The two basic forms of vegetable gardening are indoor vegetable gardening and outdoor vegetable gardening-and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Indoor gardens have a much easier time with pests but a much harder time with light and ventilation. Outdoor gardens have more space and are more traditonal. Each form of gardening has its own share of difficulties that have to be overcome and which involve factors such as deciding on using the right kind of soil and learning about how much water is to be given in order to grow your vegetables in the best possible manner. There is a whole science to getting the right amount of light and full spectrum light bulbs so that the plants don’t get too long or "leggy."

Not So Difficult

There also no doubts the fact that indoor vegetable gardening is not as difficult when it concerns preparing and maintaining the soil as would be the case with outdoor vegetable gardening. By repeatedly planting vegetables in outdoor soil, there is a consequent loss of nutrients and another problem with outdoor vegetable gardening is that it requires using more fertilizers and diseases.

Indoor vegetable gardening on the other hand, does not require much use of fertilizers though maintaining proper levels of fertilizers is a vexing problem that needs to be dealt with adequately. Also, when it concerns indoor vegetable gardening, there is need to learn about how to properly balance drainage of water with retaining suitable levels of waters. Here’s a quick tip -Never put a terra cotta pot directly on wood. It will rot the wood underneath and cause permanent damage. Always put a terra cotta pot on a water proof surface of some sort. Like a trivet or a plastic plate. The wood must breathe.

A common indoor vegetable gardening problem that you will also have to face is that indoor soil does not drain tself as well as does outdoor soil and there are also many dangers involved, especially if you make the mistake of giving too much water to the soil. You have to have good drainage in a container or indoor garden. But the soil you have indoors will be high quality, since you likely just bought a big bag of it.

There is also no simple way of automatically watering your indoor vegetable garden and in some cases, the mess and the cost actually makes automatic watering a most impractical option. Another concern as far as indoor vegetable gardening is concerned is giving the vegetables enough light. This is not a problem with outdoor vegetable gardening because if you have chosen the spot for your outdoor vegetable garden well, chances are it will get plenty of natural sunlight.

As far as lighting and indoor vegetable gardening go, you may even find it necessary to shift your plants all through the day so as to ensure that the vegetables get light wherever sunlight is entering into the home at different times of the day. The bright side is that in case there is too much sunlight, you can always pull the shades and protect your plants from the danger of excessive heat. This is mostly going to be an issue in a high altitude environment but not a real issue in most homes.

The best part about indoor vegetable gardening is that if you place your plants near a window you will give the plants the advantage of a greenhouse without having to incur the expenses or do the work required for growing plants in a greenhouse.

For those who are worried about getting the most out of their indoor vegetable gardening or any other form of gardening, it would certainly pay to check out some of the better vegetable gardening books that reveal secrets about how to improve your garden. Once you have understood how to get the most out of your gardening endeavors, it is then up to you to choose between indoor vegetable gardening and outdoor vegetable gardening. However, in most cases the decision is made for you and it depends on the on the amount of space that you have available for your garden.

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