And fruits.
Modern technologies make it possible even for beginners to organize a vegetable garden on a windowsill in winter.
There are plenty for beginners practical advice from professionals and home nursery enthusiasts.
Once you learn the right approach, you can all year round pamper yourself with juicy vegetables and herbs without leaving home.
To create a small home garden in winter, you will need careful preparation:
- Plastic containers (cut bottles, glasses are suitable) or flower pots.
- Polyethylene to organize a mini-greenhouse.
- High-quality soil and fertilizers intended for vegetables and herbs.
- UV lamps for creating daylight.
- Thermometer to control the temperature of your home garden.
- A small watering can for watering the garden.
Soil can be purchased at any specialized gardening store. Then they need to fill the prepared containers and water so that the soil gets wet. Then the seeds or seedlings are planted. In case of seed planting, containers must be placed in warm place and cover with film to create a greenhouse effect until the crops begin to germinate.
As soon as the sprouts appear, the polyethylene must be removed to ensure air circulation and transferred to the windowsill, where the plants will have access to daylight.
Collateral quality plants And a successful home harvest is timely watering, fertilizing and access to daylight. Since there is little natural light in winter, you will need a daylight lamp.
If you don’t want to plant seeds, you can purchase already sprouted crops in the store and simply transplant them into containers at home.
Growing greens
Greens are not only a flavoring for many dishes, but also a source of vitamins that every body needs, especially in winter. You can grow absolutely any type of greenery on the windowsill.
Let's look at the most popular ones, which are very easy to plant at home.
Onion
You don't need to plant everything at once. It is enough to plant 7-10 heads, after 2 weeks the same number and so on.
Thus, you can provide yourself with onion greens all year round without interruption, and without cluttering all the window sills.
Watercress
Watercress, like green onions not whimsical and does not require a lot of attention in the indoor bed. It grows very quickly, which is important for home windowsill, already 2 weeks after planting you can enjoy the greenery.
In addition to taste, this type of salad has many useful properties for the body:
- improves blood circulation
- normalizes blood pressure
- promotes hemoglobin production
- saturates the body with vitamins A, B, C, E
Cress does not require special lighting or temperature regime. For him, a perfect environment is considered to be +15 degrees and above. The main thing is to water it all the time, since the plant dies from lack of moisture. For a constant harvest of greens, it is recommended to plant a portion of seeds once a week.
Lettuce
According to experts, two types of lettuce are ideal for gardening on a windowsill: Lollo Rossa and Lolla Bionda.
But these, unlike onions or watercress, require additional lighting.
To make the leaves juicy and soft, it is important to maintain neutral moisture; drought or excessive watering will lead to bitterness.
When the seeds begin to sprout, it is important to break them at a distance of 1-1.5 centimeters.
When the plants get stronger, the distance between them needs to be increased to 4 centimeters. In cramped conditions, the salad will weaken and will not produce juicy fruit leaves.
Considering the compactness and miniature nature of the garden, you should not wait until the leaves grow to full sizes. You can feast on young leaves by cutting them off in time and allowing new leaves to appear.
Parsley
This type of greenery is one of the most not picky and fast-growing. There are several ways to plant parsley:
- Sowing seeds. Seeds, previously soaked in Guma, are sown in a container with moistened and fertilized soil. Then they are covered with a layer of earth on top and placed in a warm place for germination. With the appearance of greenery, it can be rearranged on the windowsill. When planting this way, you need to know that parsley seeds germinate very slowly.
- Planting forcing - roots prepared in advance. This option is a little easier, since you don’t need to sow seeds. Medium-sized roots are planted in moist soil. Perfect as a container plastic box, container or flower pot.
Parsley does not require special watering or lighting. It is enough to moisten the soil as needed. This plant also does not need thinning.
Chives
So that all winter period chives pleased with a juicy harvest, it is necessary to carry out preliminary preparation. Onion peels should be planted in a container and sent to the balcony or basement. When the time comes to plant it on the windowsill, the preparations are brought into warm room. Feathers grow back very quickly.
As practice shows, you can get two harvests from one fruit, after which the plant deteriorates. Therefore, you need to prepare several containers for the winter.
There is no need to fill the chives with water, but you should not allow the soil to dry out either. When dry, the feathers become bitter and flower stalks form. For a high-quality harvest, it is recommended to add hydrogel to the soil before planting.
Basil
Basil is planted by cuttings or sown with seeds.
In both the first and second cases, an excellent harvest is obtained.
At temperatures from +18 and above, the seeds germinate on the 6th-7th day.
I take cuttings to take root from 10 to 15 days.
In the case of basil, it is better to use the sowing method.
This plant loves loose soil, and to create for him favorable conditions, coconut fibers are placed in a container with soil. They can be purchased at “Garden” stores.
Basil should be watered as needed, without allowing the soil to dry out. As for lighting, natural light conditions in winter are quite sufficient.
Mint
The easiest way to grow mint is on a windowsill, since it is not sensitive to light, moisture, or soil quality. Various types they get along well with each other, even if you plant assorted mint in one pot.
It is not recommended to sow mint seeds at home - it takes too long. It is better to buy seedlings with roots in a store or market. Mint takes root in 12–14 days, and then begins to grow quickly, spreading throughout the apartment incredible aroma.
Rosemary
The rosemary cuttings are immediately planted in the ground for rooting. There is no need to pre-plant it in water. You need to create a greenhouse on top - film or a glass jar will do. The root will get stronger in 2 weeks, then the “greenhouse” must be eliminated.
You need to put drainage at the bottom of the container with soil. Rosemary loves fresh air, but is afraid of a draft. There are no special instructions for watering this plant, but you need to sprinkle the leaves with water from time to time.
Growing vegetables
In addition to greens, you can grow them in the garden on the windowsill in winter. For beginners, the lighting should be of the highest quality possible so that there are no problems with the plants. Those who have previously practiced growing crops are already own experience they know which vegetable needs what kind of light.
cucumbers
It seems that growing cucumbers in an apartment is unrealistic. At the right approach and proper care everything is possible! Cucumbers are not very picky, so you can enjoy fresh salad in December and March.
Advantages of planting cucumbers on the windowsill:
- it's not difficult, even a beginner can easily cope with this task
- one and a half months after planting, you can enjoy juicy and healthy fruits
- You can provide your table with delicious fresh salads all year round
Before breeding in an apartment, it is important to know that not all varieties are suitable for this. It is better to give preference to self-pollinating, bush and shade-tolerant ones. The following varieties are suitable for this:
- Legend F1
- Marinda F1
- Connie F1
- Debut
- Athlete
- Babylon
- Claudia F1
To do this, you need to create favorable conditions so that the plant is quickly saturated with vitamins and soon bears fruit:
- Light. Cucumbers are photophilous, so natural light will not be enough for them. It is necessary to purchase fluorescent lamps to illuminate the plant when it gets dark outside or the weather is cloudy.
- Warm. For these plants, it is important to provide a regime from +20 to +24 degrees. At a lower temperature, the fruits will take a long time to ripen and will not turn out juicy and crispy.
- Moisture. Cucumbers do not tolerate drought either in the garden or on the windowsill. It is necessary to strictly monitor soil moisture.
Bush hybrids are best planted in a plastic container or flower pot (large). The seedlings are planted immediately. You can buy it, or prepare it in advance, in the fall.
You can watch the video on how to grow cucumbers and tomatoes on a windowsill:
Tomatoes
A tomato on the windowsill is the dream of every housewife. Bush indoor tomatoes not picky about moisture and temperature. They need to be watered as the soil dries and keep the temperature from +17 to +24 degrees. The room where the tomatoes are located can be ventilated, since, unlike cucumbers, they are not afraid of drafts. The following varieties of seedlings are best suited for the home garden:
- Balcony miracle
- Room surprise
- Betta
- Bansai
- Cherry
- Florida
- Talisma
As a rule, the seeds indicate that this variety is suitable for growing indoors.
To ensure that the tomato bush is beautiful and even, and the fruits ripen evenly, it is recommended to turn the pot with the tomato to the window in different directions every day.
Sweet pepper
bell pepper one of the most simple vegetables for growing at home.
It does not require special heating or lighting.
But the first fruits appear 6 months after the seed sprouts.
That is, in order to provide yourself with peppers, you can plant several bushes every month, which will result in an uninterrupted harvest.
Indoor varieties:
- Patio-Ivo - bright yellow juicy fruits
- Jupiter F1 – produces red and green fleshy peppers
- Oda is one of the most productive varieties sweet pepper
Initially, you need to sow the seeds and create a greenhouse for them. After sunrise, the sprouts are moved to a container with fertilized soil on " permanent place residence." Peppers are unpretentious, but require sun and warmth. Best mode for them it is +22-26 degrees. Additional lighting should also be present, since, after all, this is a southern plant.
It's better to fence sweet pepper from indoor bitter. Otherwise, hybrid pollination may occur, resulting in both varieties spoiling.
Hot pepper
Hot indoor peppers will bear fruit, regardless of the temperature and the presence of light. 3-4 hours of sun a day is enough or artificial lighting. After sunrise, the fruits appear in 8-10 weeks. One plant can bear fruit for up to five years. In addition, hot pepper is very beautiful and will complement any interior. Varieties that are suitable for the windowsill.
Modern apartments with large windows have all the conditions for obtaining greenery from a mini-garden. It is enough to make a little effort, choose a crop, buy seeds, prepare the soil and find suitable containers. Caring for plants will bring not only benefits, but also joy.
For growing herbs and vegetables on the window, boxes, flower pots or wide glassware. It is better not to use plastic of questionable quality, because it releases toxic substances that make plants sick and develop worse. If the aesthetic component is important, you can buy a special container for gardening on the windowsill. It has holes for draining excess water, and the length and width are sufficient even for tomato bushes.
Dimensions and location selection
The dimensions of the homemade box should be such that it fits on the windowsill and provides enough light for the plants. For example:
- height - 12−15 cm;
- width - 20−25 cm;
- length - 45−55 cm.
You need to decide on a location before growing greens. At home, in winter there is enough light only on the south and south-east windows. For tomatoes and cucumbers, natural light will not be enough, so you will have to buy lamps. Theoretically, the boxes can be placed anywhere, even in a dark room, but then powerful artificial lighting will be needed.
Soil preparation and sowing
Be sure to add a layer to the bottom drainage material. These can be pebbles, pebbles, coarse sand, small pieces of brick or expanded clay. Drainage is needed so that excess water does not stagnate in the lower layer of soil, but flows freely through the holes. The soil is prepared in advance. You can buy it in a store or dig it up on your site in the fall.
Shortly before sowing, the soil is watered with boiling water, and some gardeners steam it in the oven to kill all microorganisms and insect larvae. When the soil has cooled, pour it into a box, make grooves and lay out the seeds. Sprinkle a layer of approximately 0.7-1 cm on top. Water once a day or every other day, depending on the temperature and humidity in the room.
It is better to warm up the seeds of asparagus, parsley and dill before sowing. hot water and keep them in damp gauze for several days so that they germinate faster. These crops are considered slow to germinate, and without preparatory procedures you will have to wait 15-20 days for sprouts to appear.
From the first days, seedlings are protected from elevated temperatures. If there is a battery under the windowsill, it is covered with a shield, and a humidifier is used in the room. Dry air is harmful, as is over-humidified air. An optimal microclimate can be created using a damp cloth, spreading it directly on the radiator.
Lighting, watering and fertilizing
An ultraviolet lamp is used for illumination. Length daylight hours should be from 12 to 16 hours, and the time should be increased gradually, adapting to the natural cycle. The lack of light manifests itself as follows:
- elongated stems;
- thin leaves;
- pale color of all parts of the plant.
When there are light spots on the leaves, but the rest of the leaves have normal color, this is a fault. nutrients or a reaction to low acidity of water. If the soil is fertile and also enriched with nutrients, it means that water does not interact with other elements. Iron, manganese, phosphorus, boron, potassium and magnesium are not absorbed by plants. There is a way out: water with bottled water or add special liquids to the tap that regulate acidity (available in garden supply stores).
Parsley, lettuce, sorrel, dill and everything else that grows at home has a special taste. These products are obtained without the use of pesticides and chemicals. Young leaves reach the table fresh, and not two weeks after they were picked. Such grass better taste, it contains more vitamins.
What can you sow in winter?
All leafy vegetables grow well on the windowsill. If you try, there will be a harvest of tomatoes, cucumbers, and stevia. Here's what greens you can grow on a windowsill in winter:
Special requirements for conditions no herbs are presented. Growing greens on a windowsill in winter is not difficult for beginners, but to get a harvest of peppers or cucumbers, you will have to try.
Placing a mini-bed with this spice on the windowsill is a good idea. But there is a mistake that is common even among those who know how to grow dill. Not all varieties feel good at home, in winter and spring. It is recommended to sow the following:
- Kibray;
- Richelieu;
- Gribovsky;
- Grenadier.
What to choose depends on personal preference. Grenadier has an amazing taste and aroma, Gribovsky is resistant to diseases and lack of light, the Kibray variety is valued for its high content of vitamins, and Richelieu has beautiful lacy leaves. The soil is prepared as described above. The seeds are soaked for a day, changing the water every 5 hours, then dried on a napkin, laid out in longitudinal recesses and sprinkled. Another option (accelerated): keep the seeds in wet gauze for 4-5 days, then dry them to a free-flowing state and sow them in furrows.
After germination, provide illumination with a UV lamp, turning it on in the morning and evening or for the whole day. Fertilizers are applied with caution, because nitrates quickly accumulate in greenery. It’s better to use store-bought nutrient mixtures, and if you don’t want to take risks, you can water the plants with an infusion of used tea leaves. Mineral fertilizers cannot be used.
Sowing dill in winter is another way to provide your family with fresh herbs. In that case early spring The bed is covered with black spunbond so that the snow melts faster, and then arcs are installed and white covering material is pulled on.
Features of caring for parsley
It is worth growing curly spice, if only because it is rich in potassium, phosphorus, and vitamins B, A, and E. Parsley is good for the liver and eyesight, and the juice can lighten the skin and remove freckles. There is a high concentration in the seed coat essential oils, therefore, before sowing, they must be kept for several days in damp gauze, folded in several layers.
Early ripening varieties for growing parsley on a windowsill in winter:
- Fitness;
- Beads;
- Gloria;
- Vorozheya;
- Morning freshness;
- Fragrant alley;
- Green pearls;
- Aster;
- Grandmother's garden bed;
- Common leaf;
- Russian feast;
- Emerald lace.
For parsley, you need a container 20-22 cm high. Drainage is placed at the bottom, and steamed soil is poured onto it almost to the top. Make small grooves, leaving 10 cm between them. The seeds are buried 0.8−1 cm, and a little earth is sprinkled on top. Before the sprouts appear, the mini-bed is moistened with a sprayer, then watered with a watering can.
To get nutritious greens faster, you can prepare several dozen root vegetables in the fall. Then you won't have to wait for the seeds to germinate. The container needs to be of such a height that the roots fit freely into it vertically and do not stick out from the ground. It should be taken into account that over time the soil will settle a little. The cultivation scheme is simple:
- drainage is placed at the bottom;
- pour a small layer of soil;
- stick the roots vertically, leaving a small distance between them;
- fill the soil to the top;
- watered.
A saucepan is suitable for this purpose - 30-40 thin root vegetables or 15-20 thick ones are placed in it. In a rectangular container with dimensions slightly less area You can plant more than a hundred rhizomes on a windowsill. During the growing season, greens are cut several times. There is no need to feed anything, the main thing is to water it on time. This method is good for growing greens in an apartment for sale.
Grow vegetables on a windowsill not as easy as greens, but possible. If you don't make mistakes, everything will work out the first time. The main thing is to take into account all the recommendations and be patient: the fruits will not appear faster than nature intended. So, the first cucumbers can be harvested approximately 45 days after sowing the seeds. You will have to wait 3-4 months for tomatoes. From sowing to ripening, peppers take 5 to 6 months.
It all starts with choosing a variety or hybrid. Only self-pollinating ones are suitable, and those intended for closed ground. More convenient to cultivate bush varieties, since they do not climb, but produce almost the same amount of fruit per unit area as climbers. It is desirable that the variety be early. Best options:
- Babylon;
- Connie;
- Debut;
- Legend;
- Masha;
- Flight.
For illuminating seedlings recommended to use fluorescent lamps. Plants will develop well only on the south or southeast side; you shouldn’t even try on windows with a different orientation. The window sill should not be cold, minimum temperature The temperature at which cucumbers are able to grow and bear fruit is +20° C.
The soil should not dry out. To be on the safe side, you can place the container with the plants in a bowl of water: the soil will absorb as much as needed through the holes. It is also undesirable to over-moisten, because dampness - common reason warming the roots. Once or twice a day, the leaves are sprayed with a spray bottle. If climbing varieties are chosen for a mini-garden, over time they will need to be tied up, securing the upper part of the support to a slatted frame.
Cultivation of indoor tomatoes
Many bushes and hanging varieties tomatoes suitable for growing on balconies and window sills. Almost all of them grow successfully outside. For the home, it is better to buy seeds whose packaging is marked that they are intended for cultivation in pots. Suitable varieties:
Tomatoes are demanding of light and ventilation, while they cannot tolerate dry air, but too humid air is harmful for them. During growth they need to be fed several times using ready-made solution. The frequency of fertilizing and the concentration of the nutrient solution are according to the instructions.
If you provide the tomato good conditions, it will bear fruit for several years. In the fall, you need to trim off the fruit-bearing branches, leaving a few of the largest ones. Then the bush is transplanted into a pot larger size and left alone until mid-winter. Tomatoes can also be propagated by cuttings. The rooted shoot blooms in 3-4 weeks, after which it is cared for as usual.
Sweet and hot peppers
Caring for this crop the same, but there is one nuance: plants should be protected from drafts, otherwise the leaves turn yellow and fall off, and few or no ovaries are formed. It takes about six months from sowing to the ripening of the first peppers. To get the harvest faster, it is recommended to cut the shoots in the fall and immediately plant them in pots. Sweet peppers need lighting, even if they grow on a window or glassed-in balcony, but hot peppers feel good without it.
A home garden on a window or balcony is a great way to ensure a year-round supply of fresh herbs and vegetables. Plants fill the air pleasant aroma, and some also cleanse it of harmful microorganisms.
Half a century ago, growing vegetables and herbs in apartments was much more difficult. Not present everywhere central heating, most had wooden windows, the industry did not produce cute potted containers - we had to knock them together from scrap materials or use jars of sour cream.
Today for indoor garden Our apartments have all the conditions: uniform temperature, double glazed windows, large windows, wide window sills. And in stores for gardeners you can buy everything from soil and seeds to fertilizers and growth stimulants.
Table of aromatic plants that can be grown on a windowsill
It is easy to grow on a windowsill. The plant can be propagated by cuttings or sown with seeds. In winter, when the apartment is hot due to the heating being on, the seeds will sprout on the 7th day. Cuttings take root in about two weeks (if you use growth stimulants, faster). To make cuttings, you need to cut (or pinch off) a twig from a bush of an adult plant and place it in water. After 10-14 days, when the shoot takes root, it is transplanted into the ground.
Basil loves loose soil, so you need to add coconut fiber to the pot. The plant also loves light, high humidity and needs frequent trimming. The more often you pluck basil, the more luxuriantly and abundantly it grows.
Growing Chervil
Chervil is not picky about lighting conditions and loves shade. However, it needs regular watering - when dehydrated, chervil quickly goes into color, and the quality of the greenery deteriorates significantly. Grows on light soils with good drainage.
Chervil does not require special care. It is propagated by seeds, which are sown before winter in boxes to a depth of 1.5 cm. Before sowing, the seeds must be soaked in water for several hours to speed up germination. Shoots after sowing will appear in 12-14 days. Sowing is carried out either in furrows or scattered. When the seedlings grow to 5 cm, it is necessary to thin out and remove the most weak plants, and transplant the strong ones into individual pots.
Advice! In order for the harvest of chervil greens to be higher, it is necessary to remove flower stalks in a timely manner and prevent the plants from flowering.
Growing onions on a windowsill
Feather bows are best source vitamins
Feather onions are the best source of vitamins. Their feathers are delicate, juicy, and do not become coarse even a month after growing. They need regular watering fertile soil and timely loosening. Then their feathers will remain fresh and green for a long time.
Advice! To prevent the feathers of perennial onions grown on the windowsill from becoming smaller, it is necessary to rejuvenate the plant every three years and ensure that they do not thicken in the pot.
Regular onions are grown from the mother bulb or nigella. Chives are propagated by dividing the bush. Onion is best sown by seeds.
- For forcing in winter, summer bushes are dug up on the windowsill of chives and stored in sand or peat on a cold balcony or in a bag in the refrigerator until November. In November you can plant them in pots and keep them warm. By the beginning of winter there will be greenery.
- Nigella can be sown in the ground starting in the fall and throughout the winter. Onions for greens can also be planted in boxes with soil, or they can be germinated in water.
- Onion seeds are sown in boxes with soil to a depth of 2-3 cm. The soil is coconut fiber with vermicompost. Crops need to be covered with film until germination. Greens can be cut after two months. A batun sown with seeds will live on the windowsill for 2-3 years.
Marjoram and its cultivation in winter
Grows well from seeds. It is also possible to take cuttings and divide, subsequently replanting into other containers. When sowing seeds, take a large pot at once, and then pick the seedlings into cups and, as they grow, plant each bush in a separate pot.
Sowing is carried out to a depth of 0.5 cm. It is good to soak the seeds in potassium permanganate beforehand. In warm conditions, the seeds will sprout in 7-8 days. The temperature of keeping marjoram is normal room temperature. Special conditions and does not require special cultivation. Marjoram loves water very much, so it will have to be watered more often than other spicy plants.
Mint is a great idea for winter growing.
Mint is an unpretentious plant to grow indoors.
The simplest and most unpretentious plant to grow indoors is mint. Any of its varieties grows quickly and does not require special care. Usually grown in pots peppermint, because of its rich smell. Good idea– plant assorted mint in one container. The fragrant family gets along well with each other.
You can grow mint from seeds, but it will take a long time. You can get seedlings in a store or market (grandmothers often sell bunches of greenery with roots). Each seedling must be placed in its own pot. Don’t worry if the planting doesn’t look very decorative at first. After rooting, mint begins to grow very quickly. You won’t even notice how in a couple of months the thin sprout will turn into a fragrant bush.
Growing oregano on a windowsill in an apartment
This plant, in addition to culinary properties, also has healing properties. Aromatises the air and kills bacteria. Oregano is light-loving - it can only be grown in a sunny window. It does not like waterlogging and stagnation of water in the soil, so baking powder is added to the soil when planting. You can grow oregano from a seedling or sow it with seeds. The seeds of the plant are small, so they are not sown in the furrows, but distributed over the surface and lightly dusted with peat. The seeds will begin to sprout in the room in 12-14 days. The bush grows best in cool conditions - at +16...20° C.
Parsley and its cultivation on the windowsill in winter
For successful indoor growing parsley only needs a few conditions. The plant is sown with seeds in boxes. The soil must be fertile. Parsley loves moisture, so you should not place the box next to the radiator. Watering is done carefully so as not to erode the soil. The soil should not be allowed to dry out.
Advice! The temperature for parsley is the same as for oregano - +16° C...20° C. Both plants love light, so you can place them side by side.
If the room is cold, the growth of parsley will slow down, and if it is too hot, the leaves will dry out.
The first harvest can be harvested after 1.5 months, when the parsley has grown 8-10 cm.
Rosemary and how to grow it
A rosemary bush can appear on your windowsill in two ways - either you buy ready plant in a pot, or ask someone for a cutting.
Rooting of the cutting occurs in the soil (no need to put it in water). For a better effect, you can first hold the stem in a root solution. Landing takes cover glass jar for a period of about two weeks. This is how long it will take for rosemary to take root.
Rosemary needs light, drainage is placed at the bottom of the pot and fresh air without drafts is shown. This plant will not make any complaints about lack of moisture. He likes rare thorough watering and spraying of the leaves.
Stevia
Stevia is a natural sweetener
They started growing stevia on the windowsill recently. Mainly those who suffer from diabetes and need natural sweeteners. The plant turned out to be so unpretentious that many beginning gardeners wanted to have it on their windowsill. Stevia leaves are used for tea, to add sweetness to any dessert or other dish, and also for medicinal purposes.
The plant needs light sandy soil, large pot volume, constant intense lighting and heavy watering. Stevia should be watered with boiled water. She loves heat up to +25° C and frequent pruning as soon as the bush reaches 25 centimeters.
Growing dill on a windowsill in winter
Dill grows well and quickly. The main thing is that he has enough nutrition, light and moisture. The plant reproduces by seeds. Before sowing dill seeds, you need to add sand to the soil. Seeds are sown in boxes. Wide grooves are made at a distance of 5 cm from each other.
Having previously moistened the soil, the seeds are sown thickly and covered with peat.
Advice! There is no need to water the soil in the box after sowing, otherwise the seeds will become buried and there will be no seedlings.
Dill should be grown on a windowsill, where enough sunlight. Plant care will consist of thinning, regular watering and loosening the soil. To avoid early flowering dill, you need to provide it with abundant watering.
Thyme
Thyme should be grown in shallow but wide containers, no more than 15-20 cm deep. When sowing, the seeds are buried no more than 10 mm, carefully covered with soil, well moistened and kept moist all the time until germination. Under no circumstances should the soil be allowed to dry out, otherwise the seedlings will die.
Advice! To maintain a humid microclimate, it is recommended to cover thyme crops with film or glass.
Thyme is drought-resistant. You can water it no more than three times a month, with an interval of 8-10 days. To make the plant bush more actively, the central shoots are pinched.
Tarragon
Tarragon not only flavors sweet drinks, but also goes well with meat, fish, vegetables in salads, is added to soups and sauces, and is used in canning.
Tarragon is propagated in three ways - vegetatively (dividing the mother bush into several parts), seeds and cuttings. Cuttings are cut and rooted, like other plants. The bush, divided in the fall, is planted in separate pots. After rooting, about five months pass before the first leaves are removed.
It is best to grow tarragon with seeds in an apartment. They need to be sown at the end of winter. Shoots will appear in 18-20 days.
Start growing herbs on your windowsill. You can always find a sprig of fragrant dill for soup or a mint leaf for tea. In addition, your home will be filled with essential oils and healing aromas, and the air will become fresh and cleared of all harmful impurities.
Video - Greenery on the windowsill
When dacha worries are already behind us, and winter is about to come, many who like to work on the land begin to miss their beds and greenhouses. Therefore, if spring is still far away, but you really want to take up your favorite hobby, there is only one way out - to set up a home garden on the windowsill and think about what you can grow on the windowsill in winter. Such small vegetable gardens are very popular now. Moreover, they give their owners not only the pleasure of contemplating them, but also high-quality vitamins in the winter.
To set up such a mini-garden, you can use a variety of containers: trays, pots, bowls, vases, boxes and even buckets. It all depends on your imagination and the size of the window sill.
The first thing that comes to mind when asked about what can be grown on a windowsill is onions. Even if you just put the onion in a glass of water (this is called a beautiful word"hydroponics"), green fragrant arrows will appear very soon. And if you do everything according to the rules, then fresh tasty greens will always decorate your table.
Green onions grow quickly, are certainly healthy, contain a lot of vitamins, and do not require special care. This is simply an ideal inhabitant of home gardens on the windowsill.
Small onion sets, which have very soft and tender shoots, grow best on the windowsill. For its cultivation it is preferable to use shallow plastic box, and add bulbs there regularly - every two to three weeks. Then you will always have your own greens on the table.
If you plant pre-sprouted bulbs, the harvest will appear very quickly. If you don’t have time to bother with forcing, it’s okay - the onion will sprout just fine directly in the ground, you’ll just have to wait a little longer.
There is no need to do any special procedures when growing onions on a windowsill; just water them abundantly. The bulbs should be planted close to each other, slightly buried in the ground.
The optimal temperature for onions is 20 - 22 degrees. He doesn't like heat.
If you don't have much space on your windowsill, you can get creative with growing onions and try to use vertical method. Friends and family will love it! 
At home, in your apartment, dill feels just as wonderful as in the open-air garden beds. It grows quickly, smells delicious and does not require special effort when growing. Just choose dill seeds of some undemanding variety. For example, Grenadier or Richelieu.
The soil for growing dill should be fertile and soft, and the growing container should be deep enough. It is necessary to add drainage to the bottom.
Before sowing, it is advisable to soak the dill seeds for about a day in warm water, and change it periodically - about once every five hours. Then your seeds will germinate faster.
You can sow dill simply on the ground, without any depth. You can lightly sprinkle some soil on top. Cover the box or pot in a plastic bag and put it in a dark, cool room for a week. Then place the container with the seedlings on a bright windowsill and wait for the harvest.
Periodically, the seeds need to be added to form fresh dill shoots. Dill needs to be watered abundantly and illuminated with a lamp, since this plant loves light and gets dark early in winter.
Any variety of parsley is suitable for growing on a windowsill, but if you want to get the harvest early, choose early ripening varieties— Astra, Gloria, Beads, etc.
Before planting, it is advisable to soak parsley seeds for 2-3 days and change the water periodically. You need to plant the seeds in moist soil, shallowly - maximum 0.5 cm. The seeds can be lightly sprinkled with earth on top. When parsley will sprout, the soil should not be allowed to dry out. Parsley loves light, loose and fertile soil.
Parsley likes temperatures that are not very high, no higher than 20 degrees. Then she feels comfortable. And parsley loves airing.
Seeds planted too often should be thinned out, then the greens will be juicier. If you don't do this, the parsley will first stretch out too much and then fall to the ground.
Parsley loves light, so in winter, like dill, it should be illuminated with a lamp.
Watercress
Another “record holder” for ease of growing on windowsills in the home garden is watercress. As for taste, this is a crop for everyone, like cilantro, but in terms of usefulness it can compete with parsley. And in terms of ease of cultivation and growth rate - with onions.
Failure when growing watercress is almost completely eliminated, so even children can cultivate it. It sprouts very quickly, and less than a month after planting it can already be eaten.
It requires virtually no light, grows well even in low winter light, and is not at all afraid of the cold. True, the plant loves moist soil, and you must not forget to water it.
Watercress is also undemanding to the soil; it grows on both sandy and clay soils. If you don’t have space on the windowsill, you can sow watercress seeds in a pot of any house plant as ground cover plant, he will feel great there.
If your watercress does grow on a window, use small trays for it. You can do without soil at all. Place a layer of cotton wool in the trays and wet it. Just make sure that the cotton wool is damp and not wet, because excess moisture this culture doesn't like it.
Next, place the watercress seeds directly on the wet cotton wool and place the trays with the seeds on the windowsill. Periodically moisten the cotton wool, ventilate the room in which the trays are located, and after a week you can enjoy fresh shoots or add them as seasonings.
Some people really like this seasoning with its pungent aroma. It goes amazingly well with meat and is a wonderful addition to any dish. Growing cilantro on a windowsill in an apartment is not difficult.
Containers for growing cilantro can be anything. It can be planted in pots, trays, boxes, as long as the soil is loose and moist.
Cilantro prefers diffused light, but it can also grow on windowsills where direct light falls. sun rays. In summer, natural light is enough for her, but in winter, when it gets dark early, boxes with cilantro need to be illuminated, otherwise it will grow poorly and slowly.
Cilantro is also undemanding to temperature changes. This culture grows at both 10 and 30 degrees, except that at higher temperatures flower stalks appear faster.
The seeds should immediately be planted directly into the soil, deepened by 1.5 - 2 cm. Cilantro should not be planted very close to each other, as the bushes grow. It is advisable to cover the container with polyethylene on top so that the soil does not dry out - cilantro loves humidity.
The seeds will sprout in ten days. It is necessary to constantly maintain moisture and ensure that the soil does not dry out. Moreover, you should water the cilantro quite generously. If the soil dries out, the cilantro will not die, but its taste will deteriorate significantly.
Growing champignons at home
IN recent years Growing oyster mushrooms and champignons at home has become very popular. However, this is a much more complex and costly process than growing greenery on a windowsill. Although mushrooms grown by you yourself cannot be compared with store-bought ones.
Before you start growing champignons, you should soberly assess your capabilities. You will need space, materials, mycelium, time and patience.
If you have a basement or cellar, consider that you have the space. Champignons grow at temperatures no higher than 20 degrees, so in the spring they can be safely grown outside. But the room needs to be maintained at about 15 degrees, and the humidity should be moderate.
Basic requirement for successful cultivation champignons - substrate. It consists of:
- urea;
- manure;
- alabaster flour;
- straw;
- gypsum;
- chalk;
- superphosphate.
All these substances (except gypsum and chalk) are laid in layers in compost pit and bask in the sun for a week. Then they shake it with a pitchfork to allow oxygen to enter, after which gypsum and chalk are added.
The compost preparation time is about a month. The growth of your mushrooms depends on the quality of the resulting substance.
After this, the compost is placed in boxes where the champignons will grow. After this, making sure that the compost is warm (about 28 degrees), the mycelium is placed in the boxes, deepening it by about 5 cm.
After planting, the room where the boxes with mycelium are located should have enough high temperature- 24 - 28 degrees. Don’t expect any sprouts, because the champignons first form a mycelium inside the compost.
The humidity should also be high, but the compost should not be watered. Its surface simply needs to be sprayed with water from a spray bottle.
After about two weeks, the mycelium is formed, and then the mushrooms will begin to grow upward. Therefore, the temperature is reduced and soil is added to the top of the boxes. Add it to about 5 cm.
The soil consists of:
- loam;
- sandstone:
- turf land;
- peat
After this, moistening the soil, maintaining a temperature of approximately 20 degrees and sufficient high humidity By ventilating the room, you can expect the first mushrooms in about a month. They will grow intensively for 2-3 weeks.
Champignons do not need any additional lighting at all and can grow even in the dark. However, light does not harm them either.
It is better not to cut off grown champignons with a knife, but to carefully twist them out of the ground, holding them by the cap.