FAQ

Is there an ideal windowsill I should put my plants in?

Some would say that a south-facing window is best, and in for plants that like lots of sun, that’s where they should go.  It really depends on the individual plant’s needs, though.  Some can only tolerate indirect sunlight, some need full, etc.  Grow lights are also very helpful.

If you know for sure where you want to put a plant, feel free to pick one that is best suited for that environment.  Kind of talking about gardening in general, you just need to pay attention to what plants are best for different conditions.  Each plant has different care requirements, so if you follow those, it should be fine.

What should I grow?

Indoors, you can probably grow just about anything, within reason (growing a full-size tree may be a titch difficult, for example…).  You can manipulate its environment with heat lamps, terrariums, etc., and like the first question, it all just depends on meeting the individual plant’s care requirements.  Of course, some plants just are better suited to life outside (thinking corn/deep-rooted plants, things that need to be pollinated by animals (unless you want to do it yourself), and so on, and so forth…). 

As this is a blog about indoor gardening, I would recommend keeping plants on the smaller side.  You can pick plants according to how much time you’re willing to devote to them (ex, cactus versus jasmine), or do like me and go on a whim every once in a while.

All of these websites say for special kinds of soil mixes for different plants…?

And I always feel guilty for not following them.  Seriously though, I’m a poor college kid.  I don’t have money to waste buying four different types of soil for one plant.  I get a good potting soil (I prefer Miracle Gro varieties…) that I use for all of my plants, both indoors and out.  If it requires a dryer soil, you could either raid a playground sandbox, or have a larger amount of pebbles at the bottom of the container (and mixed in the soil). 

   

What about fertilizer?

When I first started working with plants, it was for 4-H projects.  The judge would always, always ask how often I fertilized it.  Over the years I learned to have a poker face when I answered this (“Yup,” I’d say.), and knew I was supposed to water it every month or couple weeks or so, even though I had never done it in my life.  Turns out, fertilizing does actually help.  I don’t ever do it often enough, but I know enough that I have a box of it in the dorm closet.  Even a small box lasts forever, so it’s more worth it that way, too. 

But if not, it’s totally okay.  While the plants probably won’t be as big as they could be with regular fertilizing, they’re certainly not going to keel over dead because you didn’t give them food.  (If you never re-pot the plants, though, that could very well be the case; the nutrients in the soil run out after a while and need to be replenished, which is where fertilizer specializes.)

IT DIED.

I’m sorry.  *hug*  The best you can do now is figure out where you went wrong, and try to fix it next time… Check out some reputable gardening websites (… this is a blog, written by a clueless college kid) for care instructions.