Are you looking for indoor gardening techniques? if yes, you are at the right place. Indoor gardening is fun and provides us with mental relaxation and economic benefits. However, we can make it more effective by employing the best techniques for your indoor gardening.
We provide methods for indoor gardening that we think will prove helpful. We encourage you to sit back and enjoy your reading.
Effective Techniques for Indoor Gardening
There are many techniques to follow for your indoor gardening. People around the world are using them effectively to boost their indoor gardening and productivity. We gather the 7 best methods for you to use, which are the following.
- Terrarium
- Hydroponics.
- Soil-based planting
- Aeroponic method
- ebb and flow method
- Nutrient Film Technique
- Aquaponics
Terrarium
It is a technique where plants are grown in a container that is either sealed or semi-sealed creating a mini ecosystem.
What will you need for this Technique?
You will need the following necessary things for employing this method.
Container
Choose a container that best suits your house design and lifestyle. The best thing about a terrarium is that you can use any clean or empty container in your home. Make it sealed or semi-sealed so that the ecosystem is created for terrarium plants.
Terrarium plants
Choose those plants that fit your container and make sure that the plants are growing and are not under any stress.
We recommend plants like Spike mosses and Polka dot plants.
Drainage layers
The terrarium container is closed and sealed. So it does not have any drainage system or holes at the bottom. So you will need to add a drainage layer at the bottom by adding sea glass or beach stones. Add charcoal in the layer to prevent any attack from fungi.
Add moss or potting soil
Add potting soil full of nutrients mixed with charcoal above the layer of sea glass you used for drainage. This will take one-quarter of the space leaving room for the plant to grow.
Next design your plant according to the terrarium, cut any extra roots, and after that add it to the potting soil. Your terrarium is ready to place in your desirable place inside your home.
Hydroponics
Hydroponic is the growth of plants in nutrient-rich water with or without the support of soil, gravel, or perlite.
Many people use hydroponic techniques because it has the advantage of automatic water and fertilizing and requires less labor. Hydroponic plants have fewer roots and less competition for the nutrients.
They are less prone to pests as compared to soil-based plants. In the hydroponic method, you only need water, enriched in nutrients, and a container to put your plant. The solution of hydroponics is carefully monitored at PH of 5-6.
Soil-based planting
Another method for indoor gardening is soil-based. You need a pot to fill it with soil, and a fertilizer to add it to your soil. The soil-based technique is a traditional method for indoor gardening.
This method is mainly used for root-based plants and long-term productivity. Farmers used it to grow vegetables like tomatoes and red chilies.
The advantage of soil-based planting is that it retains nutrients for a long time and can remain humid for enough time.
Aeroponic method
It is the growing of plants in the air or the mist without the support of any materials like water or soil. In Aeroponic the roots of the plants are periodically sprayed with nutrients. The advantage of aeroponic is the oxygen availability. The roots are in the air and oxygen is available all the time.
Recent research shows that aeroponic has higher production than hydroponic. It is a costly method, if you don’t have the budget then use any other method.
Ebb and Flow method
It consists of a watertight container where the plants are placed. The method includes a reservoir that holds the nutrient solution. An automated system that controls the pump used for the flow of nutrients from the reservoir to the container.
As the pump activates the tray continues to fill with nutrients and the plants absorb the required nutrients. After absorption of the nutrients the pump stops and the solution draws back to the reservoir.
After that, the aeration phase starts where the roots are exposed to the air to get oxygen. It is a cyclic process where the cycle continues every few hours. It has the advantage of the availability of nutrients, low cost, and low maintenance to look after.
Nutrient Film Technique
NFT is the method where plants’ roots are covered with a nutrient solution. In this technique, a very thin film of water solution contains all the nutrients required for plant growth.
The water solution circulates between the reservoir and the channels that have plant roots. NFT ensures an adequate supply of water, nutrients, oxygen, and other items needed for plant growth.
For the supply of oxygen use a thin film so that oxygen is dissolved and the distance should be short so that the oxygen does not leak due to depression.
Aquaponics
It is the symbiotic relationship between fish and plants. It is the system where aquaculture ( raising fish) and hydroponics ( growing plants in the water) combine to benefit each other.
In the aquaponic method; a fish tank contains fish, as the fish grow larger they produce waste in the form of ammonia.
The water is broken down by bacteria into nitrates and nitrites which are highly beneficial for plants is a natural source of nutrients.
The plants are grown in the grow bed filled with the soilless medium. The water is regularly circulated maintaining the fish environment highly nutritious. Its advantage is that it uses 99% less water than the soil-based system.
It is productive in growing not only plants like vegetables but also provides a friendly ecosystem for fish to raise. It is an innovative technique to grow indoor plants in a closed-loop system.
FAQs
What is the most popular home gardening method?
All the methods have been used by scientists and people around the world and they prove very efficient and productive. However l, the most common method used today is In-Ground gardening. In-ground gardening is recommended for those who have enough ground to grow their plants in it.
What are the two methods by which plants grow?
Plants grow mostly by two methods. One is sexual propagation and the other is asexual. Sexual propagation involves the floral parts of the plant while asexual involves cutting off the edge of the plant or part of the plant and then allowing it to grow by itself.
Do hydroponic plants grow faster than plants in soil?
Most of the time hydroponics plants grow faster than soil plants because they recover nutrients more efficiently and absorb them directly.
What types of plants can be grown using aeroponics?
Many types of plants can be grown using the Aeroponic technique. But the most wanted are leafy greens, herbs, and root vegetables.
What are the challenges of using an aeroponic system?
The challenge we faced in aeroponic is the system dependency on electricity for the pump to work.
Final thoughts
Indoor gardening is a challenging task, one needs to be fully prepared for growing indoor gardening. Techniques like Terrariums, hydroponics, aeroponics, ebb and flow, and aquaponics are used to create indoor gardening. Indoor gardening effectively improves not only health and provides fresh oxygen but also improves productivity.