Vegetable gardening is a worthwhile project to undertake as the fruits of your labor can end up at your dinner table! However, you must first decide if you want to grow your vegetables indoor or outdoor. Both methods have pros and cons to it and you will need to consider conditions such as lighting and pest control as well. You need to consider your current situation to make a wise choice.
Soil preparation and maintenance can be much more difficult when gardening outdoors. Over time, nutrients in the soil can be diminished by repeated planting. Fertilizing and disease control become more challenging as well. Large tracts that need to be pH balanced or have clay materials to be broken down can be troublesome. Preparing a container and maintaining it is not needed when gardening outdoors and this is a positive aspect.
Although less is required, maintaining fertilizer levels can be tricky when gardening indoors. It's easy to accumulate too much. A lot of care must be used when trying to achieve an equilibrium of draining away excess water and keeping needed moisture. Soil in indoor gardening will not adjust itself as easily when compared to soil outdoors. It is worse for plants when you give it too much moisture compared to when you leave it dehydrated.
When gardening outdoors, setting up an automatic watering system is easy and affordable. It can be harder to do this with indoor gardening. It is possible but it will probably cost a lot and be messy. It might not be worth all the trouble if you have too many containers.
Lighting usually isn't an issue with outdoor gardens if they are planned correctly. You should easily be able to provide your plants with five hours of sunlight per day, depending on the climate you live in. lighting provides another challenge for indoor gardening. If you can't find a windowsill that provides the proper amount of light and heat, you may find yourself having to move your plants around the house all day.
However, this does make controlling the amount of light received somewhat easier. If the sun gets too hot, you can easily close the shades or blinds to prevent burning. Automated systems have been designed just for this purpose. Put plants near the windows to help create a greenhouse effect of sorts and it saves you the trouble and money of building an actual greenhouse.
While diseases and insects are found in both situations, it is simpler to deal with indoors. Detailed checks and more chemicals is necessary to fight such issues when in the outdoors. Fungus is prone to grow due to condensation on the leaves on a cool evening. It's also easier to for insects to lay their eggs undetected when outdoors.
Many of the controls available today, whether chemical or organic, have very unpleasant odors and would not be suitable for indoor use. Almost all insecticides are similar. Plant-based oils have a more pungent odor and is more expensive than chemical sprays.
Whether you decide to do your vegetable gardening indoors or outdoors will depend on your specific situation and what will work better for you. Each method has its difficulties but it is definitely worthwhile when. You'll be enjoying fresh and healthy vegetables in no time.
