After the end of the season, most owners of garden plots experience some stress. They are not only cut off from the usual digging in the beds( and for many it's a pleasure), but they are also deprived of the opportunity to bring home "all their own", grown with their own hands. If you organize a mini-garden on the windowsill, fresh greens, vegetables and even strawberries to the table are always guaranteed, even in winter.
This article will tell you how to properly organize the cultivation of crops at home and will be interesting not only to experienced summer residents, but also to beginning gardeners.
Choosing a place for a home garden
It seems to be decided - on the windowsill. But what kind? From the point of view of comfortable conditions for plants, the garden is better organized in the kitchen. The air in it is never dry, and temperature values do not jump much.
How to equip it? If it is planned to grow crops in the mini-garden, which intensively develop upwards( for example, tomatoes), you will have to think about the garter of the bushes. For this it is more convenient to place trellises on the slopes. Simply put, these are long thin slats with fasteners placed on them, used for stretching strings along the windowsill( twine, nylon cord).
This solution is much better than drill a number of holes( vertically) in each slope, install dowels and screw in screws( screws).Fixation of each trellis is made( depending on the length) in only 2 - 3 points. And if you need to pull an additional string, you do not have to touch the slopes, as new fasteners are easy to install on the trellis.
Selection of seeding pots
Material
It is hardly advisable to knock down drawers independently. Wood requires systematic care, including regular painting. Numerous glass jars on the windowsill will not decorate it. It is much more practical to use industrial products made of plastic. But with clay pots, given their overall weight( with drainage and soil), it will be uncomfortable to work.
Dimensions
Much depends on which culture will be grown. But if we talk about the averaged parameters of the container for the mini-garden, they are the following( in cm): length - 45( ± 5), width - 25( ± 5), height of the sides - 14( ± 2).
Organization of lighting
Obviously, natural lighting, especially in winter, is not enough for a home garden. Required illumination. How to organize it? Selling devices( phytolamps), designed specifically for additional illumination of containers with seedlings at home. An excellent option, but their cost for most ordinary gardeners is unacceptable. Is there an alternative?
The best of the economical options for a mini-garden are LED lamps. With a small en / consumption, they provide high-quality lighting for a certain segment. What are the disadvantages of other types of lamps?
- Halogen - excessive heating.
- Nakalivaniya - the efficiency is low, but the meter twists quite intensively. The profitability of such a garden is in doubt.
- Fluorescent - at home they are not recommended for use because of the increased content of mercury. Inaccurate handling of the device will cause many problems.
And how much to put the instruments, how to arrange them, is solved on the spot, depending on the size of the home garden.
Manufacturing of the
rack. Perhaps, we will have to deal with this as well. If everything that you want to grow on a home garden, on the windowsill does not fit, then all the capacities can be placed on several levels. How to do it, to clarify it does not make sense - it's easier nowhere. Possible options: № 1 - in the form of a prefabricated structure by the type of the bookcase, №2 - fix on the slopes of the horizontal supports, on which the shelves for the placement of containers with seedlings will be laid.
Which engineering solution for the garden to choose is decided on the spot, since in different houses, especially old buildings, window openings can vary greatly in size, including the depth of the niche.
Nuances of
- rack construction To ensure good circulation of air masses at all levels, a gap should be left between the sill and the lower shelf.
- Distances between the "floors" should be such that the adult plant does not rest on the overlying shelf. Since the home garden is supposed to grow different crops, you first need to determine the scheme of placing boxes, and only then draw a drawing of the rack.
- Plants on each level should be well illuminated. Therefore, it is necessary to provide the correct arrangement of fixtures.
- On each floor it is necessary to mount a kind of barriers. For example, to fix horizontal restrictive slats. This will prevent accidental dropping of the packaging on the floor. For example, with a sharp, sloppy hand movement during watering, loosening the soil and so on.
The main recommendations for organizing a home garden are given. Everything else - at the discretion of the hosts. It will take necessary equipment, but basically everything necessary( for irrigation, loosening of soil and the like) is in every house, since a rare housewife does not have at least a couple of pots of flowers in the dwelling. And what else to buy, the reader will decide himself.
Practical recommendations
For a home vegetable garden, it is better not to use soil from a garden plot. There is a risk that pests will be in the soil. In the shops a large selection of different mixtures, and they are inexpensive. There are opinions that it is better to prepare the soil for seedlings by yourself, since in the store it does not always correspond to the norm. From the author's point of view, this is not entirely correct. Firstly, it is unlikely that it will be possible to carry out a reliable disinfection of the soil itself. Secondly, if you buy a primer in a specialized store, then the risk( in terms of poor quality) is minimal.
In one container, different crops do not land. First, some can not co-exist with each other. Secondly, the conditions for their normal development tend to be somewhat different.
Ready-made sets of home garden
There are many domestic devices for growing garden / garden crops at home. All that is needed is to be installed in the allotted space and "charged".For those who are more concerned with the aesthetic component of the garden on the windowsill - a good option. Here are some samples.
Hydroponic garden bed
For sale under the name "Onion Happiness".This domestic design is designed to germinate 20 bulbs and consists of a reservoir for water, a nebulizer, a compressor and a connecting hose. The manufacturer promises that every month to the table will be 1.5 kg of fresh( green) onions. The price is 1 280 rubles.
Hydroponic installations
Are intended for cultivation of various cultures, including, and berries. Many places will not occupy and fit even on the windowsill. The models are very different, therefore, it will not be possible to choose the optimal variant of labor. For example, "Home Garden."
With the help of such a device, not only vegetables, but also strawberries are grown. The average cost of installation is from 9 460 rubles. Operation is simplified by the fact that you do not have to prepare the soil yourself and pick up fertilizers. On sale there are various ready-made sets( soil + feeding) for growing many cultures in the home.
Their price varies between 370 - 848 rubles.
Information with excess. It remains only to make a concrete decision and proceed with the arrangement of a home mini-garden. Good harvest!
