Depending on your goals, your indoor garden might be in a greenhouse on an apartment balcony or in a vacant room in your home. Before you start the garden process, these spaces must be repurposed so that you can have enough light and room to meet your goals. Overall, this room should not be too cold or too hot and there should be ample sunlight. So, pick a room with large windows or be prepared to supplement with LED growing lights. Here are some expert tips on finding a good indoor gardening spot:

• Capitalize on the morning sun. Plants are the healthiest when they start the day with plenty of sunshine. For the best results, put your garden in a room with an east-facing window.
• Use high-quality grow lights. Indoor lighting conditions aren’t the same as outdoor light, so you need to supplement during times of the day when the sun isn’t around much. The experts recommend GE Grow Light 9-watt Balanced Spectrum LED bulbs and GE Red bulbs for different stages of growth.
• Make enough room for all the plants. Set up pots and planters on raised beds so that each plant has enough room to grow roots and reach its full height. Consult each plant’s seed packet instructions to find out how much room they need.

Not all plants will thrive indoors, so you need to be careful to choose the right types for your garden. Typically, you want plants that don’t need to take up a lot of space and don’t require full outdoor sunlight. These are the top plants that work based on an indoor garden’s typical lighting and temperature:

• Lettuce is an easy way to start. It’s a typical winter crop but the moderate temperatures indoors make it suitable for growing this plant around the year. For the best results, lettuce should be placed under a grow light that is around 3-4” above the plant.
• Arugula germinates quickly and is a fast source of nutritious greens. One plant can give you multiple harvests if you collect larger leaves but let the smaller ones to mature. Put these tasty leaves on salads for a slightly bitter kick to your veggie game.
• Kale is a hardy indoor plant that can be harvested like arugula. It also lasts a long time in the fridge and is considered a superfood for its richness in copper manganese, calcium, potassium, and vitamins A, K, B6, and C. Kale is larger than arugula, so you only need to plant a few seeds in a medium-sized pot.
• Herbs of all kinds can thrive in an indoor garden since they don’t take up a lot of space. Rosemary and mint are considered to be the easiest to grow after transferring them from a starter plant, while basil and cilantro can be easily grown straight from the seed. For each herb type, research their water and sunlight requirements to group each plant strategically.

It can be tough to remember all the sunlight, and watering frequency requirements for each plant so, keep a log and record when you water and fertilize each plant. Also, make a log of your progress and see how the plants grow under different circumstances. You may find that a new type of light works better than your old grower light. The more you practice cultivating your garden, the better you will be at your methods.