The Best Vegetables to Grow Indoors

I just filmed a harvest compilation video of all the herbs and vegetables I’ve grown in my apartment.

My previous Indoor Garden Harvest videos are here (January 2024) and here (August 2024).

I originally planned to post these updates every ~6 months or so, but things have fallen slightly off schedule and somehow here we are in April, 10 months later..

But better late than never, I hope!

Here’s a look at everything I grew, with some notes from my growing process.

Vegetables You Can Grow Indoors All Year Round

And now for some superlatives:

Easiest Vegetable to Grow Indoors: Bok Choy

Bok choy is really easy to grow!

There are so many different types of bok choy (all different sizes and colors) but my favorite are these tiny little dwarf ones.

Low Maintenance Vegetables to Grow at Home: Herbs

Herbs are the easiest to grow. They taste so much fresher, don’t require any maintenance, and can keep producing for ~6 months.

I’d recommend starting with large leaf basil, holy basil (if you like Thai food) or thyme.

I also recently tried Vietnamese cilantro (a little tricky to get started but SO fragrant!), rosemary (best to start from seed) and sage (also really fragrant).

Trickiest Vegetables to Grow at Home:

Hm, there were a couple slightly tricky vegetables during my indoor grow.

• romaine: surprisingly, Cos lettuce (aka romaine) seeds are a little slower to germinate compared to loose leaf lettuce. they also were slower growing and quick to bolt
• parsley: I tried out a garden blend but had a hard time getting seeds to start
• gailan: Chinese broccoli is easier to grow than American broccoli, because you don’t have to wait for the full head to form. it’s also tastier in my opinion, but can be quick to start flowering!
• cucumbers: pollinating some cucumber varieties can be a bit of a chore, since they have separate male and female flowers. you have to wait for both flower types to appear on the plant, then pollinate them by hand

Fastest Growing Vegetables: Cucumbers

I was amazed at how quickly cucumbers grow.

I tried these small snacking cucumbers and started harvesting in just under a month! SO quick and they tasted so fresh and crunchy, very similar to the Persian cucumbers you find at the store.

even if you don’t have outdoor space, you can start a little vegetable garden

Mistakes I Made

I love trying out new-to-me pepper varieties so I planted both ancho sanchez and poblano peppers. I bought the seed packets from two of my favorite heirloom seed companies.

Only to realize that when the peppers started coming in.. they looked exactly the same.

That’s when I did some research and realized ancho sanchez peppers are poblanos.

Poblanos are the name of the fresh, green chile pepper while ancho chilies are the name of the dried, ripe (red) version of poblanos.

A little confusing to name them differently, when they’re ultimately the same pepper, but I guess it’s to account for the difference in color/ texture and flavor!

One of the things I love about indoor gardening is how much it’s taught me about food and where it comes from.

Vegetable that Surprised Me: Mixed Lettuce

I tried out this pack of mixed lettuce and loved it! There was a mix of different varieties and I loved the difference in colors and textures.

Indoor Garden Updates

The big update is I got a new hydroponic system, this tower garden!

I’ve been wanting one of these futuristic gardens for a while, but they’re a little pricey and they’re a slightly more advanced setup so I put it on the back burner for years.

I’m SO happy that I got one last summer, and it’s quickly become my latest favorite. I wrote about the setup process here, and have posted some monthly updates here, if you want more details.

most of my focus has been on testing out this vertical tower garden!

Growing vertically has been a completely new method for me, and honestly, it’s a game changer for anyone living in a small space.

If I were to move and could only bring one indoor garden with me, it’d be this one.

That’s not to say it doesn’t have cons, but overall I find it very efficient and productive.

It also seems less prone to mold and algae build-up, and I like that I don’t have to hunch over or sit down on the ground to check on my plants – the vertical set up and rotating dolly make it so easy.

What’s Next

When I got my first indoor garden, I knew nothing about gardening and had never kept a plant alive for more than a couple weeks.

So it took some trial and error, and lots of experimentation to start growing herbs.

I worked my way up to lettuces and salad greens, and now I feel like I’ve mostly mastered the larger vegetables like tomatoes and peppers.

There are still a few types of vegetables I’ve haven’t successfully grown (squash, cabbage, peas) but I think I’ve satisfied the itch of growing new things and now I’m more focused on growing the vegetables I like and eat frequently.

Going forward, I’ll mostly be focused on improving my yield.

There are certain vegetables I grow at home and no longer buy at the store. So I’m excited to step it up, grow lots more, and see how much I can really save on my grocery bill in the future!

Follow me on

Youtube | Tiktok | Instagram | Substack