can get into the soil, and therefore into the plants.
General agricultural techniques
To get a good harvest of greens and leafy vegetables, you must follow the following rules:
- At the bottom of any container used, it is necessary to put drainage, which is used as expanded clay, fine gravel or broken brick.
- It is not recommended to use garden soil to grow greens on the windowsill, as it can be infected with pests that will destroy your entire already small harvest. It is better to purchase a special substrate in the store, especially since it already contains all the components necessary for the growth and development of plants.
- It must be remembered that plants need light for normal growth, so containers should be placed on southwest, southeast or south windows. In the middle of winter, when daylight hours are very short, it would be good to organize additional lighting. To do this, use fluorescent lamps, which are hung at a height of 50–60 cm from your beds.
- Greens and leafy vegetables need to be watered regularly as the soil dries out. For irrigation use settled tap water. It must be remembered that crops growing in clay pots require more water than plants “living” in plastic. Beds on southern windows need to be watered more often than on eastern or southwestern ones.
- Crops growing on a windowsill require regular feeding - once every 1.5–2 weeks. To do this, you can use regular universal fertilizer for indoor flowers.
- When organizing a vegetable garden on a windowsill, you should remember that the air temperature next to the window is always lower than in the room. Therefore, when there is severe frost outside, it is advisable to remove the beds from the window. This will help prevent the roots from rotting at low temperatures. The optimal temperature for growing green crops on a windowsill is 18–20 degrees.
Growing greens
Of all the variety of greens on the windowsill, the easiest to grow are dill, parsley, green onions and celery.
Dill is an unpretentious plant and does not require special care when growing. It is sown in boxes separately or together with other greens scattered, lightly sprinkled with earth. Shoots appear within one and a half to two weeks, and you can taste fresh greens in about a month.
Parsley can be grown on a windowsill in a variety of ways. Before frost, they dig up several plant bushes in the garden along with a clod of earth and transplant them into a suitable container.
Parsley can be sown by seeds, but there is a certain problem. Essential oils contained in the seeds greatly slow down the germination of this crop. Soaking will help speed up germination - before sowing, the seeds are placed in several layers of gauze and kept for half an hour under warm running water, then soaked for a day.
Parsley is demanding of light and soil moisture. It is necessary to water such beds as they dry out, avoiding waterlogging of the soil. After the emergence of seedlings, the bed needs to be thinned out, leaving the strongest plants at a distance of 3–4 cm from each other.
You can also grow parsley on a windowsill by forcing root crops. To do this, it is necessary to select several short but thick roots (at least two centimeters in diameter), preferably with well-developed petioles. The roots should be planted in well-moistened soil at a distance of 2–3 cm from each other, and four to five centimeters should be left between the rows.
Until the petioles sprout, keep the container in a cool place and water it moderately; after the greenery appears, transfer it to the windowsill. In this way, the first harvest can be obtained in 25–30 days. The most suitable varieties of parsley for growing on a windowsill, which produce a lot of greenery, include: Urozhaynaya, Saharnaya, Bordovinskaya.
It is very easy to grow green onions on the windowsill. This can be done by simply placing the onion in a container of clean water. But this must be done so that its bottom barely touches the surface of the water, otherwise the bulb may rot.
To speed up growth, before planting, the bulbs can be filled with hot water and kept for 12 hours, then remove the husks, cut off the top tail and place in a container for germination. With this growing method, it is necessary to change the water every 1-2 days and regularly rinse the containers, otherwise an unpleasant odor will appear.
Green onions can be grown on a windowsill or in a box with soil. When planting, the bulbs should not be deeply buried. Until the first greenery appears, the containers are kept warm, then moved to the windowsill. Onions, like dill, are not very demanding of light, so the beds can be placed in light shade. It should be noted that you should not break off the first onion feathers that appear, otherwise the growth of greenery will stop.
Celery is grown in the same way as parsley - either by forcing roots or from seeds. When forcing this crop from root crops, it is necessary to select roots with a diameter of at least 5 cm with well-developed petioles. If the root crop is longer than the height of your container, its lower part can be cut off or the roots can be planted at an angle. Care for celery in the same way as parsley, that is, provide good lighting and optimal watering.
We grow herbs
The most commonly used aromatic herbs for growing on a windowsill are watercress, basil, mint and lemon balm.
Watercress is considered the fastest growing crop; after sowing the seeds in moist soil, seedlings appear within 4–5 days. This plant is undemanding in terms of lighting; it can be grown in shaded corners of the windowsill, on northern or northeastern windows.
Seeds are planted to a depth of 1 cm and watered well. The first harvest can be harvested in 2–3 weeks. For a garden on a windowsill, the best varieties of watercress are Broadleaf, Curly and Pepper.
The easiest way to grow basil on a windowsill is by transplanting a ready-made bush from the garden, since the seeds of this plant are extremely difficult to germinate. Basil is quite demanding of light and does not respond well to temperature changes, so containers with this crop should be placed on southern windows. It is necessary to water the beds with basil as the top layer of soil dries out. Overwatering has a bad effect on the well-being of the plant.
Mint and lemon balm are grown on the windowsill in two ways - by sowing seeds or transplanting bushes from the garden. Seeds should be planted shallowly in well-moistened soil. These crops are demanding on watering and lighting. With sufficient soil moisture, seedlings appear quickly, after which containers with mint and lemon balm are transferred to well-lit southern or south-eastern windows.
Growing leafy vegetables
Among the leafy vegetables for gardening on the windowsill, various varieties of lettuce and Chinese cabbage are best suited.
Leaf lettuce is a cold-resistant crop, so it can be grown in apartment conditions on well-insulated loggias or balconies. For such beds, early ripening varieties of lettuce are best suited: Odessa, Red Credo, Lollo Biond and others.
Leaf lettuce seeds are planted in well-moistened soil to a depth of 0.5 cm; seedlings appear within 3–5 days. The first harvest, depending on the variety, can be harvested in 4–5 weeks. This culture is very demanding in terms of watering and lighting. It is necessary to water the salad abundantly, and in the winter months it is necessary to additionally illuminate the beds with fluorescent lamps.
In winter, you can also grow Chinese cabbage on the windowsill. The seeds of this crop are planted to a depth of 0.5–1 cm in furrows at a distance of six to eight centimeters, leaving 3–4 cm between the seeds. The crops are well watered and placed in a warm place for germination. After the first shoots have appeared, the containers are moved to the window.
Chinese cabbage is a short-day crop, so it tolerates light shading well and does not need additional lighting during the winter months. It is necessary to water the cabbage bed sparingly, when the soil is thoroughly dry. It is necessary to use early ripening varieties of Chinese cabbage for growing on the windowsill, the harvest of which can be harvested after 25–30 days after the appearance of the first shoots.
As you can see, growing greens on a windowsill in winter and early spring is not difficult and even a novice gardener can do it. Of course, you won’t get a big harvest, due to the fact that in such conditions you won’t be able to allocate a lot of space for the garden. However, with a minimum of effort and following simple recommendations, you can provide your family with vitamins exactly at the time when they are most needed.published
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If you have any questions on this topic, ask them to the experts and readers of our project.
A spring vegetable garden at home is a million in one: eco-style praised by the Scandinavians, saving on vitamins and entertainment for the whole family. We checked what you can easily grow on a windowsill, and what you’ll have to worry about a lot; where to make do with improvised means, and where it is better not to save; which plants should be grown from seeds, and which ones should be grown from leftovers not included in the salad.
Devices
You can grow fresh herbs at home without any special equipment at all, by planting seeds in packaging trays for vegetables and herbs, yogurt cups or containers from Doshik. However, for beauty and style, it is better to purchase special pots or boxes - wide, but not deep. It is convenient if they are equipped with special lids to create a greenhouse effect, although this can be achieved by simply covering the pot with plastic wrap or packing it in a transparent bag from the nearest “Magnet”.
The same principle applies to tools - you can dig in the ground with improvised means, but why, if for a decent mini-shovel and rake at Fix Price they only ask for 50 rubles? You will also need a spray bottle or watering can with a nozzle for “rain” and a bottle for settling the water - watering young greenery with tap water is too cruel.
The most stylish pots and watering cans this spring were seen in, although their prices are not the most affordable (the “Bittergurka” watering can made of white eco-ceramics is 799 rubles, and this is already with a seasonal discount). The very fashionable can also splurge on garden gadgets - hydroponic beds, aqua farms and mini-greenhouses - you can check the capabilities of the technology, for example, by following the link.
It’s better to go to the store for soil. Digging on the nearest lawn or grandma's dacha is not an option, since the street soil is full of not only weeds, but also insect larvae that have no place in the kitchen. Ideally, buy special soil for home vegetables (30-50 rubles for a five-liter package), but if your nearest store doesn’t have one, soil for indoor plants will also work. You can also spend money on drainage - expanded clay or special pebbles, or you can use crumbled polystyrene foam or cut corks from bottles of eight-martov wine.
Preparation
Having stocked up with everything we need, we choose a place for the garden. Experts recommend a kitchen window sill - it is more humid and warm there than in rooms. However, before you trust expert opinion, decide on a list of plants: some (basil, oregano, spinach) really love light and warmth, while others (marjoram, watercress) need shade and coolness. These can be planted on a glassed-in loggia.
We plant each type of greenery in its own pot - not only because of differences in care and climate, but also because most plants cannot stand close proximity to others. If there is little space, but you want to plant a lot, it is better to use hanging pots or racks.
We fill the bottom of the pots with drainage and then lay out the soil. Its thickness depends on what we plant. The seeds can be soaked in a small amount of water for several hours - usually they are wrapped in gauze and placed in a saucer with water. The optimal moment for planting is when sprouts begin to hatch from the seeds.
Before planting, the soil is loosened, moistened, seeds are planted at the required depth, after which the soil is slightly compacted and watered again. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap until sprouts appear.
To prevent the plant from growing crookedly, leaning towards the window, the “bed” must be rotated 180 degrees daily. An alternative for the lazy is to attach foil to the pot, which will reflect sunlight.
Each gardener decides for himself whether to use fertilizers or not. Effective and at the same time safe options include ash, crushed banana peels, eggshells or yeast.
Starter level
Even a kindergartener can grow green onions, watercress or parsley on the windowsill. To plant watercress, you don’t even need soil: the seeds are placed in moistened cotton wool or paper towels. You can also do without a pot - a plate or tray will suffice. You need to sow densely so that the plants support each other. Press the seeds into a moist substrate and place on a lighted windowsill. It is important to maintain humidity, but not to flood. Salad does not like heat - the top temperature for it is 18 degrees. The harvest should be expected in 2-3 weeks. To renew the seedlings, you can either plant new seeds every 3-4 days, or sow a new tray every two weeks (this rule works for almost all plants grown from seeds).
Green onions can also be grown without soil. The bulb is placed in a glass of water so that only the root part is in the water. The water needs to be changed daily to avoid rotting. You can also transplant it into the ground - after the roots appear. There is no need to bury the bulbs entirely; you can plant them tightly - one to one. Celery is also grown through roots and water. The basis is not the root (which would seem logical), but the stalk from the leaf. After the roots appear in the water, it is transplanted into a pot and wait a couple of weeks until new leaves appear.
Mint is grown directly from sprigs bought in a store: they are placed in water, and after the roots appear, they are planted in a pot. Only regular watering is important.
Parsley can be grown from both rhizomes and seeds. For the first method, we look for greens in a pot in supermarkets, cut off the leaves, and place the root in moist soil. The first shoots should appear within a few days. To grow not just one bush, but a whole bed, we buy seeds. We plant them in peat cups or directly into the ground. The first harvest will appear only in a month and a half, but will be renewed throughout the whole year. Parsley loves light and water, but is not picky about temperature - it grows equally well on a kitchen windowsill and on an unheated balcony.
It is difficult to spoil a bed of dill. The seeds don’t even need to be soaked - they are immediately planted in moist soil. The main requirement is to ensure frequent watering. The best variety for growing at home is “Gribovsky”.
Marjoram is also unpretentious - it survives on loggias even in winter and germinates well from seeds. It can easily tolerate not only cold, but also lack of light, but you still have to water it.
Explorer level
Once you get the hang of “simple” plants, you can move on to more capricious ones. You don’t have to do anything supernatural - just follow certain conditions.
Basil seeds are planted at a distance of 5-6 centimeters from each other, because otherwise the emerging bushes will be cramped, and the pots are placed in the warmest place in the kitchen, creating familiar conditions for the “Italian”. You can also grow it from cuttings by placing store-bought twigs in water and subsequently replanting them in the ground. Spinach and arugula seeds are not planted deep - otherwise there is a risk of not getting a harvest at all. These plants need both sun and abundant watering. It takes a long time - 3-4 weeks - for oregano to germinate. But here the abundance of water is only detrimental: even a slight stagnation of liquid can lead to the death of the crop.
Leaf lettuce will only be good in humid air - in a dry and hot room its leaves will become coarse and bitter. You need to water it abundantly, but if you overwater it, the roots will rot. But the plant tolerates the cold calmly - it will grow on a glazed balcony until late autumn. For home use, it is better to take the varieties “Lollo Rossa”, “Lollo Bionda”, “Red Credo”, “Odessky”, “Vitamin” and “New Year”. They can be grown from seeds, stalks or rhizomes left in pots from the supermarket.
I think you will agree with me that it is very nice to come into the kitchen on a cold winter morning to drink aromatic coffee and make yourself a sandwich with greens.
Yes, not store-bought, expensive and grown in an unknown place, but from your own small home garden.
How sweet it is to look at a frosty window and see a tender one - a little hello to sunny summer.
So let's create it!
What you need for a mini-garden
◊ Containers. It is best to use plastic (wooden ones can leak) or wide clay pots. Each type of greenery needs its own home (many plants do not combine with each other).
◊ Soil. Suitable soil is a mixture of garden soil, sawdust, peat and clean sand in equal proportions. You can buy ready-made soil for seedlings. Before pouring it into containers, place a thin layer of small pebbles, pieces of broken brick or crushed foam on their bottom. This is drainage (it is necessary to drain excess water when watering, otherwise the greenery on the windowsill may rot).
◊ Lamps(luminescent, white spectrum). It is necessary to illuminate a small garden in the winter months so that the daylight hours are 13-15 hours.
- You can purchase special timers and set the backlight time in advance, which is very convenient.
◊ Polyethylene film. It is necessary to create a greenhouse effect so that seeds germinate better.
But the most important thing that is needed is your desire to always have fresh greenery on the windowsill in winter, a good mood in the fall, a constant supply of vitamins in the spring and the beauty of tender seedlings in the summer.
Growing dill
This fragrant herb is quite unpretentious for home life. Knowing some tricks, you can provide yourself with a constant supply of fragrant and very healthy greens.
Choosing a variety
Not every variety of dill will give you a lush one with excellent taste. The following varieties are best suited for a mini-garden:
♦ Early ripening. It will be possible to harvest 35 days after the first shoots.
- Grenadier. Delicate dill, beautiful, with a light shade of leaves. It is unpretentious, with lush greens.
- Gribovsky. Resistant to diseases, undemanding in care and temperature conditions. The dark green leaves are fragrant and tasty.
♦ Mid-season. They produce more greenery and leaves. Dill of these varieties will be ready to decorate your table 40-45 days after germination. These species also form umbels and seeds, ideal for pickling, canning and seasoning.
- Richelieu. Fragrant blue-green lacy leaves. One of the most beautiful varieties that will become a highlight in our home mini-garden.
- Aelita(leafy). The large, dense dark green crown has an excellent aroma and excellent taste.
♦ Late ripening. They form lush, fragrant greenery. These varieties are characterized by a high content of nutrients.
- Kibray. Wide, green, with a soft yellow tint, the leaves have a large supply of vitamins and have a sweetish taste.
- Firework. The dark bluish crown is spicy and aromatic. Greens on the windowsill with this variety of dill are very productive. It grows back quickly after cutting.
Seeds
Pre-soak the seeds for a day in warm water. Change the water every 6 hours. Then dry them a little and immediately sow them in abundantly moistened soil.
Sow in beds 15 cm apart in pre-made furrows. Or directly onto the soil, sprinkling a 2 cm layer of soil on top.
- Advice. Sow seeds 3 weeks apart. Then you will provide yourself with fragrant herbs for the entire winter period.
Cover the top of the dill garden with plastic and hide it in a dark place for a week, where the temperature will be at least +20° C.
As soon as the first shoots appear, lower the air temperature at night.
Dill care
| What does dill need? | Adviсe | |
| Watering | drinking plenty of fluids | regular watering, especially during seed germination |
| Top dressing | complex mineral fertilizers (Rainbow is better) | fertilize the soil once every 14 days after watering |
| air temperature | the best temperature for him is from +18° to + 20° C | dill on the windowsill will tolerate lower temperatures (up to +8° C), if the temperature exceeds the limit of +20° C, increase the light (otherwise it will grow sluggish and too light) |
You can sow greens constantly (every three weeks), in the freed area after cutting.
Growing parsley
Fragrant parsley will be a useful decoration for any dish and a constant supplier of vitamins all year round.
Like dill, this greenery on the windowsill is quite unpretentious in home gardening.
Choosing a variety
Parsley comes in two types. Root (its roots are used in cooking, for preparing medicinal decoctions) and leaf (to obtain lush, thick and aromatic greens for the table).
♦ Root parsley. It forms thick, light-colored roots. Early-ripening varieties are best suited for drying, and late-ripening ones for long-term storage.
- Sugar(early variety). 3 months after the first sprouts appear, this parsley is ready for use. Such rooted greens on the windowsill have the best taste.
- Harvest(mid-season). Parsley fully ripens in 4-5 months. The white pulp of the root vegetable has a faint aroma.
- Berlin(late ripening). The harvest can be harvested after 5-6 months. This variety has a delicate spicy taste and is very juicy.
♦ Leafy. Such varieties are grown for their lush, fragrant greenery. Leaf parsley has two types of leaves: regular and curly (they are very impressive when decorating dishes). Cut leaves retain their aroma for a long time and do not turn yellow for a week. Leafy greens on the windowsill grow back very quickly after cutting.
- Curly Sue(early ripening, curly). You can cut it after 1-2 months after germination. It has dark green, curly leaves. It is fragrant, rich in vitamins and exquisitely beautiful.
- Esmeralda(mid-season, curly). The thick curly crown is very fragrant and has a sweetish taste. The harvest can be harvested after 2 months.
- Bogatyr(late ripening, smooth). One of the best varieties of leaf parsley. It is distinguished by particularly fragrant leaves and high yield. Parsley of this variety can be cut for the table after 2-3 months.
Seeds
Soak a cotton cloth (or gauze) in boiled water and place the seeds in it. Wrap the gauze with parchment and place it in the cold. Let the seeds stay there for a week.
Ventilate them every day and re-moisten the gauze. After a week, the seeds are ready to take root in the ground.
Sow them 0.5 cm deep, cover with a layer of soil on top. Then cover the pot with plastic and place it in a dark place.
Cover the ground itself with a damp cloth. Water once every two days. Take care of the seeds - ventilate and moisten them every day with a spray bottle. After three days, the first timid shoots will appear.
Remove the cloth from the ground and move the pot itself to a well-lit windowsill. As soon as there are more shoots, build a dome-shaped support from thick wire and use it to raise the film a little higher.
It can be removed completely when the shoots begin to spike. Spray the young shoots with water often.
Young shoots need to be thinned out so that the distance between them is at least 4 cm.
Parsley care
| What does parsley like? | Adviсe | |
| Watering | moderate watering | water once every 3-4 days, do not allow the soil to become completely dry or, conversely, excessive soil moisture |
| Top dressing | standard superphosphate solution | dilute 5 grams of granules per 1 liter of boiled water; parsley at home requires feeding once a month |
| air temperature | best t° from +22° to +24° С | this greenery is very afraid of drafts and cold |
If the leaves of the grass begin to turn yellow, remove them immediately. Perhaps this is a sign of illness. If yellowness recurs, make a water solution of organic soap and spray the entire plant with it.
Growing cilantro
Cilantro (or coriander) is a very unpretentious, cold-resistant plant. It is in the same class as parsley (it is even called “Chinese parsley”).
But this greenery on the windowsill will fill the entire garden with a stronger, deeper aroma. Cilantro is brighter, richer in taste, and its leaves are more tender.
Choosing a variety
To get a rich harvest, it is best to plant essential oil coriander varieties: Beam, Amber, Change.
By the way, coriander greens must be eaten before they bloom. When flowers appear, cilantro develops a specific, not very pleasant aroma.
Seeds
In order for cilantro to germinate faster, its seeds must first be germinated in damp sawdust at an air temperature of +17° C to + 20° C.
As soon as the first shoots appear, we replenish our greenery on the windowsill with a new plant. We plant the sprouted cilantro seeds in moistened soil to a depth of 2 cm. Sow in rows with a distance of 5-10 cm, cover the seeds with a layer of soil on top.
Cover the pots with film for the first time. But be sure to check them every day, water them and ventilate them.
In two or three weeks, the coriander will make itself known with its first shoots. And we solemnly transfer them to our home garden.
At first, greenery needs good air humidity (spray it often with a spray bottle).
Caring for Cilantro
| The vagaries of coriander | Adviсe | |
| Watering | moderate watering | water constantly, in small portions, do not allow the soil to dry out, otherwise the plant will be weak |
| Top dressing | complex fertilizers (best "Flora") | dilute the composition at the rate of liter of water per 3-5 ml of product |
| air temperature | favorable t° from +10° C to + 12° C | cilantro can withstand frosts down to – 5° C (it is best to grow coriander on the balcony) |
The first harvest after the sprouts appear can be harvested a month later. Cilantro on a windowsill can only tolerate one cut. But if you remove 1-2 leaves from coriander, then extend this period by two weeks.
After you have cut all the plants, dig up the soil, update it by one third and add ash (50 grams of ash per 6 kg of soil). Then moisten the soil with a heated solution of manganese (1%) and sow the coriander again.
Greenery on the windowsill will bring you a lot of pleasure, joy from the beauty you created with your own hands, which in gloomy autumn and frosty winter will remind you of a warm summer.
Have a rich home harvest!
Now, my dear readers, you know how to grow vitamin-rich herbs (dill, parsley, cilantro) at home, and in the next article of this series (“Vegetable garden on the windowsill”) I will talk about growing them at home. What plants would you like to grow more in your home? Write about it in the comments and I will try to describe in detail the process of growing these plants.
See you soon!
Modern apartments with large windows have all the conditions for obtaining greenery from a mini-garden. It is enough to make a little effort, choose a crop, buy seeds, prepare the soil and find suitable containers. Caring for plants will bring not only benefits, but also joy.
Boxes, flower pots or wide glass containers are suitable for growing herbs and vegetables on the window. It is better not to use plastic of questionable quality, because it releases toxic substances that make plants sick and develop worse. If the aesthetic component is important, you can buy a special container for gardening on the windowsill. It has holes for draining excess water, and the length and width are sufficient even for tomato bushes.
Dimensions and location selection
The dimensions of the homemade box should be such that it fits on the windowsill and provides enough light for the plants. For example:
- height - 12−15 cm;
- width - 20−25 cm;
- length - 45−55 cm.
You need to decide on a place before growing greens. At home, in winter there is enough light only on the south and south-east windows. For tomatoes and cucumbers, natural light will not be enough, so you will have to buy lamps. Theoretically, the boxes can be placed anywhere, even in a dark room, but then powerful artificial lighting will be needed.
Soil preparation and sowing
A layer of drainage material must be poured onto the bottom. These can be pebbles, pebbles, coarse sand, small pieces of brick or expanded clay. Drainage is needed so that excess water does not stagnate in the lower layer of soil, but flows freely through the holes. The soil is prepared in advance. You can buy it in a store or dig it up on your site in the fall.
Shortly before sowing, the soil is watered with boiling water, and some gardeners steam it in the oven to kill all microorganisms and insect larvae. When the soil has cooled, pour it into a box, make grooves and lay out the seeds. Sprinkle a layer of approximately 0.7-1 cm on top. Water once a day or every other day, depending on the temperature and humidity in the room.
Before sowing, it is better to warm up the seeds of asparagus, parsley and dill in hot water and keep them in damp gauze for several days so that they germinate faster. These crops are considered slow to germinate, and without preparatory procedures you will have to wait 15-20 days for sprouts to appear.
From the first days, seedlings are protected from elevated temperatures. If there is a battery under the windowsill, it is covered with a shield, and a humidifier is used in the room. Dry air is harmful, as is over-humidified air. An optimal microclimate can be created using a damp cloth, spreading it directly on the radiator.
Lighting, watering and fertilizing
An ultraviolet lamp is used for illumination. The length of daylight hours should be from 12 to 16 hours, and the time should be increased gradually, adapting to the natural cycle. The lack of light manifests itself as follows:
- elongated stems;
- thin leaves;
- pale color of all parts of the plant.
When there are light spots on the leaves, but the rest is normal in color, this is a lack of nutrients or a reaction to low acidity of the water. If the soil is fertile and also enriched with nutrients, it means that water does not interact with other elements. Iron, manganese, phosphorus, boron, potassium and magnesium are not absorbed by plants. There is a way out: water with bottled water or add special liquids to the tap that regulate acidity (available in garden supply stores).
Parsley, lettuce, sorrel, dill and everything else that grows at home has a special taste. These products are obtained without the use of pesticides and chemicals. Young leaves reach the table fresh, and not two weeks after they were picked. This herb has a better taste and contains more vitamins.
What can you sow in winter?
All leafy vegetables grow well on the windowsill. If you try, there will be a harvest of tomatoes, cucumbers, and stevia. Here's what greens you can grow on a windowsill in winter:
Special requirements for conditions no herbs are presented. Growing greens on a windowsill in winter is not difficult for beginners, but to get a harvest of peppers or cucumbers, you will have to try.
Placing a mini-bed with this spice on the windowsill is a good idea. But there is a mistake that is common even among those who know how to grow dill. Not all varieties feel good at home, in winter and spring. It is recommended to sow the following:
- Kibray;
- Richelieu;
- Gribovsky;
- Grenadier.
What to choose depends on personal preference. Grenadier has an amazing taste and aroma, Gribovsky is resistant to diseases and lack of light, the Kibray variety is valued for its high content of vitamins, and Richelieu has beautiful lacy leaves. The soil is prepared as described above. The seeds are soaked for a day, changing the water every 5 hours, then dried on a napkin, laid out in longitudinal depressions and sprinkled. Another option (accelerated): keep the seeds in wet gauze for 4-5 days, then dry them to a free-flowing state and sow them in furrows.
After germination, provide illumination with a UV lamp, turning it on in the morning and evening or for the whole day. Fertilizers are applied with caution, because nitrates quickly accumulate in greenery. It’s better to use store-bought nutrient mixtures, and if you don’t want to take risks, you can water the plants with an infusion of used tea leaves. Mineral fertilizers cannot be used.
Sowing dill in winter is another way to provide your family with fresh herbs. In this case, in early spring, the bed is covered with black spunbond so that the snow melts faster, and then arcs are installed and white covering material is pulled on.
Features of caring for parsley
It is worth growing curly spice, if only because it is rich in potassium, phosphorus, and vitamins B, A, and E. Parsley is good for the liver and eyesight, and the juice can lighten the skin and remove freckles. The seed shell contains a high concentration of essential oils, so before sowing they must be kept for several days in damp gauze, rolled in several layers.
Early ripening varieties for growing parsley on a windowsill in winter:
- Fitness;
- Beads;
- Gloria;
- Vorozheya;
- Morning freshness;
- Fragrant alley;
- Green pearls;
- Aster;
- Grandmother's garden bed;
- Common leaf;
- Russian feast;
- Emerald lace.
For parsley, you need a container 20-22 cm high. Drainage is placed at the bottom, and steamed soil is poured onto it almost to the top. Make small grooves, leaving 10 cm between them. The seeds are buried 0.8−1 cm, and a little earth is sprinkled on top. Before the sprouts appear, the mini-bed is moistened with a sprayer, then watered with a watering can.
To obtain nutritious greens faster, you can prepare several dozen root vegetables in the fall. Then you won't have to wait for the seeds to germinate. The container needs to be of such a height that the roots fit freely into it vertically and do not stick out from the ground. It should be taken into account that over time the soil will settle a little. The cultivation scheme is simple:
- drainage is placed at the bottom;
- pour a small layer of soil;
- stick the roots vertically, leaving a small distance between them;
- fill the soil to the top;
- watered.
A saucepan is suitable for this purpose - 30-40 thin root vegetables or 15-20 thick ones are placed in it. More than a hundred rhizomes can be planted in a rectangular container with dimensions slightly smaller than the area of a window sill. During the growing season, greens are cut several times. There is no need to feed anything, the main thing is to water it on time. This method is good for growing greens in an apartment for sale.
Grow vegetables on a windowsill not as easy as greens, but possible. If you don't make mistakes, everything will work out the first time. The main thing is to take into account all the recommendations and be patient: the fruits will not appear faster than nature intended. So, the first cucumbers can be harvested approximately 45 days after sowing the seeds. You will have to wait 3-4 months for tomatoes. From sowing to ripening, peppers take 5 to 6 months.
It all starts with choosing a variety or hybrid. Only self-pollinating ones are suitable, and those intended for closed ground. It is more convenient to cultivate bush varieties, since they do not climb, and produce almost as much fruit per unit area as climbing varieties. It is desirable that the variety be early. Best options:
- Babylon;
- Connie;
- Debut;
- Legend;
- Masha;
- Flight.
For illuminating seedlings It is recommended to use fluorescent lamps. Plants will develop well only on the south or southeast side; you shouldn’t even try on windows with a different orientation. The window sill should not be cold; the minimum temperature at which cucumbers are able to grow and bear fruit is +20° C.
The soil should not dry out. To be on the safe side, you can place the container with the plants in a bowl of water: the soil will absorb as much as needed through the holes. Over-watering is also undesirable, because dampness is a common reason for the roots to become overheated. Once or twice a day, the leaves are sprayed with a spray bottle. If climbing varieties are chosen for a mini-garden, over time they will need to be tied up, securing the upper part of the support to a slatted frame.
Cultivation of indoor tomatoes
Many bush and hanging varieties of tomatoes have been developed, suitable for growing on balconies and window sills. Almost all of them grow successfully outside. For the home, it is better to buy seeds whose packaging is marked that they are intended for cultivation in pots. Suitable varieties:
Tomatoes are demanding of light and ventilation, while they cannot tolerate dry air, but too humid air is harmful for them. During growth, they need to be fed several times using ready-made solutions. The frequency of fertilizing and the concentration of the nutrient solution are according to the instructions.
If you provide a tomato with good conditions, it will produce fruit for several years. In the fall, you need to trim off the fruit-bearing branches, leaving a few of the largest ones. Then the bush is transplanted into a larger pot and left alone until mid-winter. Tomatoes can also be propagated by cuttings. The rooted shoot blooms in 3-4 weeks, after which it is cared for as usual.
Sweet and hot peppers
Caring for this crop the same, but there is one nuance: plants should be protected from drafts, otherwise the leaves turn yellow and fall off, and few or no ovaries are formed. It takes about six months from sowing to the ripening of the first peppers. To get the harvest faster, it is recommended to cut the shoots in the fall and immediately plant them in pots. Sweet peppers need lighting, even if they grow on a window or glassed-in balcony, but hot peppers feel good without it.
A home garden on a window or balcony is a great way to ensure a year-round supply of fresh herbs and vegetables. Plants fill the air with a pleasant aroma, and some also cleanse it of harmful microorganisms.