4 Tips to Thriving Space-Saving Vegetable Gardens Indoors
Space-saving vegetable gardens you can start indoors even when you don’t have enough space. Plus a few tips to help your garden thrive.
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If you live in one of those small boxes that pass as houses in the big bad city, the space-saving vegetable gardens below are for you. Enjoy!
Can you start an indoor garden even when you don’t have space?
You bet.
It doesn’t have to cost a fortune either. And you don’t even need to renovate the house. You may want to, but you don’t need to.
Below are ideas that will help you start a vegetable garden by maximizing the small space you have.
Use your wall.
When people think of indoor gardens, they normally have an image of containers or even planters. It’s fine if you have the floor space for it but many don’t. I mean, have you seen the cost of space in a typical big city?
So, what can you do if you want to start growing your own food but you don’t have a conservatory (or any empty space where you can plonk a container down)?
Weell, you can use your wall. Some people put up pictures. Some hang paintings up. Why not hammer in a shelf and put your plant containers on it?
Obviously, you need to make sure that your shelf is strong enough to withstand the weight of your plant (containers included). They can be very heavy.
Also, try not to place said shelf above any sockets. Electrocution while watering your plants is just not a good look.
If you don’t like shelves, you can use a wall-planter instead. I love these.
Use your ceiling.
No wall space either?
How about the ceiling?
Some vegetables – and even fruits (like this adorable Tiny Tim) – thrive in hanging planters. So, as long as the plant you choose is the kind that won’t need too much space and all other growing requirements are met, you can start hanging your plants from the ceiling and not take up too much floor space.
Instant decoration without crowding. What’s not to love?
Use your furniture.
Most people who live in really small flats (think studio size) know the importance of furniture that pull double duty.
Why only have a sofa when you can have a sofa that also transforms into a bed?
Why settle for a coffee table when you can have a coffee table that expands into a full dining table?
Speaking of tables, why not build a planter in the middle of yours? I haven’t tried this IKEA hack yet but it’s IKEA so anything is possible.
Use the floor.
If you have some extra floor space, use it.
Invest in a good container – one that has a hole at the bottom for water drainage – and a sturdy drip tray so you stay on top of the mess (you really don’t want soil washing out all over your new wooden floors).
And then choose your veg of choice. There are so, so many possibilities, you might be surprised. Some vegetables will thrive indoors – provided you have the right conditions (lighting being supremely important). In fact, you can even grow a pumpkin if you wanted as long as you choose one of those small varieties – like Jack Be Little – if you don’t have much space.
Or just go for a Tower Garden and grow 50 plants in one container that goes up the way instead of sideways, saving you so much space.
Use all possible rooms.
Right, so this might not work for you if you’re into Feng Shui and believe that plants are a no-go in the bedroom but if you have a big enough bedroom (or you don’t care abou things like Feng Shui), go for it.
Add plants in your bedroom, living room, bathroom, utility room, kitchen and on and on.
Obviously, you need to have a proper plan instead of just planting things willy-nilly.
For example, I somehow thought that it would be fantastic to put my succulents in my bathroom because all that moisture? Brilliant, right?
Did I think this through? Nope, not at all.
And if I had, I’d probably still have succulents because guess what, succulents need a lot of sun and my bathroom is the only room in the house that doesn’t have any window.
I managed to kill about 14 succulents before I caught on.
So, yeah. Use all the rooms but make sure you actually know what will thrive in each room.
This handy-dandy page will give you all the info you need.
Final tips to help you start your own space-saving vegetable garden
Okay, so here are a few more tips to help you start your own (flourishing) space-saving vegetable garden.
- Focus on the efficient use of your small space. Use what you have – rooms, furniture, wall space. The only limit is your imagination so go all out.
- Plant your vegetables closely together to create space for more plants. Obviously, you want to make sure that you’re choosing plants that will be fine with that kind of spacing. No point in starting a space-saving garden if everything’s going to die anyway.
- Inter-plant those vegetables that can grow together effectively. Inter-planting (or companion planting) works well when fast-growing crops are inter-planted with slow-growing plants. You could also increase your yields by identifying those vegetables that strengthen each other when grown together.
- Do not leave any space idle after harvest. Instead, add compost to make the soil rich and then plant another crop.
- Rotate your crops to replenish the nutrients consumed by the previous vegetable in the soil.
- Maximize the yields of the garden by planting fast-growing vegetables. Vegetables take different periods to be prime but vegetables like tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, and peas among others grow fast.
20 DIY Space-Saving Vegetable Gardens
Looking for some more concrete ideas?
Check out the following DIY space-saving vegetable gardens you can start in your own home.
- Mason Jar Herb Garden
- $5 Hanging Planter Hack
- DIY Wine Bottle Herb Garden (IKEA Hack)
- Wood Bead Planter
- Brass Ring Hanging Planter
- Claypot Vertical Hanging Garden
- Green DIY Wall Planter
- Modern Kitchen Herb Garden
- Upcycled Plant Hangers
- Vertical Succulent Garden
- Farmhouse Style Wall Planter
- Wood and Leather Trellis Plant Wall
- Succulent Driftwood Planter
- Indoor Hanging Herb Garden
- Chic Herb Garden in Cans
- Soda Bottle Vertical Garden
- Shoe Organizer Wall Garden
- Indoor Water Garden
- Baking Tin Wall Garden
- Gutter Gardens
