While spring and summer dazzle us with their vibrant blooms and lavish produce, the cooler months don’t have to be left behind. The thrill of gardening knows no season!
Are you dreaming of fresh, crisp vegetables even when the snow blankets the ground outside? You're in luck! Turn your living space into a lush green haven, even in the heart of winter.
Crave the tender bite of lettuce or the spicy kick of arugula? Leafy greens thrive indoors when it's frosty outside.
Picture juicy cherry tomatoes and fiery jalapeños fresh off the vine in your living room. Get beneath the soil and unearth carrots and rich beets.
And if you're feeling adventurous, the brassicas – think broccoli and cauliflower – are game for the indoor challenge. For a quick fix of green, don't forget the ever-versatile microgreens and sprouts.
Scroll below to learn more about indoor winter gardening!
Leafy Greens
Leafy greens are great for growing indoors because most varieties can be continually harvested.
Growing leafy greens indoors also keeps them in a temperature-controlled environment and prevents them from bolting quickly.
Lettuce
Lettuce, or Lactuca sativa, grows almost anywhere and in various flavors and colors. Due to its adaptability, lettuce can be a great addition to your salad and indoor decorating.
While most people think of an iceberg, buttercrunch, or other green lettuce, lettuce can come in various striking and exciting colors.
Browns, reds, and purples are some of the most common deviations.
Lettuce is also a relatively easy and fast-growing plant. Most varieties can start to be harvested at around 30 days, and plants reach maturity around 70 days.
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Spinach
Spinacia oleracea spinach is a lovely cool-weather leafy green well suited to various spaces. There are even some vine varieties that climb up trellises. They are also a great addition to shade or darker areas indoors.
While they are not well suited to full shade or entirely dark rooms like bathrooms, they are well suited to areas that do not get a ton of light.
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Kale
Kale, Brassica oleracea var. sabellica, is a great ornamental addition to your interior decorating. While it takes up to 75 days for kale to mature, it can usually be harvested around 35 days.
Like many other leafy greens, kale is a fun plant to grow indoors because of its odd and exciting appearance. Between that and its extreme popularity, growing kale indoors can be a fun conversation piece.
Be aware that kale comes in an array of sizes and colors. When picking a variety for indoors, consider how much space you can give it. Some varieties are bred to grow tall rather than bushier, so if you are limited in area, you may want to consider that.
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Arugula
Arugula, Eruca vesicaria ssp. Sativa is a fast-growing leafy green exceptionally well suited to small spaces and grown indoors. It can grow in as small as half a gallon container.
While having around a gallon or larger space will help arugula thrive, they are adaptable. Between its small size and rapid growth rate, arugula is a fantastic option to grow indoors in the winter.
It can take up to partial shade but needs around six hours of sun to thrive. If appropriately raised, arugula can be ready to harvest in as little as 21 days.
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Nightshades
The nightshade of the Solonaceae family includes many flowering plants, including potatoes, eggplants, and tomatoes. Remember that fruiting plants must be hand-pollinated if you are growing them indoors.
Cherry Tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes, Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme, are a broad category of tomatoes that are generally small in size.
The key to growing prolific tomatoes in containers is their space. Depending on their mature size, tomatoes will need different amounts of space. Likewise, depending on their adult height, they need additional support sizes.
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Jalapeño Peppers
Jalapeño peppers, or Capsicum annuum' Jalapeño', are relatively compact and easy to grow indoors. Their primary requirement is light and warmth. If they do not get enough light, they will not produce many flowers and, thus, not many jalapeños.
However, their space requirements are minimal, as they only need about a gallon-sized pot.
They can survive in smaller spaces, but a gallon is ideal for prolific growth and production.
The key to growing a plentiful bounty of jalapeños is sunlight. Jalapeños need at least eight hours of daylight, which will help them produce more flowers and fruit.
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Chili peppers
Chili peppers, or capsicum annuum, come in various shapes, sizes, and flavors. Due to their small size, many varieties are well suited to being grown indoors.
Poblano and Shishito peppers are prevalent mild varieties for growing in small spaces or indoors. Be aware that poblano peppers can grow on the larger side, so that they will need more space than many other varieties.
Spicy chili peppers that do well in containers include Ring of Fire chilies, thai hot chilies, and habanero peppers.
Check out this article on how to grow habanero peppers indoors for more information.
A wide variety of chili peppers grow well indoors. For other types and growing tips, check out this blog post.
Root Vegetables
Root vegetables are more complicated to grow indoors than most of the plants on this list, as they require large pots to grow correctly.
Carrots
Carrots, Daucus carota, need their containers to be at least 12 inches deep to grow correctly. Even then, harvesting carrots early to get baby carrots is a good idea. However, carrots can grow to maturity in a container.
Carrots are fun to grow indoors in winter because you can grow colors and varieties you will not likely see at the grocery store.
However, they grow slowly; it takes about 120 days for them to reach maturity. They will also need full sun to grow to a good size.
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Beets
Beets, or Beta vulgaris, may not grow to their full potential, but there is more to beets than meets the eye. When you think of beets, you probably think of the roots, but did you know you can eat beet leaves?
While beets require full sun and a 12-inch pot like carrots, they grow much faster. In about 65 days, they reach maturity and are ready to be harvested.
Before that, you can still cut off and enjoy the beet leaves. They are a great addition to salads!
While most varieties will do well in containers with enough space, small cultivars like Red Ace and Detroit Dark Red are great options.
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Onions
Onions, Allium cepa, come in a wide array of varieties well suited to growing indoors. Small types like green onions are uniquely well suited to growing in containers.
It is generally easiest to grow yellow, white, and purple onions from seeds rather than transplants. Growing from seeds allows the onions more time and energy to establish their roots. It also allows you to ensure enough room for each onion to grow appropriately.
For more information on green onions and how to grow them indoors, check out this article.
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Brassicas
Broccoli
Broccoli, Brassica oleracea var. italica, is an exciting green that will surely attract attention from house guests. It is a bit on the large side, so it will need a 12 by 12-inch pot, ideally.
Additionally, the leaves will likely spread over the side of the container, so make sure the bank has plenty of space around it.
Broccoli plants take around 70 days to mature, depending on the variety. Some varieties, such as the Royal Tenderette Hybrid, are well suited to containers and only grow from fifty to sixty days.
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Cauliflower
Like broccoli, cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) is interesting as it grows. Also, like broccoli, it needs around a 12 by 12-inch pot, so it has plenty of space to grow.
Wider containers are ideal. Cauliflower maturity rates depend heavily on variety and conditions, so they can take anywhere from 50 to 120 days to reach maturity.
Try to avoid large varieties like snowball cauliflower. While they can grow indoors, they will generally need more space and likely not grow to their potential.
Try compact types like White Corona and Flame Star Hybrids. White Corona is especially significant because it proliferates and is ready to harvest much faster than many other varieties.
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Other Vegetables
Peas
Peas, Pisum sativum, are technically legumes like beans and well suited to growing indoors.
Dwarf or snap pea varieties are particularly suitable for growing indoors due to their compact size. Dwarf peas can grow in as small as a half-gallon pot.
If you are not a fan of peas but like legumes, compact varieties of pole beans can grow in small indoor spaces but are not as productive indoors as peas are.
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Microgreens
Microgreens are not one particular type of plant. There are several plants grown a certain way. Microgreens are great because they can grow indoors at any time of the year.
Their primary requirements are space and light. Depending on the types of plants you choose, they also generally do not take much time or money.
Microgreens are great because they come in various flavors and sizes. For example, arugula microgreens have a spicy, nutty flavor. In contrast, sunflowers have a nutty and mild flavor, and pak choy has an earthy and sweet taste.
Sprouts
Many people confuse sprouts with microgreens, but the two are very different. Sprouts are ready to eat even faster than microgreens. It only takes from three to five days to grow sprouts from start to finish.
A wide variety of plants are well suited to be used as sprouts. Lentils, mung beans, and radishes are among the many kinds of plants well suited to being sprouts.
However, most seeds, including salad greens and garbanzo beans, can be grown as sprouts.
Further Reading
Would you like to read more about vegetables and other plants inside? Check out these other exciting and informative articles!
11 Edible Plants That Grow Fast
Can you Grow Sunflowers Indoors?