Of course, not all vegetables will do well in containers. But quite a number will do rather well, as many vegetable plants really don’t grow all that large.

Tomatoes are perhaps the classic vegetable to grow in a container. They do well in at least 5 gallon buckets. Sugar lumps are a personal favorite. They’re really small, around 3/4 to 1-1/2 inches in diameter and grow in clusters. They’re just fun to pick and eat.

While most of my garden this past year really didn’t go too well, our beans did adequately. They were grown in a window box style container placed on the ground, with a trellis attached to the house for them to climb.

Broccoli can do pretty well at about one plant per 5 gallon container. Growing this at home can be a great way to get the kids to eat it.

So long as the soil is at least a foot deep, you can even grow carrots in containers. After all, they don’t so much need a lot of soil around them as they do need deep soil, at least to the depth they want to grow. Similarly, beets, onions and garlic can be grown in containers so long as you give them the depth they need.

Lettuce, cabbage, spinach, cauliflower… any of these can be grown in containers. It’s just a matter of giving them the right size container and not crowding them.

There’s really nothing like growing your own vegetables, and a yard is not a prerequisite. What you really need is sunshine, dirt and dedication. Ok, seeds, water and all that help too.

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Fortunately, it’s not that hard to grow beautiful plants indoors. You may be somewhat limited in what you can grow – no tall trees or string beans, but you can easily beautify the inside of your home with plants.

An indoor garden helps to purify the air inside your home, so it’s quite beneficial in addition to being attractive. Plants also provide an atmosphere in which it is easier to relax.

There are many plants you can easily grow indoors. Just visit your local garden center and you’ll see plenty of plants suggested. They will include zebra plants, ferns, cacti, some varieties of roses, money plant and many others.

You’ll want to pay attention to the needs of your houseplants. Some will need sun, and you should place them near windows with the curtains or blinds open during the day, so that they remain healthy. Others can get by on whatever light they get in your house.

Most houseplants need watering about once a week. An easy test is to feel about an inch into the soil. If it’s dry, it’s watering time.

I strongly recommend avoiding chemicals on plants inside your home. Whatever gets into the air will be pretty much trapped inside your home, making the air less healthy. This can be particularly important for people who are sensitive to chemicals and may react.

Of course, an indoor garden doesn’t have to be strictly decorative plants. Indoor herb gardens are quite popular, and some vegetables are available in small enough varieties to grow indoors as well.

Whatever you decide to grow, you want to keep it in an appropriately sized pot. Too small a pot or too large a pot is unhealthy for a plant, as well as just looking awkward. You should repot your indoor plants every two years or so.

Technorati Tags: indoor gardening, herb garden, indoor plants, houseplants

If you take a look at the pictures of my garden elsewhere on this site, you can see that I’ve taken container gardening to something of an extreme – my containers are about 8 feet long and allow me to have a pretty decent vegetable garden. We did it this way because there was no easy way to plant a vegetable garden in the home we are renting, but really wanted to show our children where vegetables come from.

Most container gardens, however, are done in much smaller containers. The exact size depends on the needs of the plant involved.

Many plants are small enough to do well in smaller containers, allowing you to hang them or place them on your patio, or even indoors. They can be a part of your home’s decor or a fun way to grow just a few vegetables.

The containers can be arranged to bring out the beauty of all the plants. Larger plants can be behind smaller ones or you can use a tiered display to hold similarly sized plants at different levels.

You don’t have to limit yourself to vegetables and herbs in your container garden. The plants don’t even have to flower to look beautiful. Choose based on where you want to grow them (indoor, outdoors, lots of sun or just a little), how much care you are willing to take of them and what plants you just like to look at. Done right these plants will be with you a very long time.

One of the nice things about growing plants indoors is that you don’t get very many weeds at all. That saves quite a bit of maintenance.

Don’t choose your plants based on the pot they are in at the garden store. You will want to repot them with a good potting soil when you get them home, and that is the time to choose your pot. Many plants will come to you in a root bound condition, so they will need a larger pot than the one you purchased them in.