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Window-sill
Gardening
by Meg of California
Even if you live in an apartment, you can have your own garden. Where's
your special growing space? It's your windowsill! Growing flowers
for bouquets and sachets, sprinkling your own homegrown herbs on a
salad is simple and easy to do.
Before
You Plant: Research
First,
go here to The Official
Seed Starting Home Page. Choose a flower or vegetable seed you'd
like to grow. The AGW crew chose "pansies".
The
Seed Starting page will tell you --
- what kind
of weather that plant likes
- How much
sun (pansies like partial shade)
- Any special
soil needs
- If it's good
to grow in containers (Yes! Pansies are container flowers)
- When it blooms:
(pansies bloom in early spring)
- Colors you
can get: (pansies come in apricot, blue, burgundy, orange, purple,
yellow)
- How long
it takes to grow the seed into a big plant: (pansies, 12 weeks)
- When to put
it in your garden
- How deep
to plant it (pansies 1/16 inch)
- What light
it needs to sprout (pansies, dark)
- Transplant
spacing between plants (pansies, 6-8 inches)
- Growing Tips
-
Problems
Materials
 Now
that you've found out what your seed needs to grow, here's the stuff
you'll need to build a window-sill garden.
- round plastic
food cartons (like from cottage cheese, or salsa)
- based on
your research, your choice of flower, herb or veggie seed pack
from the store (Burpees are good)
- pebbles
- a bag of
potting soil
- moss or charcoal
(from the home and garden or aquarium store)
How
to Do It
- Poke a hole
in the bottoms of all your round plastic food cartons to let water
drain out
- Put your
cartons on old saucers or dishes
- Lay a carpet
of pebbles across the bottom of each carton
- Next, lay
a carpet of moss or charcoal across the bottom
- Fill the
carton up with potting soil, about one inch from the top
- Drop five
or six seeds into the soil. Smush the seed under the surface with
your finger. (Not too deep!)
- Set them
in a window or in the dark, depending on what the Seed Starting
Page suggests for your kind of plant
- Water the
cartons lightly every day
- The morning
is the best time to water
- Check the
Seed Growing guide to see how much sunlight and water
- Some of the
seeds will grow big, others won't. That's normal.
- Pull out
the tiny seedlings that aren't growing well. This makes more room
for the healthy plants.
Find
Out More
For
more information about transplanting and tending your seedling, Kindergarden
has an introduction to gardening for kids with fun activities.
Written
by Meg, 16, California
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