How to Grow an Indoor Food Forest
Don’t let bad weather stop you from growing food crops. If it’s too cold, too hot, or too wet, you can grow food indoors in pots, trays, and planters. From leafy greens to root crops, and perennials to fruiting shrubs, the possibilities are endless. Indoor gardener Jerad Bryant shares how to grow a food forest inside your home.
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Plants need light, water, air, and nutrients to thrive. Without these conditions, they’ll suffer. It’s easy to provide plants with what they need outdoors, but it’s a bit more challenging for indoor crops.
With the right conditions, you can successfully grow leafy greens, root crops, and fruiting plants indoors. Simply set up some pots, gather some soil, and plant crops where there’s enough sunlight. Care for them throughout the year, and give them what they need to survive inside.
By creating an indoor food forest, you’ll recreate the outdoors inside your home! Save money on produce from the grocery store, and keep the garden alive through the dead of winter. Anyone can grow an indoor food forest, regardless of whether you live in California or Maine.
Step 1: Choose a Spot
Start by finding a suitable location. Empty shelves near windowsills work well. You want the area to be well-lit, either from natural sunlight or plant grow lights. Direct sunlight is necessary, as most food crops need full sun or partial shade to grow well.
Airflow is another concern. You don’t want the plants to sit under hot drafts from a heater, or freezing ones from open windows, but you do want there to be regular air circulation. Airflow ensures the plants photosynthesize and respire well, and it helps them stay pest and disease-free. You can achieve this with a simple fan set to blow near the site.
Also, consider the temperature. Most vegetables need temperatures above 70°F (21°C) to grow well, though some, like parsley and spinach, prefer cool temperatures. Use heaters to raise the temperature, and A.C. units to lower it. Or, open the window during the cold months to let cool air in.
Step 2: Select the Crops
After setting up the forest, begin sourcing the crops you’d like to grow. Leafy vegetables are perfect for indoor growing, as they need less light and nutrients than high-feeders like peppers and tomatoes. Lettuce, amaranth, and Swiss chard are great choices to start with.
If you have a well-lit window with full sun, plant tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and bush beans. These plants need six or more hours of direct sunlight to thrive. If the room is dark, add LED grow lights to brighten the space. LED options are superb, as they need less energy and they’re longer lasting than fluorescent lights.
For root crops, find dwarf varieties that take less time to mature than standard types. Try dwarf carrots, early beets, and quick-sprouting radishes.
When picking plant types, ensure they all grow well together. Ensure you have heat-loving crops growing near each other, and set cold-loving plants in a separate room with cool temperatures.
Step 3: Set Up Your Forest
Now, it’s time to set up trays and pots and fill them with soil. Use small pots for seedlings, and large containers for starts or mature perennial plants. Humidity domes are good to add, as they boost seed germination rates for hard-to-sprout plants.
A seedling heat mat is also beneficial, as it heats the soil to optimal temperatures for seed germination. Use it while seeds are sprouting, then remove it after they germinate. Underneath the pots, add trays that capture draining water. You don’t want water spilling all over the place!
Use rectangular trays for flats, and circular ones for individual pots. Or, plant seeds in big planters with built-in drainage. Use a mix of big and small containers to maximize the available space you have for your indoor food forest.
If necessary, set up grow lights to boost the brightness. They’re superb in dark homes, especially during the winter months when the days are short and cloudy.
Step 4: Sow Seeds
There are two ways to source your crops for the forest: plant seeds or buy starts. Seeds are cheap, though they take a few days or weeks to sprout. Starts are more expensive, but they grow quickly after planting.
For leafy greens, seeds are the better choice. Also, plant seeds of crops that dislike transplanting, like root vegetables and quick-growing herbs. Crops like cilantro, spinach, and lettuce dislike transplanting, and they grow better if you cultivate them from seeds.
Instead of purchasing seeds every year, let a few of your plants flower and produce seeds of their own. Tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants are easy to save seeds from. When your current crop finishes, you can plant another round with the free seeds you collected.
Step 5: Find Starts
Or, instead of planting seeds, you may find starts available at local nurseries and garden centers. Choose healthy, strong specimens that are free from pests and diseases. Carefully inspect them, checking the undersides of the leaves and stems.
After purchasing your starts, transplant them into larger pots so their roots have some room to grow. Remove them from their pots, and gently loosen their roots. Set each seedling into a larger pot with fresh soil, then water all of them well.
Seeds are available year-round, while starts are more seasonal in their availability. Stores often sell cold-tolerant seedlings in the fall and winter seasons, while summer crops become available in spring and summer.
Step 6: Care for the Food Forest
This is the most important step! Continuous care will keep your indoor plants alive and thriving. Watch for pests and diseases, and inspect the leaves daily to make sure your indoor food forest is healthy.
Young seedlings need more care than mature plants. Once they grow a few inches high, transplant them into larger containers with fresh potting soil.
Fertilize quick-growing vegetables and herbs when they’re actively growing. Give them a regular dose of well-balanced organic fertilizer once a month, or more often for high feeders.
Perennials need more care than annuals. You’ll sow, grow, and harvest annual vegetables quickly, while perennials need care throughout the year to produce consistent yields. Because you don’t have to resow them, they may be worth the lengthy care regimen they require. Many perennials work well, like peppers, tomatoes, and herbs.
Step 7: Add Trees and Shrubs
A forest has multiple tiers, so why not cultivate a multi-tiered indoor food forest? Grow fruiting trees and shrubs next to the small annuals and perennials. Many species adapt well to indoor growing, especially tropical and subtropical plants.
Grow a kumquat tree for sweet-tart orange fruits, or plant a goji berry shrub for fresh and dry berries that go great in smoothies. Cultivate a coffee tree in your indoor food forest if you want to grow and roast your own beans. No matter what food you like to eat, there’s sure to be a fruiting tree or shrub that provides it.
In well-lit rooms, like a sunroom, try planting banana trees or a dwarf avocado. Trees and shrubs need large containers, at least 10 gallons in size, and they require consistent watering. They also need full sun to thrive, and will benefit from grow lights during the winter months.
After a month or so, evergreen leaves will become dusty inside. Use a moist cloth to wash the foliage, removing the dust and dirt that’s accumulated.
Step 8: Repeat the Process
And that’s it! Keep a close eye on your plants, and be sure not to overwater them. Most indoor growing issues stem from over- or underwatering. Stick a finger in the soil to see the moisture levels, then decide whether or not to irrigate.
Sow annual seeds successively for repeat harvests. Plant them every two weeks, and harvest the greens, fruits, or roots when they’re mature.
As temperatures warm in the spring and summer, you can decide whether or not to transition your indoor food forest outdoors. If you have space for planting, move your perennials, trees, and shrubs outside. If you lack outdoor growing space, simply continue growing your favorite vegetables and fruits in your indoor food forest.
