What varieties of vegetables can be grown on the windowsill?

In winter, you really want fresh herbs, fragrant berries, fruits and vegetables. I would like to, but my hand unconsciously puts back the just taken package with Turkish tomatoes and cucumbers ... Just know how much real-life there is ...

And imagine: cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and greens in the midst of winter you can grow yourself without leaving your home - on your two or three windowsills! And along the way, create a summer cottage landscape right in your apartment. No, no, no kidding, if you decide today, and tomorrow you go to the store for seeds, then on March 8, the first cucumbers may already appear on your bushes, and the grown bushes of tomatoes, peppers and beans will make your windowsill green and joyful in summer !

And let us convince you that it is interesting, exciting, important, necessary and not difficult at all! We can grow at home cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet and bitter peppers, carrots, beans, garlic, celery, herbs ... oh-oh-oh, how many things!

Well, let's get it in order?

Cucumbers

Growing cucumbers at home is a very tempting idea. Just imagine: you wake up in mid-March, go to the window, pick a couple of young cucumbers from a green bush, and five minutes later there is a healthy vegetable salad on the table ... And what a smell all over the apartment!

If a thought flashed through you now: "Maybe I should try?" - here are some arguments to help you decide:

• Cucumbers grow very quickly: literally 7-9 weeks after planting, you can cut a salad from your greens!
• It is quite possible to grow cucumbers at home not only for a summer resident who has already "eaten a dog" in vegetable growing, but even for an inexperienced city dweller.
• And a control shot: just imagine how delighted your friends, colleagues and neighbors will be with young cucumbers on your windowsill! You will become an object of ah and ah for a long time))

Want to see how it might look? And here's how in this video:

Stop, stop, do not urgently run after the seeds that you have prepared for summer cottages! Everything is in order. First, we carefully read what you need to know and take into account when growing cucumbers at home.
 

Suitable varieties

Not all cucumber varieties are suitable for indoor growing. You need to choose

self-pollinated

hybrids ... It's best if they will

early maturing ... Even better - if they are also

bush ... And then -

shade-tolerant ))

Excellent proven themselves hybrids:

• ‘Marinda F1’
• ‘Onega F1’
• 'Masha F1'
• ‘Connie F1’
• ‘Legend F1’
• 'Claudia F1'
• ‘Tatiana F1’
• ‘Seryozha F1’

Good reviews are also about varieties:

• ‘Gribovchanka’
• 'Debut'
• ‘Zozulya’
• ‘Ragtime’
• 'Babylon'
• 'April'
• 'Flight'
• ‘Boyfriend’
• 'Athlete'
• ‘Kinglet’
• ‘NIIOH-412’
• ‘Cucaracha’

If you are just starting to grow cucumbers at home, choose from these varieties, you will not go wrong.

The necessary conditions

Cucumbers, like any other plant, have their own preferences. They are:

• photophilous, therefore, the eastern or southern side of the apartment (house) is best suited for growing them. If there is not enough light (and most often this is exactly the case), it will be necessary to organize additional lighting with fluorescent lamps.
• thermophilic, they need a temperature above + 20 ° C (at least + 22 ... + 24 ° C during the day).
• hygrophilous, therefore, the soil should always be moist (moderately, not overfilled).

Tomatoes

A red tomato is clearly not a winter or spring vegetable. Therefore, fresh tomatoes from your garden in April and May are an indescribable pleasure (and pride, whatever you say!).

Many do not dare to grow tomatoes in an apartment, fearing that they simply will not succeed. You know, the bushes strewn with red fruits on the windowsill are only at first glance "how difficult it is to be horrified." Anyone can grow tomatoes at home. Almost everyone grows flowers in their apartments, and this process is no less complicated 🙂

If you are eager to try your hand at growing homemade tomatoes, heed the advice of our experienced summer residents.

Suitable varieties

Suitable for a home garden self-pollinated hybrids... Do not mess with tall varieties - you will suffer. Better to chooseundersized (or even dwarf ones). It is also worth sacrificing love for large tomatoes, it is better to plant small-fruited varieties - they ripen faster and easier.

There are a lot of tomato seeds on sale today of those varieties and hybrids that are specially designed for home cultivation:

• ‘Balcony miracle’
• ‘Room surprise’
• ‘Balcony Red F1’
• 'Alaska'
• ‘Betta’
• ‘Pearl red’
• ‘Pearl yellow’
• ‘Bonsai’
• ‘Japanese room’
• ‘News of Canada’

They enjoy special love

dwarf:

• ‘Minibel’

• 'Bonsai micro F1'
• ‘Pinocchio’
• ‘Florida petite’
• ‘Cherry Pygmy’
• ‘Lisa F1’
• 'Greenfinch F1'

Ampel varieties that look great in hanging pots are wonderful - such as:

• ‘Cherry’
• ‘Talisma’
• ‘Yellow pear’
• ‘Peruvian home’
• ‘Ildi’

Advice

: The store will offer you quite a few varieties of tomatoes, assuring that they are great for home growing. Listening to this and believing the seller, you still carefully read what is written on the packaging: the bags we need have special marks “Home garden”, “Harvest series on the window” or “Recommended for pot growing”. Now, if you saw such an inscription - feel free to pay money)

The necessary conditions

Caring for "home" tomatoes is not much different from caring for them in the country or in a personal plot.

• Tomatoes - plants light-loving, therefore, it is advisable for them to choose the south, southeast or east side. In winter, in an apartment, they need lighting (you can read more about lighting in the article 10 secrets of a home garden).
• They do not like stagnant air, they are afraid damp rooms. 
• And here are not afraid of drafts, so feel free to ventilate the room where the tomatoes "live".
• Optimal daytime temperature for growing: before flowering and fruiting - + 22 ... + 25 ° C (night - about + 17 ° C), and then - preferably 2-3 ° C higher.
• Watering, as in the open field, requires rare but abundant.

Advice:

if you want the tomato bush to be symmetrically developed and beautiful, turn it 180 ° daily in relation to the light from the window - then it will build up the green mass evenly from all sides (some owners turn the pots with bushes by 90 °, considering that there will be even more evenly))

Sweet pepper (bulgarian)

This southern juicy vegetable is quite suitable for "domestication", it is unpretentious, beautiful and very useful. Although you will have to be patient - you will be able to taste the first sweet peppers only 5-6 months after germination.

Growing it at home is interesting, to say the least. Yes, and profitable as well. How is it profitable? Yes, because pepper is a perennial plant, and the bushes planted today will delight you with their harvest for 2-3 years. Tempting? And then! If you decide to add bell peppers to your windowsill, get acquainted with the secrets of growing it.

Suitable varieties

As in the case of cucumbers and tomatoes, for a home garden you need to select early maturing self-pollinated hybrids... In home culture, varieties have proven themselves best. universal purpose, used both for planting in open ground and in protected:

• indoor pepper 'Patio-Ivo', which pleases with its bright yellow fruits at any time of the year on the windowsill or balcony;
• thick-walled peppers of the improved selection ‘California Miracle’ - up to 75 cm high, with beautiful bright red fruits with a ribbed surface;
• medium-early high-yielding hybrid of Dutch selection 'Jupiter F1' with very large fleshy fruits that change color from green to red;
• very sweet pepper of the 'Oda' variety - purple in color, undersized (35-50 cm) and very productive.

Good reviews received medium early varieties:

• 'Martin'
• ‘Bulgarian-79’
• ‘Gift of Moldova’
• ‘Novogoshary’
• 'Winnie the Pooh'

The necessary conditions

Bell pepper will not be "capricious" and will thank you with a good harvest, if you observe several important conditions for it:

• This plant is southern, so it must be placed in the sunniest room, where there is most of the light. If there is not enough light, it will be necessary to artificially illuminate it.
• Sweet pepper is a sissy, he does not like drafts.
• The optimum air temperature for its maintenance is + 20 ... + 26 ° C (at night + 18 ... + 20 ° C).
• Regular soil loosening necessarily.
• Pepper needs pest protection (aphids and spider mites).
• During the fruiting period, pepper is needed tie up to the trellis.

Advice: it is categorically not recommended to grow sweet and bitter peppers on the same windowsill (and in the same room) - as a result of cross-pollination, all your peppers will turn out to be bitter (a distance of 2-3 m to the next window sill is not an obstacle, you can not check it))

Bitter pepper

I think that bitter pepper lovers will never give up the opportunity to always have a bush with burning pointed fruits at hand ... for for them any dish with hot pepper becomes immeasurably tastier))

But to grow such a miracle on the windowsill is not difficult at all. To do this, you only need the presence of the sun in the window for 3-4 hours a day, a pot of soil, and the necessary seeds. And in 2-3 months you will have a gorgeous treasured bush, strewn with medium-sized fruits. And it is capable of bearing fruit in one place up to 5 years!

By the way, it is especially worth emphasizing that all representatives of "bitter peppers" are highly decorative and will certainly become a decoration of your home garden!

I don't think I had to persuade you)) It remains only to skim through a few lines of necessary information.

Suitable varieties

For home cultivation, seeds of early maturing self-pollinated varieties and hybrids are best suited. To the delight of spicy lovers, almost all varieties of hot pepper fully meet their purpose)

These are varieties and hybrids:

• ‘Astrakhansky 147’
• ‘Elephant trunk’
• ‘Ukrainian bitter’
• 'Indian summer'
• ‘Fire’
• ‘The Queen of Spades’
• 'Sweeties'
• ‘Carmen’
• ‘Superchile F1’
• ‘Curiosity’

Special feedback received two varieties of pepper:

• ‘Serpent Gorynych’ is a high-yielding, very spicy burning taste.
• The ‘Elephant's trunk’ is the largest of all hot peppers, reaching 27 cm in length.

The necessary conditions

In order for hot pepper bushes to grow and develop without problems, several basic conditions must be met from the very beginning.

• Prepare a quality soil substrate.
• Plants are best placed on south, southeast and southwest windows where most of the world... If there is a lack of lighting in winter, it is imperative to carry out additional lighting.
• To not allow drying out soil.
• Do not pinch, then the bush will be voluminous and "rich".
• During fruiting feedas it tends to be abundant and quickly depletes the soil.

Beans

Everyone can grow beans on the windowsill.Moreover, it is unpretentious, rises and grows quickly, does not require special care. It is a self-pollinating plant; in a month and a half it will bloom, and in two you will be removing young pods. They are incredibly tasty in vegetable stews, soups, omelettes and simply stewed.

Believe me, you will not regret it if you decide to "get" a couple of bean bushes).

Suitable varieties

Practice has shown that it is most profitable to grow at home early maturing varieties of asparagus bush beans... But also curly varieties shouldn't be written off. At the very least, they are very decorative - long bright green vines with large flowers of pink, purple or white look amazing. And you will not be left without a crop either.

Which beans to choose?

• has proven itself well black Eyed Peas ‘Fatima’.
• good reviews of summer residents received varieties bush beans ‘Triumph Sugar 764’, ‘Sachs Without Fiber 615’, ‘Mask’ and ‘Green Pod 517’.
• from curly beans it is recommended to choose either ‘Golden Neck’ or ‘Violetta’.

The necessary conditions

It is easy to take care of the beans, it is enough to provide them with regular watering, loosening and feeding and fulfill a few simple requirements:

• The container for growing bush varieties should be at least 2 liters in volume, and for climbing varieties - 30-35 liters.
• Bush beans more photophilous, it is best placed on the windows of the south and southeast side, curly can "live" on either side. Beans, as a rule, do not need additional lighting.
• Curly beans need ropes (wire, mesh) to supports.
• The yield of beans is increased feeding superphosphate and potassium chloride.

Carrot

Have you ever heard that carrots are grown on a windowsill? In a simple flowerpot or container, you can get a very decent harvest. Most varieties will allow you to start picking fresh carrots as early as 3.5 months after planting: when the majority of summer residents just start sowing carrots, you will already be eating them!

Carrots, of course, are capricious, but the main thing is to know a few secrets, and then you will "make friends" with it for a long time:

Suitable varieties

Carrots are remarkable in that the root crop, even when it has just been born, is already suitable for consumption. Therefore, growing it is a win-win business))

• For growing at home, it is best suited mini carrot of the Parisian Carotel variety - these are the ‘Parmex’, ‘Sophie’, ‘Grandfather’ varieties. It grows in 80-90 days and does not require much space - a pot or container is fine.
• You can also opt for early maturity sort ‘Amsterdam’.
• And kids will love the Round Baby round little roots.

The necessary conditions

You need to start with preparation lightweight and well-drained soil. This is extremely important: the easier it is to penetrate oxygen into the soil, the juicier and healthier the roots will be.

• Tank depth (container, pot, flowerpot) must be large enough for the roots to develop normally.
• Temperature the environment must be kept within the range of + 13… + 24 ° C.
• Carrot does not like direct sunlight.
• Watering requires regular (more often than in the open field). In this case, the presence of drainage holes is mandatory!
• To retain moisture in the soil, it is necessary to carry out mulching.
• Do not get carried away nitrogen fertilizers, you risk getting a lot of tops, not carrots.

Advice

: Carrots can be grown in cut plastic bottles. And cheap, and convenient, and mobile))

Home garden with herbs

Well, what a vegetable garden without greenery? Onions, parsley, dill, salads, basil, mint ...

If you are a fan of greenery on the window, we advise you to read the articles on our website:

• 5 types of greenery that are easy to grow on a windowsill
• Growing green onions in a plastic bottle
• How to grow parsley on a windowsill
• How to grow delicious onions on a windowsill - secrets and subtleties
• How to quickly and easily grow watercress on a windowsill
• 10 secrets of the home garden

And finally, we suggest admiring the home garden of Nadezhda Shcherbinina. Any of us can make the same branch of a summer residence ... you just want to.

The more snow outside the window, the whiter the landscapes, the more we miss the bright colors of the past summer, the fresh biting sound of a jet from a hose, the whisper of herbs - at our dacha. Hands have long missed the ground, and oh, how long to beloved beds ...

But it is in our power to reclaim a piece of summer and a summer residence. There is everything for this - desire and ... a window sill! Let me remind myself once again: if we start right now, then by March 8 we may already have our own cucumbers! Let's start?

Sometimes I want to go out onto the balcony, like Jamie Oliver, pick up my own grown vegetables and herbs and stir something stunning out of them. And the balcony, by the way, looks much nicer if it does not store old pieces of iron that it is time to send to the landfill, but aromatic herbs and vegetables.

I chose several interesting plants that take root well on the windowsill or on the balcony.

Pepper

On the windowsill, you can grow a hot pepper for diablo pizza. It will require a warm, bright place and varieties suitable for home cultivation: "Carmen", "Flint", "Ogonyok", "Ryabinushka", "Bride", "Indian Summer", etc.

The bushes are very cute and do not require large pots. Up to 50 fruits can be set on one plant. The optimum temperature is 25-27 degrees Celsius.

Carrot

For growing carrots at home, it is better to take mini-varieties such as "Parmex", "Sophie", "Vnuchka". They grow in 80-90 days and do not require a lot of space - a pot or container is fine. You can also take a funny round variety "Round baby".

The soil for the carrots should be light and well-drained. The vegetable can be grown in cut plastic bottles. The optimum temperature is in the range of 13-24 degrees Celsius.

Mint

Mint is a non-capricious and undemanding plant. It can grow on your windowsill or balcony, even in winter, if you arrange additional lighting. It can be grown from cuttings and seeds. If there is an opportunity to dig up a stalk in the country at home or from friends, it is better to use this method. Mint, grown from seeds, is not taken as actively, and it will take longer to wait for the harvest.

It is important to remember that the plant loves well-moisturized soil. And, when choosing a place for it, keep in mind that the lighting should be good, but it is better to avoid direct sunlight. The optimum temperature for mint is 20-25 degrees with a plus sign.

Green onions

Growing green onions at home does not require any special dexterity. But nevertheless, it is worth considering some nuances: the bulb that you will plant should be round, dense to the touch and free from rotting marks, the root cup should be well-formed.

Immediately after planting, it is worth putting the onion in a cool, dark place so that the root system is better formed, and only then the feather will need a lot of light. The optimum temperature is 18-20 degrees, you should not overheat, because then the growth of greenery will stop.

Basil

Any kind of basil grows well in flower pots and boxes. It is better for him to allocate a sunny place, water well, keep warm and provide good drainage. For planting, you can use both cuttings and seeds. At the same time, the cuttings will quickly give the first harvest, but they will not last long, since they will bloom quickly. You will have to wait longer to harvest from seeds, but such a bush will also last longer.

The optimum temperature for basil is 20-25 degrees Celsius. In winter, backlighting is required for about 3-4 hours to increase daylight hours.

Cucumbers

To grow cucumbers on a windowsill or on a balcony, you should take a closer look at the hybrid varieties that are marked with the F1 icon.If all conditions are created for a plant, it can give 3-4 dozen fruits. Here you will have to tinker a little with the seedlings, but after transplanting into boxes, you will only need to water and cut the antennae.

Plants are planted in containers with a volume of at least 5 liters. It is important to remember that cucumbers are large water loaves and the ground should always be moist. The optimum temperature is 21-24 degrees Celsius.

Tomatoes

Dwarf varieties are usually chosen as home-grown tomatoes: Minibel, Florida Petit, Balcony Miracle, etc. You will have to take the most illuminated place in the apartment for this miracle. You will need to start with seedlings, then plant them in containers, tie them up, feed them and protect them from the cold. This is one of the most troublesome balcony crops, but pride in the work done and gardening talent is attached to the crop.

It is important to remember that tomatoes, like all plants, love water, but they can be easily poured over. Therefore, water should be done carefully. The optimum temperature is 23-25 ​​degrees Celsius.

Sorrel

Sorrel, in addition to its wonderful taste, is distinguished by the fact that it calmly tolerates shaded places. It can be grown from rhizomes of 2-4-year-old plants with buds or from seeds of such varieties as "Maikop", "Altai", "Odessa broadleaf".

It can grow at 5 and 20 degrees Celsius and even withstands small frosts. So on the balcony it can be kept until the last, and if the balcony keeps heat well, then it should not be cleaned for the winter. The leaves are cut at a height of 8-10 cm, this must be done carefully so as not to damage the growth buds.

Ginger

Ginger is not only a delicious seasoning, but also a beautiful plant. If you plant it at home, the shoots can grow up to a meter in height. Pieces of ginger root are planted, consisting of at least a couple of sections with live buds. If the root is dry, you can hold it in warm water for several hours to wake up the kidneys.

The root should not be planted very deeply, and until the first shoots appear, it should be watered very sparingly. Keep ginger in the light, but away from direct sunlight. The optimum temperature is 20-25 degrees Celsius.

A pineapple

To grow pineapple at home, you need to be patient and find a suitable fruit - purchased in the warm season and with an intact tail. The tail is cut with a knife, preferably without pulp, dried for 3-4 days in the light, and then germinated in clean river sand. When the roots appear, after about a month, it can be transplanted into a pot of soil.

Pineapple loves light, warmth and spraying. The fruit will appear about 2 years after planting. The optimum temperature is 23-30 degrees Celsius.

Strawberry

Strawberries can be grown at home all year round, in winter you will need to arrange lighting. To do this, you should choose remontant strawberry varieties that bear fruit more than once a season, but constantly, for example: "Yellow Miracle", "Queen Elizabeth", "Mount Everest". You can grow strawberries from seeds, but the easiest way is to buy ready-made seedlings. After 3-4 months, a couple of bushes will give new rosettes, and your plantation will increase by 3 times. Meanwhile, as with the germination of seeds, you will have to tinker.

Strawberries are afraid of the cold, so they should be taken out to the balcony only when the weather is warm. The optimum temperature is 18-24 degrees Celsius. It is important to remember that since there are no insects at home, you will have to pollinate the flowers yourself with a brush.

Thyme

Thyme is a wonderful herb. It is very fragrant, tasty and extremely unpretentious. Thyme naturally grows in dry areas with poor soil. Therefore, ruining it at home is not easy. The most important thing he loves is light. It is not afraid of direct sunlight, and it can be placed even where other plants will die. The only difficulty is watering: in the sun, the soil in a small volume of the pot dries quickly, and the thyme itself does not like waterlogging.

It also makes no sense to overdo it with fertilizers - thyme will not appreciate it.It can be grown both from cuttings and seeds.

What goodies grow in your home?

It is quite possible to grow your own mini-garden on a windowsill or balcony at home even in winter.

I think that many apartment residents at least once thought about how great it would be grow vegetables yourself, and not buy them for a lot of money in stores and in the market. But, in the absence of their own land plot, people have to buy them.

Actually grow a small amount of vegetables in your apartment quite real, the main thing is to observe it certain growing conditions and good care of homemade vegetables... The harvest, of course, will not be great, but you can please yourself with a salad made from vegetables that you have grown yourself. You can find out how to do this in this article.

Tomatoes on the windowsill

If you want to have good tomato harvest, it is best to choose dwarf plants, that is cherry tomatoes... They have a small bush and usually bear fruit abundantly, which is undoubtedly a big plus.

Tomatoes on the windowsill

Before germination, the seeds must be placed in a weak solution of potassium permanganate and wait about fifteen minutes. This will allow you to select non-viable seeds, which will surely float up, while the strong ones will settle to the bottom. After this procedure, you can already start germination under a damp cloth. When the seeds hatch, it will mark the next stage - growing.

Each pair of sprouted seeds should be placed in a separate deep pot. If it is not there, then you can use a regular cut five-liter eggplant. Sprouted seeds should be placed on moistened soil and slightly sprinkled with earth, then covered with foil or thick glass to create a greenhouse effect, and placed in a warm, sunny place. After 3-4 days, the seeds should get stronger.

Watering is necessary in moderation, only after the upper part of the soil dries. You need to water gently along the edge or use a spray bottle.

When the tomato will grow it is advisable to tie it up large enough, otherwise it may break under its own weight. In addition, once a week, during flowering, you can slightly shake the trunk for self-pollination.

At the moment when most of the fruit has formed, it is advisable to remove the rest of the flowers and some of the upper branches. This will allow the plant to give most of the nutrients to the fruit, and not everything else.

An indoor tomato can bear fruit for five years or more.

Tomato thrives at room temperature between 15 and 28 degrees Celsius. Watering requires as the soil dries up.

Cucumbers on the windowsill

Before planting this vegetable, it is worth noting that cucumbers not only love light, but also warmth. They will not tolerate temperatures below 20 degrees. Plus, this vegetable requires at least 12 hours of light, so it's best not to plant it in winter unless you have two table lamps to light up your cucumbers. In addition, it is worth choosing the right variety, best of all choose self-pollinated cucumbers.

Cucumbers on the windowsill

After you have finally decided whether you have suitable conditions and variety selection, you can start germination. They germinate, like all seeds, with the help of a damp cloth, which must be constantly moist, preventing it from drying out. Good plants will have small roots within two to three days.

After that, you can start growing seedlings. To do this, you can take ordinary plastic cups with earth. The earth must first be moistened and a small depression made where you put the seed and carefully cover it with earth. After the seedlings are strong enough, you can transplant the cucumbers into the ground. Each bush requires at least 5 kilograms of land, which adds to the difficulty of growing.

Cucumbers should be placed on the windowsillwhere the sun constantly shines and is warm enough. You need to water every day, but not abundantly, so that the next day the topsoil has time to dry out.

Ripe cucumbers should be picked quickly, otherwise the plant will quickly deplete. In general, from one bush with good care, you can get from ten to fifteen medium-sized cucumbers, which will be enough to prepare a salad for the whole family.

Greenery on the windowsill

Greenery on the windowsill

These are indispensable spices for delicious cooking. It is the greens that add freshness and piquancy to any dish. Greens are easiest to grow on a windowsill... Almost all of it sits in the same way. By sowing seeds. To do this, it is enough to take a fairly spacious pot or boxes. Pour the earth there, moisten it and sow seeds in a chaotic manner. The seeds will sprout within a week. In winter and autumn, you need to provide the greenery with a sufficient amount of light, otherwise the plants will be very weak and will not grow to the desired size.

Early-maturing varieties grow best on the windowsill.... And your bushes can grow for two to three years continuously, especially parsley and dill, which independently sow their seeds, which eventually germinate soon.

Chinese cabbage. Growing at home

It will take a lot of land to grow this vegetable, preferably a ten-liter bucket. Peking cabbage loves light enough that it will take root well on the windowsill. He does not like heat, it is advisable to keep the temperature from fifteen to twenty degrees Celsius. But it may well survive a temperature of twenty-five degrees, but not higher.

Before growing, the seeds must still be germinated. To do this, take an ordinary sowing box and place a seed there in a 1 centimeter recess, after which the earth is watered. After the mature seedlings appear, the sprout can be transplanted into a permanent container.

The plant is annual, so the crop can be harvested only once. Watering requires moderate watering so that the soil is always moist, but not wet. After every two to three waterings, the soil must be loosened so that enough air can flow to the roots.

Radish on the balcony

This root crop is famous for its slightly spicy taste, for which it gained its popularity. It is both added to various dishes and consumed fresh. The plant is frost-hardy, but still has its own characteristics in growing, especially when it comes to humidity and air temperature. Since this is a root crop, it is immediately worth noting that it needs a large amount of land.

An interesting way to grow radishes

Radish does not like room temperature, so it will not be comfortable for him in the apartment in winter. It would be best to transfer it to a glazed balcony, where the temperature will not be lower than +1 and not higher than +20. In a warm place, root crops will grow completely tasteless and will be lethargic, without proper juiciness.

In addition, radishes are very picky about light, they need a lot of it, even if it is a root crop, because if the winter is cloudy, then it is worth giving the radish additional light.

Do not forget that radishes are very demanding on moisture, the soil should not be allowed to dry out, otherwise the fruit will not have juiciness and will be lethargic. The radish should be watered constantly, with water at room temperature. Also, after each watering, the soil should be loosened so that the water does not stagnate on the surface, and more heat and the necessary oxygen are supplied to the root crop.

Now that you know the requirements for growing a radish, you can decide if you can provide it with proper care. If your answer is yes, then you can start germinating the seeds.

To grow at home, it is worth buying radish seeds, which ripen quickly, then germination will take less time, and this variety is less whimsical to care for.

Before sowing your root crop, it should be soaked in water for a few days. For this, either a damp cloth or a regular glass of water will do. After the first seeds germinate, they can be planted in the ground. To do this, you need to make small holes with a diagonal of six centimeters. When the root crop germinates even more, it can be covered with earth so that the root crop has a place to grow.

If you follow all the necessary growing rules, then in about a month you will have your own homemade radish.

Potatoes at home

Yes, yes, exactly potatoes! "This is impossible", - some will say, but this is not at all the case. Of course, it will not be possible to grow a hundred kilograms, but nevertheless it is quite possible to try young potatoes grown with your own hands.

For cultivation, it is advisable to purchase special tubers that are intended specifically for sowing, and not for eating. The variety depends on what time you plant it or how early you want to harvest it. The first early ripening variety is planted in February, and the harvest is harvested in May.

Potatoes at home

The next thing to purchase is the required capacity. A pot or bucket must be selected with a size of more than ten liters. The larger the pot, the better the yield will be. But, you need to choose the right pot. The main thing that should be in it is a drainage system. These are several holes in the bottom of the pot. If they are not there, and the container has already been purchased, you should not be upset, they can be drilled and done with a knife yourself.

Next, you need to prepare the soil. It is not difficult, it is enough to collect black soil on the street, buy organic fertilizer and mix in equal proportions. Your soil is ready! In it, the potatoes should take root well and give a crop. You can also add organic fertilizers such as bone meal, chicken manure, or seaweed.

If the purchased tubers are not germinated, then they need to be placed in a dark and cool place, glancing at your potatoes every three days. When the first eyes (shoots) appear on it, the potatoes can be rearranged in a lighter, but still cool place so that the potatoes germinate further, and the shoots acquire a dark green color. When the eyes are long enough, the extra ones will need to be removed. Of course, the more shoots, the more potatoes, but do not forget that the smaller it will be. Therefore, if you want a good harvest, you should leave only the strongest of the eyes. To save money, each of the potatoes can be cut in half, with two or three shoots on each half. After that, you will have to wait a few days, placing the tubers in a dark place, until the fresh cut is firm.

After that, it's time to prepare the pot. Small pebbles should be put at its bottom so that the water does not stagnate in the ground, and the loan should be filled with soil.

Now it's time to start planting your potatoes. To do this, you need to carefully dig it into the ground by a quarter, so that almost all the eyes look up. Next, the potatoes need to be covered with earth by 10-13 centimeters and pressed tightly around the tuber, it is important that the whole earth is well tamped. After that, it must be watered, but not too much so that the water does not stand in the pot. It is desirable that in a pot with a diameter of 31 centimeters there are no more than three tubers. If possible, add more soil if it contains organic fertilizer.

In care, the main thing is to choose a good place for the potatoes. He needs to get enough light, but at the same time not put in direct sunlight. Also in care, the main thing is not to allow the soil to dry out, it should always be moist, but not wet.

If everything succeeds, then a beautiful bush will grow in your pot. After the potatoes have faded, you can dig it out a little and check. If the potato does not have a green tint, then it can be gently torn from the bush or dug up, then you will get young potatoes.But remember that you cannot eat potatoes with a green tint, as they are poisonous.

How to understand that the potatoes are finally ripe? It's easy, because the bush will shed its leaves and dry out. Watering potatoes should be stopped altogether 14 days before harvest.

Once this happens, you can harvest your own crops!

so, growing your own mini-garden on a windowsill or balcony at home is quite realistic even in winter... To do this, it is enough to adhere to the rules of caring for a particular plant. The first thing to consider is, of course, the temperature capabilities of your apartment, since in winter not everyone is warm or there is the necessary coolness on the balcony. Therefore, grow vegetables based on your own capabilities. If you do everything right, then you will definitely succeed!

The cooler it is outside the window, the more you want to return summer and warmth. In today's article, we propose to consider ideas for creating mini-vegetable garden on the windowsill... Fresh greens, fragrant cucumbers and ripe tomatoes - doesn't that sound tempting? All that is needed for this is a little free time, the desire to complete what was started and the necessary information. If the first two points depend solely on you, then we are ready to help with the third points.

Cucumbers

For growing cucumbers on the windowsill, only self-pollinated varieties... After purchasing the necessary seeds, they should be prepared for planting, then planted, and then you just have to wait for them to sprout. The seeds are planted in small containers and watered with water, and then the seedlings can be planted in a container or bucket. Cucumbers need to be watered with water at room temperature, and the soil at the roots should never dry out. To maintain the necessary air humidity of the plant, it is necessary to spray the leaves twice a day and do not forget to remove all drying leaves. As the liana grows, it needs to be tied up.

Tomatoes

For growing tomatoes on a windowsill, due to its small size, undersized or dwarf varieties are suitable, for example, "Dubok" or "Little Florida". Their fruits are small, but the taste is no worse from this.

For sowing seeds, it is better to take simple plastic cups, preferably transparent, to control watering. Then fill them with soil and pour plenty of boiling water for disinfection, and after the soil has cooled down, you can plant seeds in it, deepening them by 2 cm.

Pepper

Growing sweet peppers indoors will be easy even for an inexperienced gardener. For success in this endeavor, the main thing is to choose the right variety for home cultivation.

For this purpose, the following varieties are best suited: Sweet Banana, Window Miracle and Treasure Island. After choosing a medium pot (4-5 liters), plant one seed in each container. When seedlings appear, so that they grow well and do not stretch out, daylight hours, if it is shorter than twelve hours, can be extended with fluorescent lamps. As soon as ripe fruits appear, it is better to remove them, thereby giving the opportunity to set new ones.

Onion

In order to grow onions on a windowsill, you will need a container that is sold in gardening stores - thanks to its unusual shape and small holes, more than 20 bulbs can be grown in a small area. There is also an easier option, you can put the bulbs in water, without soil.

Greens

Very unpretentious parsley and basil will not require much attention, and you will be able to decorate or salad in two to three weeks.

By the way, parsley with basil can be brought as seedlings from the garden, they easily tolerate transplanting and take root well in pots.

The most unpretentious among salads is watercress... Almost all of its varieties can be planted in a pot right on the windowsill.This variety does not need top dressing, it grows quickly, and you can grow it without soil, simply by pouring the seeds into damp cotton wool.

Also in apartment conditions you can grow arugula... We advise you to pluck the buds and twigs that are emerging on which flowers will appear, otherwise the plant will become too bitter.

If desired, basil can be grown on the windowsill and mint... These fragrant plants will not only become a real decoration of any dish, but also give the room a wonderful aroma.

Spinach can also be a worthy window sill decoration. It is planted in small pots or boxes, the bottom of which is equipped with drainage (broken brick, pebbles). Spinach needs a lot of light, so it's best to place it near a south window. If necessary, in the morning and in the evening, you can turn on the fluorescent lamp.

• Liming the soil prevents the accumulation of a large amount of harmful chemicals in the fruit. You can also use an infusion of wood ash brought from a picnic for this.
• Plants need to be watered regularly, but it is important not to water them. Many experts advise using a spray for watering, so that at the same time moisture from the outside gets to the leaves.
• The sprouts need as much light as possible. Therefore, place them, if possible, on a windowsill with a window facing south.