As with any garden, finding the best location for growing is one of the most important keys to your success.

• The majority of vegetable plants require a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight per day.
• Place your garden near a convenient source of water. With proper advanced planning, you can design your garden so that all you need to do is turn on the faucet for a few minutes to provide adequate water to all of your plants.
• Unless you are planting shade-loving vegetables, stay away from trees and shrubs. They will shade your plants and compete with your garden for water.
• Locate your garden facing south if possible; this will insure that they receive ample sunlight.

If you do not have access to a sunny location, broad leafy vegetables such as lettuce and spinach will grow quite well in shade or partial shade. Choose your favorite vegetables for your first vertical garden.

Doing so will make all of your labor much more rewarding as the end result will be vegetables that you love to eat. Start small to avoid becoming overwhelmed. Remember that each year, as your skills grow, you can add more plants and varieties. One of the best features about using a vertical or container garden is that, if you decide to plant indoors, be it in a garage, spare bedroom, or even a simple closet, you can disregard all seasonal planting.

That’s right, since you control the temperature in your home, you can help to maintain opportune growing temperatures for your edibles! If you utilize growing lights you don’t even need to have sunlight to produce great vegetables for your family. With a bit of ingenuity you can even create your own for just a fraction of the cost.

Should you choose this route, you need to make sure that either by window or artificial lighting, you are still giving your plant the correct amount of light each day. You will also want to check to see if your plant has a desired humidity range and you may need to adjust the humidity in your growing area accordingly.

A humidifier and an improvised green house can help to keep your indoor planting from affecting the rest of your house. If you choose multiple smaller containers that remain portable, you can create a hybrid garden that you can move outside during opportune growing weather and, should the weather turn inclement, you can quickly move the planters indoors to a safe growing environment. If you decide to use a container or create a vertical garden you want to make sure to follow these 5 key steps to maintain a healthy garden.