Starting an Indoor or Outdoor Vegetable Garden - Pros and Cons

Vegetable gardening is a worthwhile project to undertake as the fruits of your labor can end up at your dinner table! However, you must first decide if you want to grow your vegetables indoor or outdoor. Both methods have pros and cons to it and you will need to consider conditions such as lighting and pest control as well. You need to consider your current situation to make a wise choice.

Soil preparation and maintenance can be much more difficult when gardening outdoors. Over time, nutrients in the soil can be diminished by repeated planting. It can be harder to deal with diseases and fertilizers then. Large areas that require pH adjusting and breaking down of clay particles present difficulties also. Preparing a container and maintaining it is not needed when gardening outdoors and this is a positive aspect.

Although less is required, maintaining fertilizer levels can be tricky when gardening indoors. It's easy to accumulate too much. Great care needs to be taken in order to maintain the proper balance between water drainage and retention. Soil in indoor gardening will not adjust itself as easily when compared to soil outdoors. Overwatering is much more dangerous for your plants than underwatering.

It is cheap and simple to use a automatic system for watering when you have a garden outdoors. It can be harder to do this with indoor gardening. It is possible but it will probably cost a lot and be messy. Depending on the number of containers you have, it may not even be worth the effort.

Lighting usually isn't an issue with outdoor gardens if they are planned correctly. It should be quite easy to give the plants approximately five hours of exposure to the sun, but it will depend on your local climate. lighting provides another challenge for indoor gardening. You might have the hassle of shifting your plants throughout the day if you have no access to a window area with adequate light and warmth.

However, this does make controlling the amount of light received somewhat easier. If the sun gets too hot, you can easily close the shades or blinds to prevent burning. Automated systems have been designed just for this purpose. Put plants near the windows to help create a greenhouse effect of sorts and it saves you the trouble and money of building an actual greenhouse.

Although pests and diseases are present in both settings, obviously, they will be easier to control indoors. Closer inspection and, usually, more chemicals are required for battling these things outdoors. Moisture on your plant's leaves during the cool night will cause fungi. It's also easier to for insects to lay their eggs undetected when outdoors.

Many of the controls available today, whether chemical or organic, have very unpleasant odors and would not be suitable for indoor use. Almost all insecticides are similar. Plant-based oils have a more pungent odor and is more expensive than chemical sprays.

You know what suits you the best, so you should be the judge of which method of vegetable gardening to adopt. Each method has its difficulties but it is definitely worthwhile when. You'll be supping on the fruits of your labor pretty soon.