Every gardener who starts indoor gardening faces one of the biggest challenges: space. In most New York apartments, space is very limited, and it can influence the type of garden you have and the type of plants you choose to grow.
Before you give up on your dream, you need to know there are options to make your dream come true without compromising anything.
It is possible to maximize even the smallest space, whether it’s a balcony, raised beds, or stacked containers. In this article, we explore the best indoor vertical gardening tips for small apartments and how to set it up.
What is an Indoor Vertical Garden?
Before we get into the best vertical gardening tips for small apartments, let’s look at what is a vertical garden.
In simple terms, vertical gardening is building a garden that is vertical instead of horizontal to take advantage of small spaces. This allows you to grow more plants than you would have. In the next sections, we will look at some examples of an indoor vertical garden and examples of pre build options you can customize.
Why Start a Vertical Indoor Garden?
So why should you start a vertical indoor garden in the first place? Let’s look at some of the benefits.
1. It is easier to maintain
A traditional garden takes up more space and is harder to maintain. On the other hand, a vertical garden takes less space and has a trickledown effect where water trickles down from top to bottom. Thus, you need less time to maintain your garden.
2. Saves space
With an indoor vertical garden, you can grow more plants in less space. By stacking the plants upwards, you have more space than you would horizontally, meaning you can have a large garden in your small apartment.
3. It has an aesthetic appeal
A vertical indoor garden is beautiful and adds flair to your apartment. Choose a focal point in the space you and your guests will love to look at.
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How to Start a Vertical Indoor Garden
Now that you have an idea of what a vertical indoor garden looks like, now let’s get into some examples. The option you choose depends on the space you have.
1. Pocket vertical garden
Pocket garden is one of the best types of vertical gardens. They have adequate space to grow the plants and save you space. You can buy premade solutions on Amazon.
2. Hanging vertical garden
This is also a good option for hanging planting pots to reach others to maximize space. You can hang them in hooks on the wall or fence or drill them into the wall if you want a permanent fixture. You just need a way to catch dripping water from other plants to prevent water puddles in the apartment. Buy hanging pots on Amazon.
3. Shelf vertical garden
This is one of the easiest indoor vertical garden ideas to implement. The shelves are larger than pots and make the best use of space. You can use standard shelves or pallets to plant different plants and seedlings. They look more traditional but also save space. They look great and take less time to maintain. Buy indoor planting shelves from Amazon.
4. Elevated containers
You don’t have to place containers on the ground level. Arrange them above a flower bed to give more space to grow other plants. Mount some containers on railings to add more space to the balcony. Stack the containers to create a gardening tower ideal for trialing plants. Buy a metal stand to place your plants from Amazon.
5. Trellises
Take advantage of the vertical garden to grow climbing plants and allow their vines to grow up the trellises. Choose wood, plastic, wire, or string trellises to support plants as they grow.
6. Green walls
Creating a full green wall is a great way to make a vertical indoor garden. Use small pots or containers like mason jars, plastic bottles, and tins and attach them to the fence or wall to maximize every inch of space.
How to Choose Plants for Your Vertical Garden
Consider plants with shallow root systems because they can grow in small containers. The best plants to grow in an indoor vertical garden include herbs and vegetables such as kale or lettuce. Avoid deep root plants such as fruits because they need much more space to grow.
Plants that thrive in vertical spaces include cucumbers, cilantro, basil, butternut, pumpkin, chives, kale, lettuce, mint, spinach, radishes, tomatoes, peas, garlic, and chili peppers. You can also plant colorful flowers and succulents to beautify your small space.
Choose the right size of containers. Small containers are best suited for small plants because they need fewer nutrients. But if the plant is large, use a large pot. Choose containers with a good drainage system to prevent excess moisture that would cause root rot.
How Do You Maintain an Indoor Vertical Garden?
Watering system
To take care of the plants, you need the same care regime as other gardens. However, in this case, you need a system of watering. Try to recycle water from top to bottom. You can also recycle fertilizer so that the plants get residual nutrients from each other.
Vertical gardens dry more quickly than an outdoor “traditional’ garden, so they need more water. Group plants that have similar water requirements to make your work easier.
Supply and regulate the nutrients.
Use a good fertilizer to provide adequate nutrients to your plants. Choose the right one for the type of plants. For example, edible leafy greens need a different fertilizer than flowers.
Rotate plants
Rotate plants regularly to ensure they have the same sun exposure by moving pots or containers or changing arrangements to a more suitable location when the seasons change. Keep the taller plants higher to increase the indoor vertical gardening space.
Final Thoughts
Once you think upwards in terms of your garden, you’ll be surprised at how much space you have and how many plants can fit in your indoor garden. Hopefully, the above tips have given you an idea of how to start indoor vertical gardening and have inspired you to get started. Have you tried indoor vertical gardening? Do share your thoughts or other tips that we may have missed in the comments section.
FAQs
Three options for a vertical garden include green walls, standing shelves, or pocket gardens. These are all good options for climbing plants.
You need structures such as fences, hanging baskets, shelves, walls, or containers to make it easy to have a vertical garden.
Vertical gardening has numerous benefits, such as saving space and being easy to maintain. But the potential drawbacks are that it needs a careful watering system, unlike other types of gardens,, and has limited plant selection options.
Choose high quality soil that does not hold on to excess water and is aerated, and select a well draining pot to prevent root rot.
You need just a few feet of space for a vertical garden because it takes less space than a traditional garden.
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