Gardening Tips

Basil, cilantro, and chives grow great indoors. Find a sunny window where your herbs will get at least four hours of direct sunlight. Start seeds or small plants with premixed potting soil and keep the soil moist.

Grow lots of tomatoes from the seeds of one ripe heirloom. Squeeze seeds into a container, cover with water, and set aside for a few days. Rinse them really well, removing any tomato pieces, and dry your seeds until it’s time to plant them.

Grow your own self-contained salad garden with lettuce, radishes and tomatoes. Plant seeds in window boxes or recycled plastic containers, like clean milk jugs or laundry detergent bottles with tops cut off.

Place the base of your celery stalks, scallion ends, and leftover lettuce stems in shallow containers of water in the sun. Change the water daily, and transfer to soil once they begin to grow.

Collect rainwater instead of watering from the faucet and adding to your bill. The lukewarm water is less shocking to plants and typically contains fewer contaminants because it’s completely untreated.

Start seedlings in empty eggshells instead of containers. The shells are self-composting, so you can plant the entire thing once it sprouts, and your plant will get a boost of calcium that doesn’t cost a dime.

Instead of filling an entire pot with expensive soil, fill half with reused packing peanuts, followed by a layer of fabric covering the foam. Your potted plant will cost you less, and be a little easier to carry around the house.

Over-watered, damp soil can lead to diseased plants. Cinnamon has amazing anti-fungal qualities that could be a low-cost way to keep them healthy.

Make your own mulch with crushed up leaves and grass clippings, and create nutrient-rich compost from fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and filters, and ground-up eggshells.

Fill any recycled glass bottle with water, and place it upside down in the soil of your potted plant. Water will slowly seep out of the bottle, watering your plants while you’re away.