So you want to start gardening? But you live in an apartment? Good News: You can absolutely grow your gardening skills in small outdoor spaces! Welcome to apartment gardening! This is a guide to start container gardening right in your apartment. In this guide, I will define what plants need to grow, how to care for them, how to choose plants, and what you need to get started with apartment gardening.
If you decide to give gardening a try, you will learn that gardening is an act of love. While you are growing your little sprouts, you may start to notice that you have also been growing. Gardening helps to foster patience, care, and kindness in your life.
What Do Plants Need?
For plants to thrive they need a few things. Simply put, plants need:
- Soil
- Room to grow
- Sunlight
- Water
The Art of Watering
Each plant is going to need different amounts of water. A classic example is a cactus. Cacti should only be watered once or twice a month. The soil should dry out completely before you add more water. While other plants, like tomatoes, need water on a pretty consistent basis. But you have to be careful as you can over water plants too. By making sure your plants have drainage (or holes in the bottom of the pots) you can keep them from turning into pots of mud. Make sure to also put a tray under pots with holes or you’ll have wet floors often.
Gardening is really a practice of observing and learning how your plants grow. It can definitely be trial and error for some people but if you are patient and listen to your plants you should find success. I generally water my plants every two days. This way they have time to soak up the water from the day before. When it comes to watering you want to find a happy medium for your soil and little seedlings. If this is your first time becoming a plant mom(or dad), you may want to check out my list below that suggests easy plants to start with!
Starting from Seeds or Buying Plants ❤
This is a question most gardeners ask themselves. Depending on the grow zone (basically when you can grow plants outside in your climate) you are in, you may not have time to plant things in outside containers. However, seeds can always be started inside your apartment in a window sill and transplanted to the outside containers after they have grown a couple of inches. When referencing outside containers, I simply mean bigger pots out on a patio or in a window box.
Throughout my gardening journey, I have found some plants are easy to start from seed, like lettuce, spinach, tomatoes and marigolds while others don’t seem to grow as easily. In the past, I have struggled with starting Dill, Oregano, and some flowers when trying to start from seed. I would suggest trying to start some seeds and buy plants that may be harder to get started. If you think you may struggle to get started gardening, buying plants is a safer bet as they would be easier to maintain.
Seed Packet Terminology
When you start shopping for seeds, you may find some terms you aren’t necessarily familiar with. Here are my quick and easy definitions:
- Zone: seen on color coded map. This shows you how long of a growing season you have. In plain terms, it tells you when to plant them and how long they will live until the weather turns too cold. (only applicable for outdoor plants).
- Spacing: how far apart you should put the seeds when planting them.
- Depth: how far you should push your seeds into the ground.
- Germination: How long it takes for the seeds in the ground to shoot up sprouts. This is the amount of days it takes before you can see green from your pot of dirt.
- Days to Harvest: The amount of days until you have a full grown crop ready to eat.
- Light: Your seed packet should have what type of lighting it requires. If you are buying plants to start this should be listed on their care tag as well!
Light the Way
I spoke a previously about lighting in the terminology section. Each plant will have specific lighting needs just as each plant has individual watering needs. When you start looking at plant care tags and seed packets, some could say full sun, full shade, or partial sun or shade. This basically tells you where to place the plant for the best outcome. In an apartment, if you are looking for indoor plants you will most likely need something that can survive in low light. Make sure you take this into consideration when buying your plants.
When I get a new plant, I usually try placing it in a few different places around my apartment for the first week or so. By doing this I can observe if it thrives better in one place over the next. Again, like watering, plant placement can be trial and error. But never give up! Remember to practice patience.
What Do You Need to Get Started with Apartment Gardening?
So far, I have talked about what a plant needs. Hopefully throughout you have gathered that gardening is patience, trial and error, and (the cheesiest of all:) growth. Now that you have learned the basics of caring for a plant, the list below includes the things that should be on your shopping list when you start apartment gardening. I have also included a general budget for what things might cost to get started.
| Packets of Seeds | $10 |
| Plants | $20 |
| Potting Mix (2 cubic feet) | $12 |
| Pots and Containers | $10-15 |
| Watering Can | $5-7 |
| Spray Bottle | $3 |
| Labels for Plants | $1-2 |
Starting any new hobby can be expensive but here are some tips on how to get started budget style!
- Use containers you find around your home or thrift shop! Old coffee cups, bowls, or bins work great
- Use a juice pitcher in place of a watering can
- Start from seeds as seeds are usually cheaper
- Swap plants with friends! If you each start different seeds you can swap once they sprout
- Label with Popsicle Sticks
Time to Choose Your Plants ❤
Some easy plants to get started are listed below. I’ve sorted them into categories: Houseplants, Veggies, and Flowers. These are all plants I started with earlier on.
Houseplants:
- Succulents
- Cactus
- Bamboo
Veggies:
- Lettuce or Spinach
- Tomatoes
- Mint or Basil
Flowers:
- Marigolds
- Sunflowers (mini variety)
- Zinnias
Happy Apartment Gardening
In this guide, I defined what plants need to grow, how to care for them, how to choose plants, and what you need to get started with apartment gardening. I hope you enjoy this new hobby and find personal growth along your way.
Remember to be patient, to be gentle and to be kind.
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