A garden can thrive even in the littlest spaces. Gardening in an apartment can be equally rewarding as doing it in a big backyard. It beautifies your home and provides endless benefits, from purifying the air you breathe to brightening up your mood.

Indoor gardening does have its own challenges. Part of overcoming them is understanding what you may be doing wrong. Today, we’re going to talk about common mistakes when gardening in an apartment, and how to avoid them.

Choosing the Wrong Plants

It’s easy to get excited when choosing the plants you want to care for. However, this sometimes leads to poor choices. There are various reasons why you could end up with the wrong plants. For instance, your apartment may be situated in an area that doesn’t receive enough sunlight. Another is your busy lifestyle doesn’t give you enough time to take care of them.

The first step is to understand which plants suit your apartment best. Take a trip your nearby plant nursery and see which ones interest you. Research about what these plants require. From there, you’ll be able to see if they are the right fit.

Using Small Pots

This is one of the most common mistakes when it comes to gardening in an apartment. Using small containers may be hindering your plants from maximizing their growth. Your edible indoor garden may not be yielding fruit simply because the pots are too small.

The first days of growing may seem like your plants are doing just fine. However, the time will come that they will outgrow their containers. It’s best to already put them in pots that are big enough so they can thrive beyond their initial growing season.

Overwatering and Underwatering

Another common mistake newbie indoor gardeners make is they either overwater or underwater. Often times, they are afraid that they may be watering it too much, they tend to underwater. On the other hand, they think the plants need to be watered often, they drown the roots.

The trick is using your finger to check. Make sure to stick in your finger into the soil and see if it is dry or moist. If it’s still moist, don’t water it yet. It does take some getting used to but once you’re able to get in sync with your plants, you’ll know exactly when to water and how much of it you need.

Letting your Plants Gather Dust

One way that you could be hurting your plants without realizing it is when you let dust accumulate. Here’s the thing: Too much dust clogs your plants’ pores. Much like our skin, they also need some cleaning and clearing. So as much as you can, wipe off the dust off the leaves. Otherwise, your plants will find it harder to breathe and this can be troublesome.

Growing Too Much All at Once

Being overzealous often ends up overwhelming those who are just starting to garden in their apartment. That’s why it’s always best to start slow, get in tune with your plants and get used to growing first.

Another important thing to remember is to select the healthiest and most forgiving plants. Whether or not it’s an edible indoor garden, choosing the sturdiest off the bunch allows you a bit more room to find your groove and grow to become natural to it.