Decent house plants or fruit and veg indoors?

[Marcher]

Does anyone have any ideas for some nice house plants or fruit and veg that can be grown indoors by a window? I may be moving to a property without a garden soon and wondered if there was anything non-tropical for indoors? I'm not a fan of most house plants, they're all tropical foliage plants and I'm not keen on them.

Here are a few things I've thought of so far:

Veg:

Tomatoes
Aubergines

Fruit:

Citrus - whether they'll fruit is a different matter.
Figs

Flowers:

Dwarf indoor roses if kept fairly cool



Can anyone think of anything besides these? If I have decent windowsills then maybe a few things could go outside the window.

[Linnea]

off the top of my head I would imagine that lettuce, radish, round carrots, spring onions, cress could be grown on a window ledge (I'm sure there are others), if you have patio/balcony doors then short pea's or dwarf beans could also be an option providing you can get pollinators in or hand pollinate.

but a lot would depend on light levels as well as size of windowledges

[veggiechicken]

Herbs - because they'll give you something fresh to add to your meal most days.

[Two_Sheds]

I'm not a fan of most house plants, they're all tropical foliage plants

that's because those are the plants that can survive in the harsh conditions of a house: too dark, too dry for most things. Lots of houseplants are jungle plants, that don't get much light in the wild.

Even windowsills aren't all that light, not for a plant that needs 16hrs+ of all round sunlight

[Marcher]

that's because those are the plants that can survive in the harsh conditions of a house: too dark, too dry for most things. Lots of houseplants are jungle plants, that don't get much light in the wild.

Even windowsills aren't all that light, not for a plant that needs 16hrs+ of all round sunlight

Yes, I realized that. Currently I have a few Mediterranean plants in a south facing window and they seem to do fine even in winter with the shorter daylight hours.

[Two_Sheds]

Yes, I realized that. .

Sorry.

Not everyone does, that's why I posted.

[BertieFox]

If you are still reading this after so long, why not try Passiflora edulis? (the edible passion fruit.) Although if left to its own wishes it will make loads of growth, it should do ok in a large pot by a window sill and if kept frost free should produce both nice flowers and some fruit in spring and summer. You know the fruit are ripe when they fall off the vine. I find it easy to grow in a frost free conservatory so I am sure you could succeed growing it next to a window in a heated room.
ps I meant to mention that they seem to do very well in low light conditions as our home made conservatory has walls on three sides and the only light comes through the roof and front wall.

[Marcher]

If you are still reading this after so long, why not try Passiflora edulis? (the edible passion fruit.) Although if left to its own wishes it will make loads of growth, it should do ok in a large pot by a window sill and if kept frost free should produce both nice flowers and some fruit in spring and summer. You know the fruit are ripe when they fall off the vine. I find it easy to grow in a frost free conservatory so I am sure you could succeed growing it next to a window in a heated room.
ps I meant to mention that they seem to do very well in low light conditions as our home made conservatory has walls on three sides and the only light comes through the roof and front wall.

I had considered a few tropical fruits such as Lychee, but I read some posts on here saying they don't grow indoors. I also considered citrus but don't know if they'll ripen and if they're worth the effort.
I hadn't actually considered Passion fruit, but it actually sounds like a great idea. How do I get plants though, can they be grown from seed or should I find a nursery that stocks them?

I may be able to gain the use of part of a relative's garden now for my veg, but I'm still interested in some plants inside.

[chris]

Stating the obvious here, but have you got your name down on the list of plots in your new area?

[Two_Sheds]

I also considered citrus but don't know if they'll ripen

I'm happy to be proven wrong, but I just don't think there's enough light on a windowsill for fruiting plants. The other problem that I always get, is an infestation of greenfly on anything I keep indoors.


LUX
Citrus grown in Zanzibar:

"I measured a brightness of 190,000 to 210,000 lux around lunchtime ... maybe 10-15,000 lux outside in Germany.

A very bright winter home (such as a small greenhouse or orangery) can often only provide 10,000 lux or less.

A normal winter home ... only reaches around 1,000 lux; the brightness of living rooms is normally 500 to 800 lux. "

Everything you have always wanted to know about citrus trees and overwintering them - Fruit, Gardening Tips, Lifestyle, Tree ...

I get flack for being "pessimistic", but I'm just a realist who speaks bluntly. If I don't think something will work, I'll say that. (Whereas other people just won't speak up for fear of offending). I don't believe in saying "try it, you've got nothing to lose" either, because if something's doomed to fail I'd rather be told that.

did that make sense?

[Marcher]

Stating the obvious here, but have you got your name down on the list of plots in your new area?

No, I didn't really think I needed an allotment until recently.

I'm happy to be proven wrong, but I just don't think there's enough light on a windowsill for fruiting plants. The other problem that I always get, is an infestation of greenfly on anything I keep indoors.


LUX
Citrus grown in Zanzibar:

"I measured a brightness of 190,000 to 210,000 lux around lunchtime ... maybe 10-15,000 lux outside in Germany.

A very bright winter home (such as a small greenhouse or orangery) can often only provide 10,000 lux or less.

A normal winter home ... only reaches around 1,000 lux; the brightness of living rooms is normally 500 to 800 lux. "

Everything you have always wanted to know about citrus trees and overwintering them - Fruit, Gardening Tips, Lifestyle, Tree ...

I get flack for being "pessimistic", but I'm just a realist who speaks bluntly. If I don't think something will work, I'll say that. (Whereas other people just won't speak up for fear of offending). I don't believe in saying "try it, you've got nothing to lose" either, because if something's doomed to fail I'd rather be told that.

did that make sense?

Yes, I have considered the light and I've grown things indoors enough to observe how sufficient it is. Some things clearly grow towards it whereas others are much more forgiving. I found that Figs actually do well indoors as foliage plant, currently mine has some figs growing but I don't know whether they'll ripen yet (it came out of dormancy around Christmas).

Among the Citrus plants, Meyer Lemons seem to be recommended for indoors. The only place I've seen them growing indoors myself was at a garden centre though and it has a glass roof, so I don't know. I have noticed a lot of pages on the internet do tend to greatly overestimate how good some things are as house plants - French Lavender is an example. I've tried it in a sunny south facing window, the room wasn't too hot or cold and yet it didn't do well so went outside where it thrived.
I don't know whether it's worth supplementing light. There are some LED grow lights now that are getting nearly as good as the HiD ones. They don't get as hot or use as much electricity apparently, I suppose they could be used to supplement sunlight from a south facing window.

[veggiechicken]

I had a Meyer lemon tree for several years. It lived indoors in the winter and outdoors in summer. It had one lemon - the one it came with - every other year it had sooty mould instead. Maybe it was just me, but a friend had exactly the same issues with hers.

[chris]

Get ya name down then, just incase - you can always remove yourself from the list!!

[Marcher]

I had a Meyer lemon tree for several years. It lived indoors in the winter and outdoors in summer. It had one lemon - the one it came with - every other year it had sooty mould instead. Maybe it was just me, but a friend had exactly the same issues with hers.

Thanks for the warning, I won't bother with Citrus then. I wish someone would hurry up and breed an edible citrange (an attempt to make a fully hardy orange). I think it would just take some selective breeding, but no one is going to have the patients to do it I don't think.

Get ya name down then, just incase - you can always remove yourself from the list!!

Yes, will do. I have the use of an area of someone's garden though, so I'll be growing my veg there this year at least.

[BertieFox]

Passiflora edulis you can buy in the supermarket and just germinate a few seeds, much easier than the dried up ones you buy. Takes around 3 to 4 weeks at 75F to germinate. Ours do well 'indoors', in a stone built building covered with polycarbonate panels. The main problem on a windowsill would be keeping the whole thing restricted to a reasonable size and fruit is borne on the current season's growth off the old wood. So you would need to get a main stem developed to the height you can fit in the window, with as many sideshoots as possible. Should fruit in its second year. It makes an attractive house plant with its glossy green leaves. Ours flowers around June and ripens the fruit by July or August, while citrus fruit stands on the plants for so long it is hard to decently ripen them.