Houseplants are wonderful in and of themselves. They provide a lot of beauty and liveliness to our homes and offices.
But what if your houseplants could also provide you with food?
There are tons of edible plants that you can grow in your home all year long. Many of the plants on this list will thrive with no special care. Why not add some edible houseplants to your windowsill?
Herbs
Herbs grow well indoors all year round.
If your thumbs are very green, you’ll likely be able to succeed in growing all sorts of herbs indoors all year round, but the following are the easiest herbs to keep as edible houseplants.
Basil
Basil is one of the most commonly used culinary herbs; it smells delightful, and it’s easy to grow indoors. We keep a basil plant growing in our kitchen all year round so we can easily snip off branches while cooking.
Make sure to read our post on growing basil for hot tips on how to grow giant, bushy plants.
Rosemary
Rosemary is an attractive plant and a wonderful culinary herb to keep as a houseplant.
Rosemary is a little more challenging to grow indoors, but it’s doable. The key to growing rosemary indoors is to recognize that this is a Mediterranean plant and try to mimic its natural outdoor environment as much as possible. While rosemary growing in the Mediterranean often deals with periods of drought, it does have almost constant access to moisture. It prefers dry roots and wet leaves.
We keep a little spray bottle filled with water next to our plants and mist them every few days to keep the leaves moist.
Chives
We used to bring our chive plants indoors every winter and keep them in our kitchen window. It was so nice to be able to snip off a few for baked potatoes or creamy soups, and they absolutely thrived indoors.
Lemon Balm
Part of the mint family, lemon balm smells absolutely divine and is a prolific plant. Lemon balm grows great indoors and makes for an attractive houseplant. Lemon balm can be used fresh as a culinary herb or dried and used to make herbal tea.
Aloe
Most people don’t eat aloe but rather use it to treat cuts and burns, including sunburn. But with that said, you can eat aloe, and it’s especially fun to add to drinks!
It’s a handy plant to have around the house if you spend a lot of time in the sun. To treat burns, simply break off a leaf, scoop out the goop, and rub it on your skin. This will provide relief from the pain and speed up the burn healing as well.
You can easily harvest the aloe vera gel to use in drinks and smoothies. You can even grow aloe as an air plant.
Roots, rhizomes, and tubers
Sweet potato
In my personal opinion, sweet potato is one of the most interesting and fun houseplants on this list. Some people grow sweet potato vines in their homes without even realizing there are edible tubers in the soil.
Starting the vines is great fun for adults as well as kids.
All you need to do is buy a sweet potato from the store, make sure it’s organic and not chemically treated to retard growth.
Stick a few toothpicks in the potato around the perimeter, put the potato into a drinking glass and fill it with filtered water, just enough to submerge the bottom of the sweet potato. Change the water every few days.
You’ll see tiny roots begin to grow into the water then you’ll see green slips appearing from the eyes of the potato. You can then plant the slips into the soil.
Sweet potato vines can be trained to climb and weave around curtain rods or shelves to make for a very attractive houseplant. It’s just a bonus to be able to dig out the tubers and eat them.
Ginger
Ginger grows best in a shallow, wide pot as the tubers grow horizontally. Ginger loves to grow in rich, well-draining soil and will do well in very bright light, but not direct sunlight.
Can you grow ginger from a grocery store?
We’ve tried this, and the answer is yes, with some caveats.
It’s important to buy organic ginger if you plan to grow it. Non-organic ginger may be sprayed with a growth inhibitor that will, you guessed it, keep it from growing. Search for fresh, plump ginger that has lots of ‘eyes’ on it.
The plant that I grew from grocery store ginger wasn’t very strong. It lasted a few months but then inexplicably died. You may have better luck than I did, or you may prefer to buy a ginger plant from the nursery. Read up on everything you need to know to grow ginger successfully.
Greens
Greens are one of the easiest and most satisfying indoor edibles to grow. They grow quickly, are packed full of nutrients, and can be cooked or eaten raw in a variety of ways.
Here are some good greens to grow in your home:
- Microgreens
- Spinach
- Arugula
- Kale
- Lettuce
Green Onions
Green onions are crazy easy to grow indoors.
You can even try re-growing grocery store green onions by placing the roots in some clean water. They’ll regenerate a few times before dying off. However, if you want to keep them as a houseplant, you’d be better off starting them from seed and planting them in soil.
If you’re sensitive to smells or don’t enjoy the smell of onions, growing green onions indoors might not be for you.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes may not make the most attractive houseplant, but they could be the most useful one if you care to give it a try!
Dwarf tomato plants grow well in pots and can be brought into the house at the end of the season for continued tomato harvests well into the winter. I know some people who have grown tomatoes year-round in their homes, but there are some things to keep in mind if you choose to do this.
Tomatoes are hungry and thirsty plants. They have high demands for fertilizer and water. They also demand lots of intense light in order to grow strong and produce fruit.
For this reason, you may want to use a grow light setup for your indoor tomato plants to give them a little extra boost so they stay vibrant and healthy.
Chili Peppers
Spicy chili peppers can grow pretty well as houseplants as long as you have enough direct sunlight and skills to help them thrive.
Chili pepper plants are small and attractive. Unlike bell peppers, they grow pretty easily and quickly and will keep producing peppers over and over again as long as the plant is well cared for.
In my experience growing chili peppers inside, they do tend to attract bugs more than other types of house plants. You can treat them with neem oil or insecticidal soap, but be aware that you’ll need to check them pretty often for pests.
Tomatoes and peppers are easy to grow indoors all year if you use a hydro garden. These are self-watering and have grow lights set on timers, so you can pretty much plant it and forget it.
The downside to growing tomatoes and peppers indoors, especially if you’re growing them hydroponically, is that they tend not to be as tasty as they are when grown outdoors in the summertime. Something about the soil and sun adds so much flavor to these fruits and veggies.
Pineapple
Pineapples are great fun to grow at home, but not the easiest plant on this list. Pineapple plants can be very finicky. They need temperatures constantly above 65 degrees F and require consistent bright light. They also take a long time to bear fruit, and you may not see a pineapple for years, but when you do, the reward is wonderful!
You can try growing a pineapple plant from a pineapple top with our easy tutorial.
Trees You Can Grow as Edible Houseplants
Many trees with edible fruit and leaves can be grown indoors as houseplants.
Tree Buying Tips
The absolute best place to buy trees will always be your local plant nursery. That way, they don’t need to go through the stress of shipping. The nursery is also generally staffed by knowledgeable people who can help you pick the best trees, and many nurseries have warranties or guarantees for the plants they sell. Additionally, local nurseries tend to only sell plants that will thrive in your growing zone.
If you can’t buy a tree locally, you can certainly order trees online, but try to follow these tips so you have a good experience.
Buy only from reputable online nurseries
There are a lot of scammers out there and a lot of people who will sell anything to make a buck. When it comes to plants, you need to know full well that you’re getting something that’s high quality, non-invasive, and not going to introduce insects, bacteria, or fungus into your home or yard.
Buy the oldest and biggest tree that you can afford
Trees grow slowly, so it’s worth spending a little more to shave years off of the time needed to get fruit from your tree.
Read the reviews
Even when you’re buying from a reputable place, be sure to read the reviews for each plant you’re considering. Some varieties tend to grow better than others and you can pretty easily tell from the reviews which are the better ones.
Don’t bother buying plants that don’t have any reviews. This will most likely cause you problems down the road.
Make sure the nursery has a generous refund or return policy
Plants can easily get damaged in transit. Reputable online nurseries have protections against this, so you won’t lose your money over something that’s not your fault. Make sure you read the fine print and understand exactly what the refund policy is before ordering.
Bay
Bay leaves are an essential addition to soups and stews, adding tons of depth and flavor, but did you know they come from a tree that you can grow in your home?
Bay trees can get very large when grown outdoors, so if you’re growing them as a houseplant, it’s important to keep their growth under control. Be sure to prune the tree every year to keep it manageable.
Avocado
We’ve been growing an avocado tree as a houseplant for over 13 years. My husband started it from a pit from a grocery store avocado, and it has grown to be over 10 feet tall.
We keep our avocado tree in a very large planter. We move it outside every spring and bring it back inside every fall.
It can take many years for avocados grown from pits to actually bear fruit, so if you’re going to do this, you’ll need a lot of patience. Here’s how to do it. The easier thing would be to buy a tree already a few years old.
Lemon
Meyer lemons are the most popular fruit tree to grow indoors as a house plant and for good reason. These trees remain pretty small but can produce a lot of fruit. The fruits are tasty and sweet and make the most delicious lemonade.
Meyer lemon trees are also pretty inexpensive and readily available. You can buy them at local plant nurseries or order them online. I’ve even seen Meyer lemon trees for sale at our local grocery store, and know a few people who have grown them from seed if you want a fun challenge.
Tea
Tea tree is one of the most fun houseplants you can own. If you’re a regular tea drinker, you’ll delight in growing and roasting your own tea leaves.
Tea trees are incredibly easy to grow indoors but can be pretty challenging to find. We bought our tea tree from an online nursery and had it shipped to our home. It took a few years for it to get really big and bushy, but we certainly enjoyed clipping off leaves and making tea from them.
I hope you’re inspired to try growing food in your home. Growing houseplants is rewarding in and of itself, but when those houseplants give you food as well, that’s a huge homesteading win!
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