Growing Vegetables in My New Apartment

Growing any plant in a new environment is always tricky. You aren’t familiar with the sun exposure and usually cannot figure out how much sun will be given until partway through the summer after the leaves come in. How do I know this? Our apartment balcony was getting lots of sun in the spring, so I planted Roma Tomatoes and Cucumber plants. Now that the trees have filled out, it is a lot shadier than before. Am I still planning on trying to grow the Tomatoes and Cucumbers? Absolutely. I am way too stubborn to give up on them. Keep reading to follow my growing journey…

Planting the Seeds

You may be asking, “Why seeds?” “Why did she attempt the slowest process?” I’m cheap. And I would like to think I am patient, although my fiancé would disagree. You don’t even have to buy the seeds from the store. Have you ever felt guilty about letting your fruits or vegetables go bad? I know I do. You can easily get seeds from those too. In order to get seeds from a fruit or vegetable, wrap them up in a paper towel and put them on a windowsill to dry out for about a week. Then your seeds are ready to plant.

There are many different ways in which you can plant your seeds. I have used a seed kit, a Keurig cup, and an egg carton. Whatever you end up using, make sure you poke at least one drainage hole in the bottom of each recessed area. After you have your drainage hole, fill it up with soil. Use the end of a pencil to poke a small hole in the soil. The seed package will tell you how deep to make the hole, but as long as it’s at least half an inch, it shouldn’t really matter. I then put at least two seeds in the hole in case one of them does not grow. If they both grow, no worries. You can either separate the plants once they get larger or snip one of them off. It can actually benefit your plant to have two growing next to each other for stability. Finally, do not replant until they are at least 3 inches tall!

Create Your Own Mini Greenhouse

It is not necessary to remove the plastic wrap to water the seeds. Place the egg carton in a tray of water, and the soil will soak up however much water it needs. Place under a grow light or in a sunny window and watch your seeds begin to sprout! Be sure to comment how your greenhouse turned out!

Until next thyme!