The Healthiest Soils For Indoor Gardening
Choosing the right soil for your indoor garden is important. Most novice indoor gardeners don't know which types of soil to use and may think using regular garden soil is good enough. However, using common soil will not provide your indoor plants with the proper nutrients and minerals to keep them thriving. There are a number of reasons why you shouldn't use ordinary garden soil for indoor gardening. Outdoor soil often contains diseases and insects that are harder to control in a confined indoor area, and even the highest-quality garden soil can become compacted in containers.
There are many kinds of potting soil made specifically for indoor gardening. Most of these products are comprised of peat moss, perlite and bark. Perlite, resembling tiny white pellets, is a form of volcanic glass, and is included in the mixture to keep it from becoming too dense. Most potting soils don't actually contain any soil, and therefore they are lacking in vital nutrients. Therefore it's important that you fertilize your plants regularly when they're planted in this type of growing medium.
High-quality potting soil mixes sometimes contain slow-release fertilizers, which take care of a plant's nutritional requirements for several months. There is also something called sterile potting soil which has been subjected to high temperatures to kill the bacteria and weed seeds in it. The only downside to this type of potting soil is that the high heat destroys the good bacteria in it as well.
If you're not quite satisfied with the potting mix varieties you're finding at your local nursery or hardware store, you can always make your own. You'll need topsoil, sharp sand and leaf mold or compost to make a good soil that almost anything will grow in. You may be able to find these items around your front or backyard, or you can purchase them separately from the grocery store. And, if you're growing vegetables and herbs and want the flavor to really stand out, you can add organic fertilizer to the mix to make sure that your crop is especially green and healthy.
You should also make sure that you're using good compost, especially if you're growing organic seed fruits or vegetables. Compost has all the vital nutrients your plant will need to grow strong and you can purchase organic varieties of compost as well.
An indoor greenhouse is easy to set up and maintain, and is available in an assortment of sizes and materials to suit every home and budget. You can make a DIY indoor greenhouse, or buy one of the many pre-fab structures available.
