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Sometimes you want to go out onto the balcony, like Jamie Oliver, pick up your own grown vegetables and herbs and make something stunning out of them. And the balcony, by the way, looks much nicer if it contains not old pieces of iron that should be sent to a landfill, but aromatic herbs and vegetables.
website chose several interesting plants, which take root well on a windowsill or balcony.
You can grow hot pizza peppers Diablo on your windowsill. It will require a warm, bright place and varieties suitable for home grown: “Carmen”, “Flint”, “Ogonyok”, “Rowanushka”, “Bride”, “Indian Summer”, etc.
The bushes are very cute and do not require large pots. One plant can bear up to 50 fruits. Optimal temperature- 25-27 degrees Celsius.
To grow carrots at home, it is better to take mini-varieties such as Parmex, Sofi, and Vnuchka. They grow in 80-90 days and do not require much space - they are quite happy with a pot or container. You can also take a funny one round variety"Round Baby"
The soil for carrots should be light and well-drained. The vegetable can be grown in trimmed plastic bottles. The optimal temperature is within 13-24 degrees Celsius.
Mint is a non-capricious and undemanding plant. It can grow on your windowsill or balcony even in winter, if you provide additional lighting. It can be grown from cuttings and seeds. If you have the opportunity to dig up cuttings at your own or friends’ dacha, it is better to use this method. Mint grown from seeds is not as widely accepted, and you will have to wait longer for the harvest.
It is important to remember that the plant loves well-moistened soil. And, when you choose a place for it, keep in mind that the lighting should be good, but it is better to avoid direct sunlight. The optimal temperature for mint is 20-25 degrees plus.
To grow green onions at home, no special dexterity required. But it’s still worth taking into account some nuances: the bulb that you will plant should be round, dense to the touch and without signs of rot, the root cup should be well formed.
Immediately after planting, it is worth putting the onion in a cool, dark place so that it can form better. root system, and only then will the pen need a lot of light. The optimal temperature is 18-20 degrees; you should not overheat, because then the growth of greenery will stop.
Any variety of basil grows well in flower pots and boxes. It is better to give it a sunny place, water it well, keep it warm and provide good drainage. For planting, you can use both cuttings and seeds. In this case, the cuttings will quickly produce the first harvest, but will not last long, as they will bloom quickly. You will have to wait longer for the harvest from the seeds, but such a bush will also last longer.
The optimal temperature for basil is 20-25 degrees Celsius. In winter, backlighting is required for approximately 3-4 hours to increase daylight hours.
To grow cucumbers on a windowsill or balcony, you should take a closer look at the hybrid varieties that are marked with the F1 icon. If all conditions are created for the plant, it can produce 3-4 dozen fruits. Here you will have to tinker a little with the seedlings, but after transplanting into boxes you will only need to water and trim the tendrils.
Plant plants in containers with a volume of at least 5 liters. It is important to remember that cucumbers are big water feeders and the soil should always be moist. The optimal temperature is 21-24 degrees Celsius.
Homemade tomatoes are usually chosen dwarf varieties: “Minibel”, “Florida Petit”, “Balcony Miracle”, etc. You will have to allocate the most illuminated place in the apartment to this miracle. You will need to start with seedlings, then plant them in containers, tie them up, feed them and protect them from the cold. This is one of the most troublesome balcony crops, but the harvest comes with pride in the work done and gardening talent.
It is important to remember that tomatoes, like all plants, love water, but they are easy to water. Therefore, watering should be done carefully. The optimal temperature is 23-25 degrees Celsius.
In addition to its wonderful taste, sorrel is distinguished by the fact that it tolerates shaded areas. It can be grown from the rhizomes of 2-4 year old plants with buds or from the seeds of such varieties as “Maikopsky”, “Altaisky”, “Odessky broadleaf”.
It can grow at 5 and 20 degrees Celsius and can even withstand slight frosts. So you can keep it on the balcony until the last minute, and if the balcony holds the heat well, then you don’t have to put it away for the winter. Leaves are cut at a height of 8-10 cm; this must be done carefully so as not to damage the growth buds.
Ginger is not only a tasty seasoning, but also beautiful plant. If planted at home, the sprouts can grow up to a meter in height. Planting pieces ginger root, consisting of at least a couple of sections with living buds. If the root has dried out, you can hold it in warm water several hours for the kidneys to wake up.
The root should not be planted very deeply, and until the first shoots appear, it should be watered very sparingly. Ginger should be kept in the light, but away from direct sunlight. The optimal temperature is 20-25 degrees Celsius.
You can save a lot of money by growing these foods at home.
Growing plants from seeds is correct and logical, but what is truly unusual is growing vegetables and fruits from their remains. Does it take more time? Yes. Does this make shopping easier? Definitely! Let's get started then?!
Green onions are the easiest thing you can grow at home. Change the water every day and you will see results within a week.
2. You can grow garlic sprouts (they are edible) from a garlic clove.
Or you can use just the garlic itself after it has grown.
3. You can grow a variety of romaine lettuce from the bottom of the lettuce.
You don't need soil to grow lettuce, but if you do grow in soil, the leaves will be twice as large. You can grow cabbage using the same principle.
4. Try to germinate carrot tops using only top part carrots.
At first glance, it looks more like a school experiment than something you're going to eat. Carrot tops may be slightly bitter, but you can add some garlic, vinegar, and honey to sweeten them.
The supply of basil can literally be endless. Change the water as often as possible to prevent the plant from becoming covered in mucus.
6. Lemongrass also grows from the bottom of its stem...
The bottom of the lemongrass stem is too hard to cook, so you can use it to grow new supplies without having to throw away half the plant. Leave the lemongrass parts in the water for about three weeks. When you see roots appearing, transplant them into soil and place them on a sunny windowsill.
7. ... like celery.
Looks strange, doesn't it? Leave some of the celery in water for three days, then be sure to replant it in soil.
8. But onions are sprouted from the bottom of the bulb.
It seems strange that you can just cut off part of an onion, plant it in the soil and after a while something magical happens.
It is grown according to the same principle as celery.
10. A small tree grows from an avocado seed.
A seed can only germinate from a ripe fruit, but before planting, the seed must be removed from the fruit. Growing avocados requires a lot of attention. In order for the first avocados to germinate, the plant will take from 5 to 13 years. If you are confident and have a lot of free time, then why not?
For this:
11. Sweet potatoes sprout, from which new fruits will appear.
Sweet potatoes grow from shoots rather than from seeds or pieces of the potato, like white potatoes. Sweet potatoes can be grown in either water or soil (only half the tuber should remain in the soil).
To grow in water, place the tuber in a cup of water, but touch both sides wooden sticks(you can use toothpicks) and then it will start to grow faster. You can place the cup either on the window or on the refrigerator - there will be no difference in the growth of the plant. When grown in water, you can get about 50 shoots from one tuber.
Over time it will need much more space.
Potatoes also grow quite quickly in soil. It is much more convenient to grow potatoes in the garden. If regrown potato leaves lie in the soil for a long time, they can also produce fruit later. These leaves can be eaten because... they are edible and you can find recipes for making them. But when growing outside the home, do not forget that potatoes are very sensitive to cold.
The shoots may take a few months to sprout, and expect a harvest only after a year, but at least this undertaking will not require any special expenses.
Prepare several rhizomes that have already formed buds. You will notice greenish growths at the tops of the rhizomes. The roots should be large and healthy. Cut them into pieces so that each of them has a shoot. If they dry out, they most likely will not germinate. Soak ginger in water overnight.
Fill the pot with soil and plant the rhizomes with the shoots facing down. Lightly press the rhizomes into the soil and add some water. If you live in a cold climate, place the pot on sunny side, and sat down in the roast, then on the shady one. Ginger is a tropical plant and loves heat, but it does not tolerate too much sun in this climate.
Water the plant periodically and be patient. It may take quite a long time (from 3 months) before the first shoots appear.
13. Try growing a pineapple from its top.
That's right, you can grow pineapple right at home, but it will take about 3 years.
Step 1. Purchase a ripe pineapple from any grocery store that has healthy, green leaves (not yellow or brown) and a golden brown skin. It's best to try to grow two pineapples in case one of them doesn't sprout. If you decide that you bought too many pineapples than you can eat, then simply cut them up and freeze them. Frozen pineapples taste great!
Prepare the top. Take the entire top with all the leaves and twisting movements try to pull it out with a small part of the stem (If you just cut off the top, you will have to remove all the excess fruit pulp, otherwise rotting processes may kill the entire fruit). Once you've separated the stem, carefully slice small, horizontal sections from the bottom of the top until you see root buds, which look like little dots or circles on the cut surface. Cut as little as possible to avoid cutting off the base, which then needs to sprout. Once the top is ready, let it dry for a couple of days before moving on to the next step.
Let the roots grow from the top. Place the top in a clear glass vase filled with water and change the water every few days. Place the vase out of the way in an area that is temperature neutral (not too hot and not too cold), such as on top of the refrigerator. After three weeks you will be able to see the root sprouting.
Step 4. Once the roots appear, transplant the pineapple into a clay pot with soil mixture, at the bottom of which there should be perlite. Clay pot 45 cm in diameter with drainage system will be ideal for this. There should be approximately 5cm of perlite at the bottom of the pot before adding the mixture.
The soil should always be slightly moist (not wet, which will cause rotting, and not dry). It will take 6 - 8 weeks for the stem to emerge for strong roots to begin to sprout. Don't rush this process.
Over time, you will begin to notice that the leaves that were originally on the pineapple will begin to die and turn brown, but new ones will grow to replace them. Throughout the year, cut off dead leaves and water the pineapple no more than once a week. If they grow, then everything is going as it should. As soon as a year has passed, the plant will need to be replanted.
Step 5. Transplant.
When replanting, avoid getting soil between the leaves. As the pineapple and its roots grow, you will also need to transplant it into an even larger pot.
In winter, pineapple stops growing, but with the onset of spring, growth should resume. If this does not happen, then carefully remove it from the soil and check the roots. Change the soil mixture if necessary.
Pineapple is a tropical plant and cold temperature could easily kill him.
Pineapples need at least 6 hours of bright light every day. IN summer time, place the plant on the sunny side of the windowsill or even in the garden.
Text
Artem Luchko
Growing your own food is a forgotten, but incomparable pleasure. In conditions when fruit and vegetable products from the European Union countries, as well as the USA, Australia, Canada and Norway are banned, we risk being left without our favorite vegetables, fruits, salads, herbs and other things. To prepare for the fact that the government will ban the import of anything else, we decided to figure out how to provide ourselves with food and whether it is possible to conduct subsistence farming in an apartment. Absence suburban area, extra time and a suitable climate does not mean that you cannot grow vegetables, fruits, salads, mushrooms and even edible insects.
Grow Your Own Pizza
The Grow Your Own Pizza kit will help you use only the freshest ingredients in your Italian dishes under sanctions, without any extra fuss or fuss. Simply place the three already prepared pots in a sunny location and water them. After some time, you will have the main ingredients for pizza: tomatoes, peppers and basil grown by your with my own hands.
Woolly Pocket is a device that can create eternal spring in the space of your home. The area of our apartments does not allow us to organize a full-fledged greenhouse, but hanging modular pockets solve the problem, turning interior walls At home in hanging gardens. Woolly Pockets are well ventilated but waterproof. The miracle material from which they are made is created from recycled plastic bottles.
The Auxano hydroponic system is specially designed for city dwellers who want to grow vegetables and fruits within limited space. Auxano is practical solution, which is installed directly on window frame With inside, which allows plants to have access to sunlight, and turns unused space into a vertical garden. The built-in Oxygenating system maintains water circulation without connecting to the mains.
Click and Grow - another one simple system for growing cherry tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, basil, coriander and other plants at home. An electric smart pot eliminates the need for owners to water and feed plants. Simply activate the built-in cartridge, and Click & Grow will automatically measure the necessary parameters and accurately give the plants dosed access to the right amount water, fertilizer and air, depending on their needs. The Palo Alto-based company raised the necessary amount on Kickstarter last year to launch its second device, Smart Herb Garden. The new model features LED backlighting.
The AeroGarden system will allow you to grow herbs, vegetables, and lettuce thanks to aeroponic technology, which directly feeds the roots of plants with water, oxygen and fertilizers. table garden equipped with automatic lighting and an indication on the display, where prompts will appear on when you need to add water or add nutrients. All you need to do is install the seeded pots and watch the plants grow. AeroGarden comes in several sizes, and in addition, you can purchase cartridges for growing different plants.
Open Source Bug Farm Kit
Insects are an excellent source of protein, and they have a chance to become part of our diet soon. UN representatives a couple of years ago gave a report in which eating insects was called in a real way to fight world hunger. Now everyone has a chance to taste the food of the future. , developed by Tiny Farms, allows you to create your own personal farm with everything you need to start growing edible larvae flour beetles at home. The set costs $114 - it includes two main containers, a mounting frame, a selection kit and an incubator. The company also makes all the drawings freely available so that you can assemble the same farm on your own.
The Kitchen Mushroom Garden
The Kitchen Mushroom Garden is a simple kit for growing mushrooms in your own kitchen. The $19.99 kit includes everything you need to have a harvest of fresh oyster mushrooms in two weeks. To do this, you just need to add water to the box. The mushrooms grow in a compact container filled with coffee grounds. As the producers of Mushroom Garden say, after harvesting ripe mushrooms, nutritious compost remains, which will definitely be useful as feeding for indoor plants.
Growing your own food is great fun. Now it is available even to those who do not have own plot, free time and the climate is unsuitable. Nothing will stop you, salads, mushrooms and even edible insects.
With the Grow Your Own Pizza Kit, no fuss or mess, you'll always have the freshest ingredients for yours at your fingertips. All that is required is to place three pots from the kit on the windowsill and water them occasionally. In a few weeks, you will have the three main ingredients for the perfect pizza, grown with your own hands: tomatoes, basil, and hot and sweet peppers.
With the extremely easy to use Click and Grow system, you will be able to grow in your own home garden cherry tomatoes, different kinds peppers, lettuce, coriander and many others useful plants. The smart pot will take care of everything. All you need to do is connect it to the network, activate the built-in cartridge and enjoy fresh fruits straight from the garden!
If you still miss working with your hands, then choose the AeroGarden system. It will save you from all the unpleasant troubles associated with determining the quality of the soil and the amount of sunlight, selecting fertilizers and the required amount of water for each plant. All you have to do is put pots with soil in your home farm (the seeds are already inside), add nutrients and water and turn on air farm. After just a week, the first shoots appear and you can begin to monitor the life of your garden! Such table garden has built-in automatic lighting and even a display that will display prompts for the garden owner: that it’s time to add water to the tank or add nutrients. On the manufacturer’s website, AeroGarden is presented in three sizes; in addition to the farm, you can order cartridges for growing various crops: aromatic seasonings, many types of vegetables and flowers.
Insects are an excellent source of easily digestible protein, and scientists estimate that in the near future they will high probability, will become part of our daily diet. UN representatives spoke about the prospects of this type of nutrition about two years ago. And now you have a chance to try the food of the future! Open Source Bug Farm Kit, the brainchild of Tiny Farms, allows anyone to create a mini-farm in their home for growing new-age food - edible flour beetle larvae. According to the first experimenters, such food when cooked, the taste is most reminiscent of nuts. And for the environment, this type of food production is a real salvation! The set costs $114 and includes two main containers, a frame for mounting them, an incubator and a selection device. Simple instructions Comes complete with assembly instructions.
Nowadays, space food is delivered to the ISS from Earth, and that’s all space expeditions They are supplied with food from the cosmodrome. But the day is not far off when food for astronauts will be produced directly in space. Already today, active research is underway on growing and producing food in space. Ahead of us lies a multi-year expedition to Mars, perhaps even its colonization, so the issue of growing food in space is extremely relevant.
The space industry is very young. The conquest of space began only in the second half of the 20th century, but developed by leaps and bounds during the space race. Today, China, Japan and even France have joined space exploration. Such a group of countries, led by space powers - Russia and the USA, continues space exploration. Much has changed since the first human flight into space, including the nutrition of astronauts. But one thing has remained unchanged - food for astronauts was delivered from Earth, and is still being delivered.
Astronauts live permanently on the ISS different countries, and the issue of their food is always decided from the Earth. Delivery of 1 kilogram of food costs approximately 5-6 thousand US dollars. But this is not the main argument in favor of growing food in space. Main argument- limited possibilities for transportation volumes. And if today we can regularly deliver food to the ISS in batches, then in the case of long expeditions, for example to Mars, it is important to figure out how astronauts can supply themselves with food on their own.
Since astronauts are entirely dependent on the Earth, the history of the ISS also has unpleasant moments related to food. Several years ago, a space carrier carrying cargo for Russian cosmonauts failed to reach orbit. Most of the cargo was food. It was another portion of space food, designed to replenish supplies of food that was already running out. The situation was further complicated by the fact that the next launch of a rocket with food for the astronauts could only be carried out after a long time. This was due not only to the peculiarities of space flight, but also to the need to find out the reasons for the fall of the first rocket and the equipment for a second mission. The situation was resolved smoothly - ground-based space services were able to resolve all difficulties in a timely manner. But a real-life precedent gave a certain impetus to the development of research on growing food in space.
NASA has conducted two successful experiments on growing food on the ISS. For this purpose, a special plant growing system was created on the ISS, called Veggie. Both times lettuce was grown, and both times the experiment was successful. The first harvest was sent to Earth for detailed study. The second harvest, in August 2015, was eaten on the ISS under camera lenses in live. You can see a recording of this event in the video:
Experiments have shown that lettuce grown in space is no different in its nutritional properties from that on earth. The rate of its growth and other indicators also correspond to those on earth. But this experiment showed that growing food in space with the current level of technology is an irrational activity.
To grow food in space requires a large number of energy as well as space. As a result, it is now easier and more cost-effective to ship food from Earth. But the first steps have been taken and important data have been obtained. For example, that special lamps are needed to grow green plants. And although the plants artificial conditions can grow without sunlight, but for the usual color of plants, it is necessary to add special lighting. And most importantly, the answer to the most exciting question was received - yes, it is really possible to grow food in space.
The astronauts actually ate the second space harvest, but there was no talk of fully providing themselves with food. Lettuce leaves were grown using enormous amounts of energy and took 33 days to grow. It is worth adding here that there is a limited amount of space on the ISS, so it is simply impossible to solve the issue of subsistence by increasing the “sown” areas. But the experiment showed that in conditions of weightlessness, plants can grow not only in horizontal “ground”. In space, plants don’t care what projection the “soil” is in. In addition, experience clearly illustrates that growing food in space requires the same amount of water as on Earth, and that H2O cannot be replaced by any substance.
Not only food is grown on the ISS, but also flowers. At the end of 2015, an aster bud opened for the first time on the ISS. This was further proof that growing plants in space is a reality.
Scientists from all over the world are working to grow enough food in space to feed 100% of astronauts. Today we can’t even talk about 1%, but after some time we will have long expeditions and colonization of planets. The future is growing food in space.
The next long flight is planned for 2030 by a NASA expedition to Mars. The flight will take from 150 to 300 days, and on this flight people will likely need a source of food produced on board. A spacecraft's capacity is limited, and so is its ability to carry cargo. Seeds, or young plants, occupy less space and have less weight. Scientists will have to find the optimal solution to ensure the conditions for the growth of agricultural crops. The question is not only about “soil”, but also about watering the plants. Scientists have not yet managed to learn how to replace water. Even in the NASA experiment, the same amount of water was used to germinate lettuce as on Earth. And water in space is an equally valuable resource. Converting water into food, in conditions of limited space, is still happening at an unfavorable rate. But this issue will be resolved.
Our immediate plans include growing not only lettuce, but also other plants on the ISS. The next crops are green peppers, radishes, onions, cabbage and potatoes. The set is not random; these vegetables are potential candidates for growing in the space “gardens” of the future. As you may have noticed, scientists plan to grow crops whose fruits are not only above the ground, but also root crops - radishes and potatoes. For this purpose, a different type of apparatus is being developed, different from the Veggie salad apparatus.
Not only Russia and the USA, but also China are working on growing food in space. The Chinese space agency plans to create a lunar station by 2030. There is a special place on it for growing food. At the Lunar Palace-1 station (temporary name), it is planned to allocate 58 sq. meters for growing food. This is an unprecedentedly large room for growing plants in space, and even larger than the module for the life of astronauts on the future lunar station. So far, Chinese scientists have only tested an analogue of the lunar station on Earth, and the experiment turned out to be successful. Based on the results of this experiment, it became clear that the project was viable, but Chinese scientists made adjustments to the space module for growing food. By 2030, perhaps we will see it in action.
It’s good to see that experiments on growing food in space not only continue, but are becoming more and more frequent. We hope that in the near future astronaut food, at least partially, will be produced in space. This will reduce dependence on Earth and open new horizons for space expeditions.
