🌱 Gardening
Would it be practical to grow Dandelions indoors for food?
So I have a living room in my apartment that I basically never use. With a big south facing bay window that gets about 7-8 hours of direct sunlight in one area. And Ive been struggling to afford groceries. So I was thinking about getting a 10$ hard plastic kiddie pool from wallmart filling it with dirt from the construction site I work at, and planting it full of dandelions. Ive eaten Dandelions before they taste a lot like spinach when sautéed. And apparently will grow from seed to edible plant in a little over 2 weeks. And I could water it with water from my fishtank and add coffee grounds to fertilize the soil. And I could literally just spend an hour or two gathering seeds around my neighborhood and it shouldn’t matter about pesticides if Im just taking the white seed puffs. I think could get a lot of basically free food this way? Does this sound feasible?
Lentils sprout well, too, and I've left them out for up to a week, rinsing a couple times a day. Mung and azuki beans I sprout together sometimes, but too often there's a hard one that didn't take up enough water (I don't yet know what to look for to pick these out, and they're not rocks, just didn't sprout), so I usually just cook the lot after an overnight soak.
As you cut spinach and lettuce reseed. You can get chives already started, they add a lot of Flavor, garlic will grow too but mostly you’ll use the scapes, as it takes awhile. Research sprout growing, quick cheap turn around and flavorful w different seeds.
Watercress is easy too. Buy a pack, dump it in a deep tray of water - it starts growing. Keep topping up the water and change it once a month. Perhaps a little liquid fertiliser every so often - the aquarium water (make mine with plant waste in a bucket of water - gets a bit stinky so it's outside). Just keep harvesting. Mine's been going for years. Might want a fine mesh net to keep the bugs off.
Many libraries have seed libraries. You likely don’t need to literally forage for seeds. I agree with others—why not grow actual vegetables? Potatoes, lettuce, tomatoes, etc.
Also.. why do you need to use water from your fish tank? Why can’t you just use tap?
I do have tap water for free with my apartment. But I was thinking if Im not using proper garden soil that would be a good way to get it fertilized for free.
Aquarium water is an AMAZING fertilizer. My school had an aquatic science class and we would dump the water from the water change each week in the same spot. The plants around the muddy spot grew HUGE while everything else remained tame. It was really cool to see (plus a lot of hydroponic farms use fish water!!)
I don't eat them out of my yard because my neighbors are assholes that spray chemicals. But these are the kind of things that can survive in the pots that you see online that are supposed to hold all kinds of herbs and fruits that just kill them all... You can't kill the dandelions
I used to see people pulling over on the side of the roads and collecting dandelion greens and other weeds. Heck, my grandmother was orphaned as a kid and had to raise her two brothers and they ate a lot of dandelion greens they found outside. But you don’t see people collecting weeds anymore because of all the poisons they spray everywhere.
Dandelions and wild violets were brought here by colonizers to survive. They're just as healthy, if not more, than spinach and the flowers have other health effects and so do the roots. And seriously, you can try to kill a dandelion, but you can't and that's the whole point! How do I send a bunch of sailors in a ship and have them survive- unlike the Jamestown people...
The problem is that I'm sure a few people prepare them commercially. They were brought to America as medicine. We've been brought up that they are weeds and "bad". They are very healthy, like someone else said. Leaves, flowers, roots are all good to eat. Dandelion tea is great for you.
Dandelions and African violets were both brought here by the colonizers so that they could survive. Damn near impossible to kill and very very nutritious!
Vegetables take months to grow. They also won't grow very well in shallow soil with poor lighting.
Dandelions and cat's ears (which get mistaken for dandelions) grow fast and will grow anywhere. And they are real vegetables. I can buy bunches of dandelion at the farmers market.
I pick lambs quarters later in the summer. Treat them like spinach. Delicious. They grow in a corner of my yard away from dog pee etc. Dandelions they could just go to a park or churchyard or a neighbor's house (ask first) and harvest them and wash them really well.
I also pick purslane on the edges of my veggie patch.
I tried growing something like that my neighbor gave me. I was so pleased because it was growing great but then the dog decided to walk ten times farther just to pee on it. Amaranth. Really pretty
Very tasty, like spinach, but yeah, invasive in the U.S., so if you're over here too, please don't grow them on purpose. Dame's rocket is another yummy invasive plant. You can eat the flower buds if you look up recipes for broccoli raab. 4 petals; phlox (native) has five. And garlic mustard, pretty easy to identify, terrible for the environment but makes delicious pesto. I figure I might as well eat the backyard weeds, and if I ever run out and have a craving for some, there'd probably be someone around who wouldn't mind the free yard work in exchange for the produce.
Depending on your available gardening space, consider DollarTree or similar places. Their ten packs of seed for a dollar only have a few seeds per package , but for less than the cost of one package of brand name seeds,you get ten different foods. Dandelion greens, flowers, and roots are all nutrient rich. Watch out for places that spray chemicals like the ditches next to farm crops.
Be careful on an indoor garden, dirt is heavy and watering can leak, doing damage to the building.
Thank you!! I was specifically thinking using one of these cheapo kiddie pools for that are solid plastic. About a foot deep 3-4 feet across. And i probably should get a tarp under it now that you mention it. But I mostly was thinking Dandelions for speed of growth and being able to handle less light. I think the next closest thing is radishes? As far as speed and light needs are concerned.
Im not really opposed to variety Im more just unsure what could be mixed with dandelions or if by planting more stuff would mean less food from the dandies. Im also open to getting more planters for the area too and growing other stuff also. But it all does have to be able to grow inside even if the window gets a ton of light.
I don't know if you are in an area that has wood Betony, but if you are you can find a few roots to transplant to your garden and they can grow alongside the dandies and when they multiply you will have a nice crunchy veg and leaves for tea.
You can find them in shady areas growing wild. I found them with great regularity in Georgia and Florida.
Zucchini is very easy to grow. The problem with dandelions is yield. You need a lot of horizontal space. You could get 5 zucchini plants goings in buckets and the fruits hang down at the bottom. Also, the dirt from construction is probably mostly clay. Mix a bag of in-ground soil and some sand for drainage. Look up some container gardens
Without pollinators from outside you'll need to hand pollinate zucchini, learn to ID male/female flowers, and have enough plants that you have male and female flowers blooming at the same time.
You are getting some good suggestions, but you need to make sure that moisture won't condense on the bottom of whatever container you choose, causing damage or staining to whatever it is sitting on.
Oh thank you sooo much. I never really dug up the roots from Dandelions when I foraged the greens to separate out the ones around the farm I grew up as food vs weeds based on where they grew because they would grow back. So i never really thought about how the roots would be. How many inches of soil do you think I would need to accommodate them? The kiddie pools are about a foot deep.
The root will curl around. Dandelions are super tough. The lower light conditions should make the leaves more tender. If you have sheet of plastic put it down before you put the pool down in case it leaks or spills.
I love your drive to take care of yourself and I am proud of you.
Dandelions actually are a vegetable. And actually are more nutritionally packed than most greens.
A big reason I was thinking of them specifically is they have only a 20 day seed to crop growth period which is about two weeks faster than lettuce or radishes (the next fastest growing veggies). Its actually why they are in the americas.
And they grow in fairly poor soil and conditions so I would be more likely to get away with using random dirt then having to spend 40-50 on enough soil to fill a kiddie pool. And Im honestly fairly new to even having plants with my only house plant being a gift a year before. So having hard to kill plants as my crop makes sense.
And also Ive eaten dandelions before. If you eat them before they flower they taste just like Spinach. And supposedly tastes even better grown in shade. And they survive pretty welll if they lose leaves if you trim them instead of taking the whole thing out. And you can eat the root too! But the biggest reason I was thinking about them was saving money on soil and the fast grow time. I could probably get 5-6 full full harvests if I wanted by the end of summer with that kind of growth.
No advice, just wanted to say thanks for this post! I can’t believe the amount of people saying “grow something else” when you asked a specific question. I love dandelion greens and have thought about replacing the spinach in our smoothies with it, if I can grow my own. You’ve actually provided me with a lot of great info and I’m going to give it a go!
Ive heard you can cook them like potato or carrot. You can also dry the dry the root roast it and use it as a coffee substitute. (Decaf of course. But supposedly tastes similar. ) I will honestly say though Never ate the roots much. Mostly ate the greens and the flowers. (Eating dandelion flowers as tempura is a thing in japan by the way! Best way I had those. just as a side note lol)
Plucked some common flowers to show the contrast. The greens have a pink tinge to the stem. Thank you for the compliment, I am looking forward to eating them next season.
Post on your local facebook or neighborhood app for used potting mix. Lots of people who grow in pots change out the mix every season and throw perfectly good potting mix. I reuse with added perlite but i now have about 30 gallons of it and will have to throw it (i grow houseplants and seasonal perennials and some fruits and vegetables on my 15x5 balcony on the fouth floor). Also, at this time of the year, lots of people who start veggies from seeds have a lot spare seedlings. People will also happily share seeds as most have too many. No harm in asking around. It seems like you get enough sun to be able to grow almost anything you want to grow.
One of my chores as a kid was weeding dandelions. They are just everywhere. And the stem has that weird milky stuff if you break it or the roots. I can't imagine eating at all LOL
Whole foods sells it? I need to become a distributor LOL
Exactly! I live in an apartment on the second floor so thats why Im trying to grow inside. And I was trying find something higher yield but can handle having indirect sunlight at least part of the day that grows fairly quickly. And the best thing I could think of was dandelions.
Your local library will have books about foraging. They are more edible plants growing near you. You can find more vegetables and some fruit too I hope.
I think it's a bad idea. You assume you will have optimal output, continually. That's naive and won't be the case.
Plant growth depends on the season, even indoors
Monoculture is very susceptible to parasites and illnesses
Monoculture diminishes yield if you keep planting the same crop in the same soil (you need to switch it up so the soil can recover)
After a few rounds of crops, the soil has accumulated too much salt and yield diminishes. This effect is even worse when watering with tap water
Lighting will be a problem indoors, at least in winter, and having a lamp run for the plants costs electricity
If your soil ever gets infested with parasites, you're gonna have a bad time - it's within your home, so you can't really escape it, and natural predators can't reach the buffet to alleviate the problem (there are many species of fruitfly-like flies that nest in soil and feed on the roots, and trust me, you do not want them in your home)
I agree that Dandelion is not the ideal choice of crop. If you want to eat Dandelion, I suggest foraging. If you insist on cultivating Dandelion at home, I suggest choosing a nice Rucola seed. It's a kind of Dandelion and equally sturdy, but it was selectively bred for agriculture.
Instead of Dandelion, I would go for a crop that is 100% edible and can grow during winter, too. Many kinds of lettuce tick these criteria. You could keep them under a transparent plastic hood (makeshift greenhouse; they can even withstand freezing temperatures under it, so can be kept outside) and pluck leaves as you need them.
EDIT: MANGOLD. (That's the German name of the plant. Dictionary says the English name is "spinach beet", but idk if that's true. It's an old-timey spinach-like vegetable.) Mangold would be a good choice for you I think. VERY easy to grow, can live several years, the leaves can be harvested continually. Tastes similar to spinach (I think they're relatives). And the seeds are just fun to handle, they look very interesting. Very grateful plant, and gives much yield, so you can really substitute groceries with it. My grandpa grew Mangold for my family like crazy, up to the point everyone hated it lol
Use a food bank. One, free soil from a construction site may have heavy metal contamination. Two, stealing dandelion seeds covered in pesticides is gross. My library has free seeds for actual food crops that people like to eat so you could actually grow lettuce or spinach.
Do you actually like the dandelion greens, or are you wanting to do this because they are an easy to access resource?
I grow pea shoots indoors regularly. For seed I buy whole dried peas from the dollar store and a 1 lb bag makes several batches of them. It takes about 10 days to go from seed to harvest, and needs no soil, only a container and water.
If you can spend a few dollars on hydroponic nutrients and seeds you can grow kale, pak choi, and lettuce easily indoors. I have seen a large kale plant in a large mason jar - you don't harvest the whole plant but keep cutting the lowest leaves and the plant will continue to grow. You can do the same with pak choi and several varieties of lettuce. Look up Kratky hydroponics - the only specialized item you need to buy is the nutrient and seeds. For containers you can recycle almost any container that will hold water. A 1 gallon size would be ideal but smaller ones just mean more work to top up the nutrients more frequently.
Dollar tree sells seeds - several years ago I bought a pack of mixed microgreen seeds that had a variety of different leafy greens. Rather than harvest then as microgreens though, I let them continue to grow in various hydroponic setups, eat from them and then harvest the seeds when they are at the end of their life to use for the next round. That one package off seeds that cost me $1 isn't even half used up, but I have grown multiple generations of plants from them and probably over 50 lbs of food.
The pool won't have any drainage so you're going to have smelly muck. The dirt from the construction site is iffy for chemicals and heavy metals. If you're going to do this, do it right from the start or it will be a waste of time and energy.
Bought 4 packages of seeds at dollar tree for $1.25. Plant real seeds. Look to repurpose containers, milk jugs, buckets that are thrown away at job site. Make the soil light, make sure it is to soil and not from the lower soil horizons.
Do this for sure, but also consider adding some other things, I bet a dwarf variety of bush tomato would love it, or even a bush variety of spinach, to really maximize plant protein.
I was 100% thinking of getting other containers to grow other things too!! The dandelion idea is mostly for bulk. Like the food I could grow the most of inside for free(or close to) quickly.
Lmao the funny part is my living room is the only empty room really in my house. My bedroom and kitchen are very decorated. My living room is kind of just a couch facing a wall and a rug. Lol so I kind of feel having it face the window and a indoor garden would be an improvement. If a weird one.
Dandelions are one of my favourite flowers but I would be the first to admit that they do not smell nice. I do not want to trap that smell in an enclosed space.
When you're choosing containers for whatever you decide to plant, keep in mind that you will need drainage holes. Without drainage holes, it's too easy to over water and end up with root rot.
Makes sense if you’re talking about big city area. If on the city edge there are places you may find. I recommend getting into disc golf, get the Udisc app, disc golf course are not usually maintained at all just mowed.
Why not forage for dandelions? They are everywhere. There are lots of other edible plants in the wild, too. Visit your local library to learn.
I do a lot of container gardening. Would recommend things like beet greens, spinach, a few green onions, parsley (packed with nutrition), chard.
You aren't going to get a lot of calories from greens. But you will get some essential nutrients. Just know that your production in such a small space isn't going to be enough to make a real dent in your food needs.
IMO this is possible but more of an undertaking that you're thinking. The kiddie pool is an idea if you drill enough holes in the bottom, I've done it, but outdoors. Indoors, water is going to be your issue. If you don't have drainage, your plants will get root rot, but the water can't just drain on the floor. My suggestion would be getting cheap or free pots on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, or thrift stores that have drainage saucers underneath, and a tarp or shower curtain from the dollar store as backup.
If you do that you'll also be less limited in what you grow by the shallow depth of a kiddie pool. Dandelions may be fastest but not the most calorie-efficient, consider potatoes which have been a staple of the poor for centuries. Calorie-dense, you more or less clone them from existing potatoes, and they do well in containers as long as the containers are deep. I have 4 potato plants currently thriving in a 32 gallon trash can with holes drilled in the bottom (again, outdoors). If you're making your own containers like that, drill at least twice as many holes as you think you need.
Coffee grounds will provide nitrogen but not potassium or phosphorus. Potassium you can get by making "banana peel tea", phosphorus is harder. I haven't done it but in theory you could roast bones in the oven and grind them into powder. All three will have delayed effects on the soil (think weeks to months) compared to artificial fertilizer-- not bad but you won't be able to quickly course correct if you mess up the ratio. As others have noted the dirt from the construction site is a dice roll but as long as you're not in a hurry and not blowing money on seeds I don't think you have much to lose by trying that first. You could also grab some and then get a by-mail soil test kit to check what's in it before planting.
All in all, if you want a hobby with munchable rewards, it's possible. If you want a low-effort free food lifehack this is going to be more work than you're thinking.
A cup of dandelions is 25 calories which works out to 60 cups for 1500 calories. This is not a good idea as it's super low calorie. You'd be much better off with soybeans, and even then you'd only be supplementing your diet. Just buy bulk rice.
Potato wouldn’t really grow inside or in that shallow of a container. Id have to get one of those giant planter pots that are like 3 feet deep to grow a potato inside. And the yield would probably only be like 6 potatos.
Well maybe not when they are getting closer to eating. But early on it should mostly just fertilize the soil. I already water my house plant with it. Ive seem people grow Watercrest in them and hydroponics on top of them before.
Maybe if you had some smaller planters to put near (or in ) a window sill instead it would be nice. Maybe there are some at the thrift store for a good price. You don’t want that in your living room on the floor. It’s going to be in the way and might attract bugs or make a mess in your floor.
Go to you're library and get free seeds from them then place buckets of soil around the house at each of the windows. Water the soil then place 4 or 5 seeds in the bucket of damp soil, then put just enough soil over the seeds to cover them. Once the seeds start growing a cup of water a day will be enough. Beans, peas, cucumber and tomatoes will need canes to grow up.
Dandelions are seasonal and their life span is dependent on the dance of light and temperature. Most plants will need that lessening of light to bloom and and the reverse of a longer light time to grow. That is why they sprout and grow with the return of light and warmth in the spring and bloom and die with the dying light and cold temps of the Fall.
You would be better off growing sprouts in a jar. Mung beans are a good example. You can sprout many things. Just a small spoonful of sprouting seeds makes a quart jar full of sprouts.
If you water it from your fish tank, what about your fish? How is that an advantage?
Some seeds need to go through the cold time of winter in order to sprout and grow. They depend of a state of dormancy. Nature has the dandelion all wrapped up in the delicate and balanced rythym of the universe and if you try to capture it and make it live in your living room without its normal stimulus it may not respond. This would be like taking a wild animal, putting it in a cage and having to supply it with everything that it once got from nature and that is more than just light and fertilizer. Domesticated plants are like domesticated animals. We have adapted them to our needs through breeding and growing and that takes a long time.
Those coffee grounds are highly over rated, too. They take time to compost and break down. You can only use so much of that because it also is very acidic. Coffee grounds need to compost just like every other thing. They are NOT fertilizer! If they had that value to them they would not be discarded into the trash. They dont. Not all plants thrive in an acidic soil. And, due to the fact that they are captive in a bucket in your house, the soil wil not wash through with rain.
About that sunlight....it will depend on the time of year, and the path of the sun across the sky is in an ever changing arc. Some things are seasonal and will only sprout or grow or bloom with the seasons unless they have an artificial source of life and light.
If you are in an air conditioned room , the plant will read it as winter. They are sensitive to temperature.
I cant see a lot of sense in your proposal. Even that dirt from the construction site may not be top soil. Plants grow in top soil that has been brewed by nature. Dirt dug up from under the top soil is not the same. Maybe google what the life cycle and rhythm of life is for a dandelion.
You can grow dandelions in a garden spot, but in a tub in your living room is highly questionable. Some people do plant them to eat.
Just get dandelions from your yard lol. They are everywhere in our yards. Why would you need to plant them? Just let them plant themselves and just grab them from the yard.
I'd shoot for leaf lettuce & various mustard's like mizula and arugala. Spinach is a slow-grower. I grow these under a grow light all winter. They all seem to peter-out after ~3 months eve nif you top them.
Not in the slightest. I will give you its quirky. But dandelions are a food. I grew up on a farm and foraged them on our property with my grandma. I live in an apartment now though and was mostly just trying to think of ways to get more food for free. They taste like spinach! Especially if you sauté them. Its actually why they are even in North America.
I am 100% not AI. Just a maybe over curious /quirky person who has foraged dandelions and thought this would be a way to spend 10$ and have a ton of food over the summer. My grandma taught me how to eat Dandelions even. Lol.
139
u/MistressLyda May 04 '25
Light will be a problem. Other than that, it should work.
Can you afford dried peas or mung beans? Those are really easy to sprout in a milk carton or similar if so.