Selections for Indoor Growth
Answered by: Conrad Richter
question from: Kimberly McGarr

As spring approaches I’m trying to get my order together. There are LOTS of plants I would like to order, but I would like to know which ones are suited to me living situation: I live in a small apartment, and am looking for "mostly indoor" plants, that can go on my balcony in summer (if needed), and spend the rest of the year indoors. Basically plants that will do well indoors, although I’m also willing to install a special light for them.

You should have a look at the article on indoor growing that is posted in the "Magazine Rack" section of our website. There is a lot of useful information there, including a discussion about the types of lighting systems that are available.

Light is you number one consideration for growing herbs indoors successfully. Unfortunately, there are realtively few herbs that thrive indoors, where light levels are often less than 10% of what herbs get outdoors in summer. Not only do you need enough light to keep the plants alive, you need extra light to encourage plants to grow enough so you can harvest something from them. This harvesting places an extra stress on plants that ordinary houseplants or ornamental plants do not have to face.

Supplemental lighting is highly recommended. See the article for information. The best are the high intensity lamps, but they are also the most expensive to buy, and may not fit in your home decor environment because they are so bright.

I’m including a list of the plants I’m interested in, I was wondering if you could glance over it and just indicate to me which ones would do well in this "lifestyle", I know you must all be busy there, but if you just copy the list and put an asterisk or something next to the suitable plants, I would appreciate it very much!

An asterisk indicates a plant that can grow indoors, but likely will need supplemental light. Those that are not marked are not recommended for indoor culture.

Lemon Balm (*)

Bergamot (Panorama)

Dittany of Crete (*)

Evening Primrose

Fo-Ti (*)

Henna (*)

Jasmine (*)

Night Jessamine (*)

Neem (*)

Passion Flower (*)

Dwarf Pomegranates (*)

Diviners Sage (*)

Also, do you plan on selling the actual mandrake plants in the future?

No, we do not have plans to do so at this time. The problem is that we do not get enough seeds to produce the plants that would be needed. As it is, we sell out of seeds every year because the demand is so high.

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