Meet my indoor tower garden.
I love her.
She's all cleaned up and ready to begin a new grow season. Based on my experience so far, I have some changes in mind for this time around:
Leave out the "fruiting" fruits and veggies. Last year, my cucumber attempt produced very few fully formed cucumbers amid a ridiculous amount of plant growth. [If you haven't seen cucumbers grow, they're super fun to watch because they grow these little tendrils to reach out for support from literally whatever is around them.] But, it felt a little too wild for inside the house. We actually added a trellis at one point to offer the plant something to grab onto besides the other plants as it was strangling those surrounding. Plus, like many "fruiting" plants, they are major water hogs and sun suckers. When the plant was at its biggest, I was adding water approximately every five days (as opposed to once a week) and regularly having to trim the cucumber leaves back so the other plants had light too. The picture below provides a glimpse of why cucumbers are best suited for outdoor gardens at my house.
2. Focus on the GREENS. You can probably notice from the picture here that leafy greens grow fantastically in the garden.
This year my goal is to harvest greens for smoothies and salads whenever I want, and that means adding more variety to increase flavor options and nutrient availability. A co-worker introduced me to the Rareseeds online heirloom seed store. It is incredible! There are so many fun options. Plus, I love their mission of "a sustainable food supply for everyone" that also allows "farmers and gardeners to not only save their own seeds, but encourages sharing and trading". This is NOT typical in the seed world.
They also have a YouTube channel where we can learn more about growing Rareseeds!
3. Grow MORE Herbs!
Last year, I only grew basil and even having just that herb was awesome. I made a ton of kale pesto and I started adding basil to sandwiches and other dishes. This year, I'm adding a few others that I think will really add a little something extra to my life: mint (watching closely for spreading as some mint grows wild, and will absolutely take over it's environment), oregano, and cilantro.
I will need the following to re-start my garden.
You may notice that there is no soil in the picture above. The tower garden that I have is not a soil based garden. That's why you see the vermiculite and bottles of nutrients. The vermiculite will take the place of the soil as far as seed coverage and the liquid nutrients will provide the garden with the nutrients it needs to grow (as well as pass on to us when we eat the plants) just like soil does in a traditional garden setting.
The tower garden is a self-contained system in that once the seedlings, water, and nutrients are added, it's more or less good to go with a small amount of continued maintenance. Grow lights operate on a timer setting and the water is provided by a pump that pulls the water up from the tank at the bottom and releases it to cascade throughout the center, flowing back to the tank. Way less water is needed for these types of gardens. That's a major positive attribute of tower gardens, in my opinion.
My tower holds 16 gallons of water and will function adequately until the floater indicates the tank is only half full. Depending on the season, filling the tank typically ranges (not counting cucumber growth) from once a week to twice a month.
NEXT UP: "Meet The Seedlings" and "New Season Start-Up". Fingers crossed for a healthy grow season.
I’m very excited to see your Tower Garden success. You’re correct to watch that the mint doesn’t take over. I’d recommend planting it low on the Tower and keeping the roots that will grow down into the reservoir trimmed so they do t get into the pump. 😊. Happy growing!