Growing Food Indoors

Not everyone has a yard, but that doesn’t mean they can’t grow edible plants.

Tomato seedlings (Vmenkov) CC BY-SA 3.0

Today we are looking at several vegetables and herbs you can grow indoors.

You may be surprised to learn that 43% of American agricultural crops are grown under protection. Under protection can mean in a greenhouse or hoop tunnel, but it’s not that much different from your living room, if you have enough sunlight.

Before we look at specific plants, let’s consider the particulars of growing indoors:

• Make sure the growing containers are food-safe. Seriously.
• Do not put rocks in the bottom of containers. Save that space for soil.
• Make sure containers have drainage holes.
• Choose containers that are the right width and depth for the plants' rooting depth.
• Use potting soil, not garden soil or planting soil. There is a difference.
• Once plants are established, allow the soil to dry out between waterings.
• Feed your indoor edibles with fish emulsion or a standard fertilizer.
• Ensure there is adequate light.

Limitations of light

Insufficient light is probably the most common cause of problems for indoor plants. This is especially true for vegetables. If your apartment or house doesn’t get adequate light, you can always buy supplemental lighting. Or, you can buy an inexpensive shop light and fit it with a grow light bulb.

The (not a) pollination problem

In some cases, you will need to hand-pollinate the flowers to get a crop. Don’t panic. This is easy. Simply touch each flower gently with a small paintbrush, going from flower to flower, every day or so while flowers are present. That’s it.

​Now for the list of edible plants that you can grow indoors!

Homemade plant growing racks increase productivity (Carol Peck)

Cut carrot tops (Pete) CC BY 2.0

Carrots

Carrots grow well in containers. They are not very competitive and are easily discouraged by rocks and compacted soil. Cover seeds only lightly with soil. Mist them each day to keep the seeds moist until they germinate. Your carrot tops will make nice houseplants and can be used repeatedly to make new carrots.

Celery

In the same way, you can use the base of a celery plant repeatedly for stalks. Just keep in mind that your homegrown celery may not look like the thick, straight stalks you see in the grocery store. If you want them to look like that, you have to put in a little extra effort. See my post on celery for more information about that.

Celery base (Kate Russell)

Chili peppers

While bell peppers are best left outdoors, you can grow smaller chili peppers indoors. These attractive plants need a lot of heat and sunlight to produce fruit. While most pepper plants are self-pollinating, you can increase your crop size by hand-pollinating, or just giving your pepper plants a gentle shake every now and then.

Chili peppers growing in container (Piqsels) Public Domain

Dwarf trees

Many of us have battled the dropping leaves and dripping sap of an apartment ficus tree, but that same indoor space can be handed over to a dwarf orange, lemon, lime, or fruit cocktail tree. These flowers will need to be hand-pollinated, but imagine plucking a lemon from the living room as you prepare dinner!

​Garlic

Poke a clove of garlic, pointy end up, into a pot of soil, add water, and wait. After a time, a flat-leaved, green shoot will appear. Then another. And another. And it will sit there like that for quite some time, looking like any traditional spiky houseplant. But then, the tops will start to turn brown. They will droop. And that’s when you empty the container into a big bowl, brush off the soil, and let your garlic dry or cure in a dark cabinet. Before eating your new garlic, take one clove and push it back into the soil, which has been returned to its pot. And the cycle continues. Indefinitely.

Indoor lemon tree (Monicore) Pixabay

Herbs

Many herbs prefer the outdoor life, but you can still grow chervil, chives, cilantro, ginger, lemon balm, lemongrass, marjoram, mints, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, tarragon, thyme , and turmeric indoors. Most of these herbs need at least 5–6 hours of sunlight each day. Basil can be grown indoors, but it needs more sunlight than that.

Thyme (Piqsels) Public Domain

Microgreens

Alfalfa sprouts aren’t the only microgreens you can grow at home. Sprouts are nice additions to salads and sandwiches, and they require little to no soil to grow. You can use a sprouting jar or a shallow tray filled with moist potting soil. Arugula, basil, beet, chard, cilantro, kale, and radish are just a few plants you can grow as microgreens. [Do not use members of the nightshade family in this project as the seedlings can be poisonous.]

Mushrooms

If you’ve never tried one of those mushroom growing kits, I urge you to give it a go. It’s amazing to watch and the mushrooms are delicious. No sunlight is required.

Peas

Your indoor pea plants will climb whatever they can get their little tendrils around and you can use that to your (and their) advantage. Put something they can climb in front of a window. Before you know it, you can be harvesting sweet, fresh peas.

Potted peas growing indoors (Piqsels)

Radishes

With just a little space and light and you can have fresh radishes year-round. And the nice thing is, you are not limited to the traditional red globes of your childhood. Radishes now come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. And they still germinate in only a few days.

Salad greens

Arugula, kale, lettuces, spinach, and other salad greens are your indoor gold mine. There’s no need for pollinating and most of these plants will continue producing edible leaves for the entire growing season. Plus, there are so many colors, shapes, textures, and sizes to choose from!

Scallions

I have been growing the same scallion plants now for several years. When I need a scallion, I simply take a pair of scissors and cut just above the soil line. Before long, new growth appears. Imagine a row of scallions growing along your kitchen window sill. Now go find a container that'll fit!

​Strawberries

Add some strawberry crowns to an indoor planter and watch as the magic happens. You will need to hand-pollinate your strawberries, but you won’t have to fight with slugs and snails!

Scallions, herbs, lettuce, and spinach growing in a tower on a porch

Tomatoes

Ah, tomatoes. The joy of every gardener. Your indoor tomatoes will require lots of light and hand-pollinating, but they are worth it. And a staked cherry tomato plant is a sight to see (and eat)!

Other crops that can, with enough sunlight and space, be grown indoors include cauliflower, cucumbers, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Before taking on these trickier behemoths, start with something smaller and simpler to see how it all works. Remember that temperature and humidity have a big impact on plant health. Also, plants tend to grow more slowly indoors.

While I normally urge everyone to avoid planting grocery store produce, due to the potential of pests and diseases, this case is different. These plants will all be growing in containers. If there is a problem, it is limited to that container (unless it’s aphids or fungus gnats). Worst case scenario, you throw the whole thing in the trash and start over. Growing these edible plants indoors, it is easy to start with the base of store-bought celery or scallions or the tops of grocery store carrots.

Finally, to keep your indoor plants healthy and productive, you may want to turn a fan on them once in a while. Plants need the stimulation of touch to grow well. This is called thigmomorphogenesis. [How’s that for a cool garden word?]

What edible plants are growing in your house?