I never thought I would say this, but I miss my garden. Working with plants is really growing on me.
(Did you see what I did there?)
I did manage to salvage my parsley and thyme from the garden before snow started falling. They were in a handy, transportable container which is now residing in my dining room, hogging the sunlight where I usually take my food photography. They don’t need a lot of love though, if you know what I mean. I dump some water on them every 3 or 4 days and otherwise leave it the pot alone. Growing cat grass and chia pets aren’t particularly satisfying or challenging, either.
I don’t have a lot of sunlight to work with. As is typical with suburban planning, I’ve only got two walls that have windows. My windows are on the east and west sides of the house, which means that the largely indirect light on the dining room table is the best I’ve got. And nope, no room for a greenhouse.
Note to self: move to a house where I have a yard that’s bigger than the square footage of my living room.
So I asked the great Internet what I could possibly grow in these poor conditions. It’s suggesting ginger. Ginger is a indirect-light-loving, frost-and-wind-hating tropical rhizome that needs warmth and humidity. Harvest potential seems iffy, but apparently it makes a nice-smelling green plant and doesn’t need a huge pot. I’m thinking maybe I could stick it on the floor next to the register, and mist it occasionally. Humidity is tough… furnace air gets so dry.
The powers that be in the gardening forums say that I can use store-bought ginger, and to look for a nice fresh piece that ideally has little horns growing on it here and there. I think I’ll make a trip to my local hippie organic store, since the regular kind is frequently treated with growth retardants. Beyond that, all I supposedly need is a nice moist soil mix with some good compost in it.
Have any of you grown ginger indoors, my dear readers? Any tips?
I like useful plants though, so if anybody has any suggestions for an edible something-or-other, I’m all ears.
Nope, I’ve never grown ginger inside. I love my veg garden outside, but I’m — — USELESS with plants inside! I kill them all – primarily because I don’t do things like water them. Whoops.
LOL! Try herbs… many of them like being neglected a bit. 🙂
Hey Anne,
I think the ginger idea is awesome, I want to do it! Back in Atlanta we’d grow it in our garden but I tried here this summer here with no luck. I hadn’t even considered doing it inside, and was unaware of the indirect light business. I’ll try it indoors too and let you know how it goes (I already have some from my local hippie organic store…). Thanks for inspiring me 🙂
You’re welcome, Jon. 🙂 Most of what I read suggested indoor planting over the winter to go outdoors when it’s warm enough (supposedly they like it over 75 and in shady spots), which I think pretty much means they’re a potted plant only at our latitude, even if it does go outside a few months of the year. We’ll compare notes in spring? 😉
I’ve always said I wanted to start a garden, but never have.
I don’t think anything would live in our current apartment. We’re on the side that gets the evening sun. So not much daylight comes our way. Thankfully we’re MOVING so obviously we’ll see some real sun, in sunny cali. Lol.