Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
fabaceae_native

Best houseplant with edible use? Your favorites

fabaceae_native
9 years ago

The title could also be: "edible plant most tolerant of houseplant type culture?"
I used to grow everything from curry leaf to citrus to passion fruit in my sunroom, but have slowly tossed everything edible because of either insect pests (mostly scale) or poor production (many things never fruited at all). Now i am stuck with your typical boring house plants... Only thing that provides fruit this way is garambullo cactus.
Anyone have any other winners for indoors (and outdoors in summer) culture?

Comments (3)

  • Lodewijkp
    9 years ago

    Gynostemma pentaphyllum is VERY reliable indoors, it is grown in shade or light shade ( it does NOT like sunlight ) and is a very vigorious grower once it is established. i have a few years of experience growing this one indoors and it never dissapointed, it is also really easy to propagate because every stem that touches the ground roots. if you cannot get a plant from the indoor gardening section use a cutting ( or use a rootpiece ) a give it a good wash and root it with rooting hormone. i took a cutting from a plant growing outside and gave it a good wash, it rooted and i had it in a different room untill i was sure it wouldn't carry pests and moved it to the main room after a while.

    Kumquat are reliable and portulaca species have edible leaves -P. grandiflora is reliable indoors - others often attract pests ( portulaca oleracea is a pest magnet ). Aloe vera is pretty reliable. Alot of people are having succes with lemon grass but you have to grow them out of seeds - you cannot use plants from the outdoor garden centre section because they usually carry pests.... they must be grown out of seed or bought from the indoor section.

    the problem is that most fruits and herbs need ALOT of sun. i usually grow medicinal herbs like aloe, kanna, lemon grass and that kind of stuff.

    most fruit species and herbs are very dissapointing indoors , rosemary needs too much light especially in winter and fruit plants often take a long time and the crop can dissapointing. if you want pest resistent plants go for citrus, succulents and cacti.. stuff with thick glossy leaves. most things that are recommended in mainstream media are pest magnets.

    some turmeric species, ginger species and pepper ( piper) can be grown indoors also. Cardamom ( ellataria ) is reliable indoors but i don't know if it produces a worthwhile crop. coffee arabica ( pretty pest resistent ) sometimes produces a crop but it is unreliable .Stevia can be grown indoors but the taste is not that good when grown indoors.

    i read somewhere that certain Mahonia species can be grown indoors but i have no experience with this.

    certain bamboo species may produce edible shoots.

    Remember to keep space between plants.. certain species are too prone to mites or aphids and once a weak plant attracted them they may infect strong plants that normally do not attract pests.

    This post was edited by Lodewijkp on Fri, Aug 22, 14 at 16:24

  • chervil2
    9 years ago

    Lemongrass grows easily from fresh shoots purchased from the Asian markets. I place them in a glass of water until long roots appear and then pot in soil. A bay tree can be nice if you have the right growing conditions. Scented geraniums grow well indoors and can be used for culinary use

  • edlincoln
    9 years ago

    Honestly, basil. You'll never get enough fruit to be worth it from any houseplant, but you may be able to get enough fresh herbs. Rosemary can also be pruned into a pretty faux Christmas Tree.

Sponsored
SparkWise Electric (aka Max Electric)
Average rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars3 Reviews
Loudoun County's Expert Electricians for Electric Service and Lighting