Indoor Gardening 101
By Linda Widiachristy
“Gardening adds years to your life and adds life to your years.”
As someone who just started doing gardening and has difficulty in distinguishing the plants’ names at first (who’s with me?), I recently realized that gardening does add ‘life’ to your daily-life. Particularly at this moment, bringing something green in your room might spark joy and reduce your stress of staying indoors for quite some time.
If you are new in Wageningen, you probably come not in the very best situation with many restrictions and limited social interaction. When you are strolling around the city, you might notice many plants around the neighbourhood and flowers in the market, which is quite refreshing and intriguing. After following online classes for a while and stayed in your room most of the time, have you ever wondered whether it would be nice to have something green inside your room? Speaking from my own experience, I started to buy one out of curiosity. Then two, three…. and now eight plants!. If you are also new to indoor gardening or have some interest but not sure where to start, here are some tips for you:
Getting started
Different type of flower and plant seeds
First, look at your room and find where you can put your plants. Put these questions in mind, Do I have enough space? Where should I put the plants?. By doing this, you can find what kind of plant suitable for your room. If you have a little space, you can try to find a small one or maybe a hanging one. Make sure you have enough space for you and your plant :).
Where to find plants/flowers
Flower seller stand at Open Market
It is not hard to find a place that sells plants in Wageningen. You can find it in the supermarket, or if you want to find some at a low price, I recommend you to go to the open market. There are some stands selling plants and flowers, sometimes they also have some discounts if you buy more than one. Other than that, there is also a famous place to buy plants and tools related to gardening behind droevendaal called “Tuincentrum De Oude Tol B.V..” It is a great place to explore and find cute plants for your room.
Where to consult
Facebook page “Wageningen Student Plants”
Every time I bought a plant, I always ask the seller what I need to do, like how much I need to water it. Fortunately, WUR is also famous for its agriculture research, many plant science students are always open for consultation. At least in my case, I always ask my friend who is doing plant science every time there is something wrong with my plant. You can also join a Facebook group called “Wageningen Student Plants.” It is a place where you can discuss any plant-related thing, buy some plants from other students, or swap your cutting with others.
I hope that these tips help you in ‘bringing some green’ in your room and make you feel better in this challenging time. Stay safe and enjoy gardening!