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Home > Guides > Urban Gardening > Indoor Gardening > Window Greenhouse |
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Window Greenhouse |
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With careful planning and some diligence, a bountiful harvest of fresh edibles can be cultivated in just about any environment, even indoors. Though it may seem daunting, indoor growing offers some advantages to conventional growing. Chiefly, indoor environments are not susceptible to the wide range of fluctuations in temperature, humidity and other conditions that are part of outdoor cultivation. Healthy, fresh food can be grown any time of year, no matter how harsh or unpredictable outdoor conditions might be and with a fast yield.
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Indoor Gardening
Challenges to Indoor Gardening?
 Light and space are the principal challenges to gardening indoors. Most crops, including those conducive to indoor cultivation, require at least 5 hours of natural sunlight per day. Artificial lighting may be used to supplement natural light, but for every hour of natural sunlight needed you should plan on supplementing with 3 hours or more of artificial light. To account for the limited space of many indoor growing areas, you may need to apply a little creativity and some resourcefulness. Shelves and reflectors to make optimum use of available light, window planters and other space saving measures can all be utilized to bring about a fertile and sustainable indoor garden.
Crops Suited for Indoor Growth
If sowing in traditional soil-type growing medium, leafy greens are among the crops best suited for indoor growing. Relative to root vegetable or fruits, leafy greens require a short time to harvest and do not require completion of the entire growth cycle. Other types of crops can be grown, but are more likely to require supplementation with artificial light or special attention. In addition to leafy greens, other types of edibles such as sprouts and microgreens, are especially appropriate for indoor gardening.
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Window Greenhouses
 Their close proximity to light makes windowsills an obvious location for planning an indoor garden. Ideally, plants should be placed just beneath the window, or in close proximity so as to make use of all available light. If time and resources allow, constructing a window greenhouse is a great way to augment your available growing space with an enclosure that will maximize available light while minimizing heat loss. A number of designs are available to the industrious gardnerer, from structures that can be integrated into existing structures to more elaborate designs that require additional space and support. These 'mini-greenhouses' combine the best elements of modern technology with old-fashioned ingenuity a wide range of new possibilities in window gardening.
Direction and Light
 When planning your window greenhouse, perhaps the most important consideration is which direction to set up in. In the northern hemisphere, certain guidelines will hold across most locations. The greatest quantities of natural sunlight will be provided by south facing windows, which will have the greatest access to sunlight as the sun completes its arc across the sky. For plants with slightly lower light needs, windows facing west or east present the next best option. After the sun reaches its peak at roughly noon, and begins to descend in the west, it can provide several hours of good quality lighting. While windows facing south, west, and east can provide enough light to support windowbox gardens, windows facing north will receive the least light and should be avoided in most locations.
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