10 types of greenery that are easy to grow on the windowsill at home

With a serious approach, you can grow a whole vegetable garden with cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers on the window or balcony. But this requires special talent, time and desire. We will not set such tasks, but we will talk about the simplest crops that any beginner can grow on the kitchen windowsill.

If you want to start immediately with a large-scale project, you can allocate a bench, table or buy a special greenhouse for seedlings for your home garden. Also, do not forget that the floor under the garden area should be made of tiles or linoleum, otherwise you risk spoiling the parquet.

To plant a vegetable garden on the windowsill, you will need:

Plastic containers: Each type of greenery needs a separate one, as many plants do not tolerate close proximity to others.

Nutrient soil and drainage to remove excess water during irrigation.

Good lighting: plants cannot survive without photosynthesis, so choose the brightest windows, and if there are none, then you will have to install white spectrum fluorescent lamps. The duration of daylight hours should be 13-15 hours. Thin elongated stems and pale leaves are clear signs that the plants lack light.

Polyethylene film: it will be needed at the initial stage so that the seeds germinate better.

The right temperature: the ideal temperature for plants is 18-25 °C. If the room is very hot, the greens will most likely grow small and weak, if, on the contrary, the plants are cold, the leaves will turn yellow and begin to fall.

Necessary humidity: lack of humidity in the apartment can become a major problem for cultivation. To somehow solve it, you can put a humidifier, a basin of water or an electric fountain with stones next to the seedlings, which will increase the total amount of moisture evaporation. Plants can be sprayed from a spray bottle, but this method is not suitable for rough leaves (cucumbers, tomatoes, etc.).

Experienced people advise choosing a kitchen windowsill for planting - the humidity is higher there and it is warmer than in the room.

What greens to choose for planting?

Garlic

Now it has become very expensive in stores, so you can take a few cloves and grow garlic on an arrow. Choose a larger container with a depth of about 20 cm, divide the garlic into cloves and plant them in the soil with the sharp end up at a depth of 3 cm and at a distance of 10 cm from each other. Sand can be added to the soil in a ratio of 3:1. In the first month, garlic should be watered abundantly and ensure that the soil does not dry out.

If you want to grow large heads of garlic at home, as soon as green shoots appear, they should be cut at the base, and in the second half of the growing season avoid frequent watering.

In order for garlic to grow large, it should be watered with warm water, 15−18С.

Onion

"Number one" for the home garden, grows very quickly and is ready for harvesting in 10 days. For growing on the windowsill, it is better to take larger heads and plant the bulbs close to each other. You can also plant in ordinary water, but not completely covered with water, but so that the 4th part of the bulb only touches it. After planting, put the onion in a cool place for a few days, and then move it to the windowsill. If you cut the upper part of the bulbs, the greens will come out faster.

Watercress salad

For planting watercress, you can even not use the ground, but plant the seeds in a wet paper towel on a plate or tray. It is necessary to sow thickly so that the plants support each other. Seedlings appear quickly, so in 2-3 weeks you will have a ready harvest. It is important to constantly maintain the humidity of the substrate, but do not pour it and do not put it in the bright sun. Watercress feels best at a temperature of 18 degrees.

Try mixing finely chopped watercress leaves with butter and using them for breakfast sandwiches.

Mint

yata can be grown from store-bought twigs. Put them in water, and when the first roots grow, transplant them into a container and do not forget to water them regularly.

Parsley

Parsley seeds can be grown on the windowsill, but it will take a long time, so we recommend using parsley root for greens. Find greens sold in pots in the supermarket, cut off the top, and transplant the roots into the soil at an angle, sprinkled with a layer of earth of about 2 cm. Shoots will appear in a few days.

If you decide to plant seeds, you need to prepare them by placing them in a damp cloth a week before planting them in the soil and place them in a cold place. After planting the seeds, cover the pot with a film and place it in the shade. Before the appearance of the first sprouts, do not forget to water and ventilate, and when the seedlings appear, transfer them to a lighted windowsill. Spray greens with water from a spray bottle. The first harvest will appear in about a month and a half.

Dill

Dill seeds can not be soaked, but planted immediately in moistened soil, but for this it is necessary to choose the right varieties for the house. "Hrybovskyi" is best suited, you can also buy the "Richelieu" or "Aelita" variety. Dill should be watered often, then it will be lush and fragrant. If you want to fertilize greens, use a teaspoon of ammonia, diluting it with a liter of water. Such a solution contains nitrogen, which the plant needs to build up green mass.

Cilantro (coriander)

Coriander is an unpretentious green, but, as with dill, you need to choose the right variety ("Ray", "Amber", "Zmina"). Cilantro seeds can be germinated in wet sawdust in advance, and then planted in the soil to a depth of 2 cm with a distance of 5-10 cm from each other. After planting, the container with seeds should be covered with a film and regularly watered and ventilated. The first shoots will appear in a few weeks, then cilantro should be sprayed with water or maintain air humidity.

Basil

Basil likes heat very much, and it should be grown in the warmest place in the kitchen. Greens can be sprouted from the roots, like parsley, then there will be no problems with shoots. You can also use seeds, planting them at a distance of 5-6 cm from each other. Basil will take a long time to germinate, almost 4 weeks, and if you bury the seeds, they may not germinate at all, so plant more carefully.

Arugula

If you grow arugula on a shaded windowsill, it will be elongated and weak. The plant is very light-demanding, so you need to put the container in a sunny place or provide sources of additional lighting. You need to sow arugula seeds to a depth of 1.5 cm or scatter them without making holes, but by first making the top layer of the soil denser. After sowing, they can be gently pressed to the ground with a wooden spatula.

Microgreens

Sprouts of various seeds 5-8 cm long will be ready for eating after 10 days. It has been proven that they contain ten times more enzymes, vitamins, minerals and amino acids than in ordinary vegetables or fruits. It is not at all difficult to sprout greens, the main thing is to find a sunny place in the house and do not forget to water. To grow microgreens at home, you can use peas, sunflower, chickpeas, mung beans, oats, barley, wheat, watercress, basil, mustard, dill, cilantro, mustard, spinach and other seeds. It is easy to grow microgreens both traditionally in the soil, and without soil - by the hydroponic method.