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How to Grow an Indoor Vegetable Garden

Indoor hydroponic (growing crops without using soil) vegetable gardens may save you time and money, and they can add pizzazz to your home décor without the messiness of dirt in your home. The benefits of having indoor vegetable gardens are that you don’t have to worry about inclement weather, pesticides or genetically modified foods (GMOs) when growing and eating fresh veggies.

Find a Garden Base

Find a vertical hydroponic garden base at your local home goods store, garden center or online. Such vertical garden bases are available in a variety of styles, such as free standing or wall hanging, and different materials, such as chalk board, wood, and stainless steel. If the base you choose is made of wood, stain the wood to match the colors in your home. If you choose a chalk board base, decorate it with chalk designs or get creative with a style that suits you.

Pick an Indoor Location

Place your vertical garden base standing against or hanging on an empty wall in your kitchen or other living space of your choice. Pick an area that gets plenty of sunlight, like under or near a window. While you can purchase indoor grow lights, natural sunlight is often sufficient.

Plant Vegetable Seeds

Now it’s time to plant vegetable seeds in your indoor vertical hydroponic garden. Vegetables that generally grow well hydroponically include tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and peppers, according to Oklahoma State University. Herbs also work well grown in indoor gardens.

Water and Nourish Your Veggies

Water and fertilize your indoor vegetable plants regularly. The nutrients your vegetables need must be supplied by water (versus by soil) in hydroponic gardening, notes the National Gardening Association. To ensure your vegetables get the nutrients they need to grow properly, purchase a hydroponic gardening fertilizer solution made by mixing fertilizer with water. Mother Earth News reports that key nutrients important for hydroponic gardens include phosphorous, nitrogen, potassium, sulfur, manganese, iron, copper, zinc, magnesium, boron, chlorine, calcium and molybdenum.

An experienced health, nutrition and fitness writer, Erin Coleman is a registered and licensed dietitian and holds a dietetics degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also has worked as a clinical dietitian and health educator in outpatient settings. Erin's work is published on popular health websites, such as TheNest.com and JillianMichaels.com.

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