How to Grow an Indoor Survival Garden

Growing our own fresh fruits and vegetables is one of my favorite pastimes. Sometimes growing your own food is a requirement for survival and not just a pleasant hobby.

Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, herbs, lettuce, and greens can all be grown inside of your home with a little bit of knowledge, the right supplies, and some tender loving care.

My adventure in growing food indoors began this year when the pandemic hit, and I realized that I needed to up my game when it came to growing our own food. I am not new to the home production scene, but suddenly I was driven to make food production more than a hobby.

In this video, we review the basics of indoor gardening, setting production goals, and give you a feel for our progress growing food inside of our home.

Learn more about growing a survival garden in this article:

How to Grow an Indoor Survival Garden

You may also find these posts interesting.

How to Grow Fresh Greens Inside Your Home All Year Long

Inexpensive Grow Lights to Jump Start Your Garden

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[TheProvidentPrepper]

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[jeannettewood]

Ty I live in an apartment this is so needed. God bless you for sharing

[jpatpat]

You're lucky you have an outdoor garden as well - those of us in apartments are limited in what we can do, such as recycling soil etc

[Out_GalliVANtin]

I’ve had a small garden in my closet before. This has inspired me to do it again!!!

[tersta]

I'm in hardiness zone 4b-5 and this is the second years I've grown indoors over winter. What I'm learning is that there are limits to what can be grown because of soil temperature. While air temperature is 74F in the house, soil temperature of my potted indoor plants can be 68F, because evaporation cools it down. Not only will some seeds not germinate under 80F, I'm learning that even cool-weather crops, like collards just don't thrive when they're young, if the soil is under 79F. Some LED lights don't put out much heat, others put out a little more. When on the shelf below young plants, they can supply a bit of bottom heating to keep the soil from falling below 70F. Even with a heating mat that heats to 90F, soil temperature is still only 73F after an hour of heating. I'll have to check things tomorrow to see if more time heating increasing soil temperature. I expect it will. For comparison, I brought potted eggplants indoors. While outdoors over summer, they produced eggplants about 8-10" long and an inch and a half diameter. The same plant fruited indoors, (because it had been pollinated outdoors) and is now struggling to produce 4 x 6" long and a half inch diameter eggplants. In another case, I germinated cucumber seeds, planted what I could indoors and had a pair left over. They were the smallest. So I put them in a pot in the greenhouse. The runts are now 4 times bigger than the indoor cucumbers. So, lower temperatures translate into slower growth, if not failure to thrive for indoor plants.

For anyone in northern zones, I advise seedling heating mats on lower shelves. Growing in a closet or grow tent, that can be warmed above common room temperature (72F) and/or a space away from exterior walls would be a good idea. Sunlight really helps plants thrive, but a cold window slows growth a lot. I hope others can learn from my mistakes. :)

[jesusisthewaythetruththeli]

You can set small containers with water, dish soap, and vinegar. It attracts the fruit flies and it kills them. Set several through out your garden and in a couple of days they'll be full of flies on the bottom.

[donotRussiamyMerica]

The Dollar Tree can't keep basins in stock since this video aired! 👍

[Elvira_Axen]

This is so smart. I have two entire bookshelves who are empty because I apparently don't own enough stuff 😂 an indoor garden would be the perfect project!

[tanyabishop]

This was great. I love your excitement. I grow year round in water only. The Kratky system. I grow Greens, Beans, Bok Chow, Broccoli, Kale, Lettuce, Swiss Chard, Spinach, Peas and Microgreens. Never though of being without light. Wow, I have to give that some thought.

[Christian_Prepper]

*Large Mirrors.* 12:43
*Also, consider making a modified "Earthbox" system.*
*Harvesting seeds is so critical that unless your outdoor garden area is secured well, MAKE SPACE!* 😁

*Keep in mind, plants do NOT produce nutritional minerals. So just because a particular plant is suppose to be high in calcium, or iron, or etc, the only way for any plant to have nutritional mineral content is for the soil to have the rare minerals. Thus composting may be more of a challenge than anticipated. It's still doable.*
*You folks continue to create an outstanding video series. Absolutely indispensable.*

[AlexaMGilbert]

I am so glad I came across your channel. I use my garage! I have three outdoor greenhouses and am always fighting with the elements that you have already addressed. I am going to try to grow green beans in my garage garden. Thanks so much for your input.

[msmissy]

Yes...teach me, teach me, I would love to do that. Thank you for this post. ⚘

[ladyhawk]

I had an in door garden last two seasons and I am glad I did.
I successfully raised and harvested eight tiny Tim tomato plants
Two mini cucumber plants
Green beans
Four trays of lettuce
Swiss chard
AND an ongoing supply of micro greens and sprouts.
The sprouts are great if the power goes out as it doesn't need a lot of light.
The summer garden is all in jars or in the freezer.
Planning my winter garden again, incorporating the kratky method as well .
Try Meyer lemons too!

[trick_biscuit]

You can get heating mats that the plants sit on top of for temperature control and seed germination.

[SuttonsDaze]

This is GREAT!!! You've inspired me to add some of these ideas to my preps. I start my seeds in the spring indoors, but never go past that. Time to change that up a bit.

[jenedge]

I use diatomaceous earth to control mold gnats in the house. Works well.

[icanfix]

I love your idea of using restaurant bussing trays. Also the fact that you have a goal. A simple sandwich everyday. Awesome video.

[AnnBearForFreedom]

Youre reading my mind! Seeing as how my backyard garden was such a flop this year, I'm bringing it inside this autumn. Herbs, I think, mainly....and maybe some tiny grape tomatoes. Couple years ago, I had a kitchen windowsill basil that stepped up to the plate and kept me in pesto for months. Might be time to re-plant its great-great-great-great grandplant. I'm on it!

[darrenmurray]

I have considered the cost of both hydroponics indoor growing with lights and growing in my garden with Mother Nature alone.

I have a small garden and living there in the UK, my growing season is pretty short.

In my garage I can grow leafy greens like Swiss chard and lettuce and pak Choi amongst others and whilst it uses electricity to provide light, work fans and a water pump, the energy is low when considering the energy costs involved in providing water. My hydroponic system uses 10 litres (2.2 gallons) a week. My garden takes 4 times that per day when it is hot. Then considering the food miles off commercially grown crops; my crops are walked up the stairs and in to my kitchen - no contest.

[claudettemonty]

This summer, it was my first experience to do tomatoes and cucumbers! I t was so good, better that at the grocery. I was asking myself if I can do them inside. And one week after, you arrive with this good idea!! Thanks a million of times and thanks to God at whom I asked an idea! Yes!!