Good veggie plants to grow indoors?

M

mantizz007

Member

• Mar 26, 2011

• #1

Hi all!!!! Gonna start an indoor grow at my house soon and want to know some plants that would be easy to moderate to grow, and that would not need a certain light cycle to produce veggies or fruits if possible. Gonna make this a "family" project and have my daughters help as they do love the garden in the summer . TIA for any suggestions.

 

geopolitical

Vladimir Demikhov Fanboy

Veteran

• Mar 26, 2011

• #2

How warm is your house at the warmest during the day, how cool will it get, how much light will the plants be getting and what's your humidity? There are a ton of plants that work well indoors but more details will help narrow down that list to those that will work for you.

 

M

mantizz007

Member

• Mar 26, 2011

• #3

temps range 70-75 or so and that's constant. The lights will be on when the sun is up, at lest that's what I'm hoping for. It's usually kinda dry in my house also even if it's humid outside.

 

geopolitical

Vladimir Demikhov Fanboy

Veteran

• Mar 26, 2011

• #4

For kids I would stick with a few plants that will grow quickly to keep them involved and maybe a few that are a bit longer term.

Bolt/heat resistant leaf lettuces will do fairly well in your conditions, albeit some of the leaves may end up a bit unattractive (outer leaves may get a bit "crisp" looking on the margins in low humidity, but it doesn't affect the leaf otherwise). If it's not a 'heat resistant' cultivar however you will get a bitter leaf that won't be good for much.

Red Oak Leaf used to be marketed as a heat/bolt resistant summer leaf lettuce, but it's been decades since I've lived in a climate where I've had to worry about summer heat.

Rosemary will do well under those conditions as well. Get a starter from a good nursery however as it's a fairly difficult seed to propagate.

"globe" or small leaved basils work well in that sort of environment as well. Pinch them heavily to maintain a "young" plant as flower negative affect the flavor & texture of leaves.

Strawberries will do "alright" under those conditions if kept in a group (2-4 well spaced crowns in a larger pot) as the leaves will form a bit of a canopy after a while, boosting their local humidity. Some varieties shed pollen so readily they basically pollinate themselves, but I tend to use a paintbrush on them as they open.

 

E

Eatatjoes

• Mar 26, 2011

• #5

Peppers, basil, determinate early tomato varieties, leaf vegetables will do well. Kids like to see fast growing radishes, white icicle radishes were my favorite to grow as a kid. Carrots picked early (baby carrots) would be cool too.

 

M

mantizz007

Member

• Mar 27, 2011

• #6

Thanks alot for the suggestions Geo & Joe. Radishes and carrots my kids love. Just wondering if there was a cherry tomato plant that would do good indoors. My daughters love them.

 

E

Eatatjoes

• Mar 27, 2011

• #7

Look for a determinate or bush type cherry tomato, an indeterminate variety would become a huge mess when it gets big. Unless your doing vertical bulbs then you could train it up a trellis.

 

geopolitical

Vladimir Demikhov Fanboy

Veteran

• Mar 27, 2011

• #8

Tiny Tom is a variety of cherry tomato bred to grow under very poor conditions with excellent flavor. You want "tiny" and not "micro" which is a mutant hybrid that gets slightly taller than your hand. You will need to hand pollinate the fruit for good set indoors however.

 

David762

Member

• Mar 27, 2011

• #9

When I start growing vegetables again, I will focus on those that I enjoy the most that cost the most in grocery stores -- things like mushrooms, asparagus, roma tomatoes, snow peas, bok choy, arregula, loose leaf lettuce, spinach, and melons.

 

barnyard

Member

• Mar 27, 2011

• #10

fast and easy veggies include...

fast and easy veggies include...

radish, pak choi, watercress, lettuce, spinach...have fun!

 

M

MMJcali

Member

• Mar 27, 2011

• #11

try scrogging a tomato

kids would probably get bored though.

chives or green onions grow fast also, and theyre pretty tasty with eggs.

 

M

mantizz007

Member

• Mar 28, 2011

• #12

Dude I'm totally gonna try to scrog some maters. Awesome idea.

 

R

ranta

Member

• May 9, 2011

• #13

try grow some vine

 

L

lloy

• May 13, 2011

• #14

Stick with lettuces and such. Most other stuff will not be economical indoors.

 

C

CatManDoo

Member

• Jun 18, 2011

• #15

I always got a few basil plants going in my grow room