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Indoor Gardening

Tips and tutorials for growing plants indoors including houseplants, vegetables, and herbs.

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How to Grow Vegetables Indoors (Easy Beginner's Guide)

Christmas Cactus or Thanksgiving? How to ID Your Plant

Orchids For Beginners

Indoor Seed Starting: Best DIY Setup on a Budget

Published on January 15, 2026 ♛ By Melissa J. Will

Shelves with seedlings in pots under LED grow lights.

This is the low-budget setup I use to start hundreds of plants from seed indoors each year, using simple LED or fluorescent lights to raise strong, reliable seedlings. This is part of a … [Read more...]

How to Grow Vegetables Indoors (Easy Beginner’s Guide)

Published on January 1, 2026 ♛ By Melissa J. Will

Growing vegetables indoors at home.

Yes, you can grow vegetables indoors including lettuces, arugula, spinach, kale, carrots, radishes, beet greens, tomatoes and more. Best of all, it can all be done with basic shop lights. Most of … [Read more...]

How to Rebloom Poinsettias Year After Year

Published on December 1, 2025 ♛ By Melissa J. Will

Pink poinsettia in bloom.

Use these monthly tips to grow your poinsettia as a houseplant year-round and help it rebloom in time for the next holiday season. For more on popular houseplants, see How to Grow … [Read more...]

5 Common Houseplant Myths That Seem True—but Aren’t

Published on September 10, 2025 ♛ By Melissa J. Will

Rootbound asparagus ferns by a windowsill.

Do houseplants purify air? Should you water on a schedule? Find out which common care tips miss the mark—and what your plants really need instead. If you need more tips, this is my system for … [Read more...]

How to Root Pothos Cuttings

Published on June 11, 2025Last updated September 2, 2025 ♛ By Melissa J. Will

This simple tutorial shows how to take cuttings from your pothos houseplant (Epipremnum aureum) and root them for new plants. There are also practical tips for How to Grow African Violets From … [Read more...]

Watering Houseplants With Ice Cubes: Pros & Cons

Published on April 4, 2025 ♛ By Melissa J. Will

Potted houseplants and ice cubes.

It sounds like a gimmick—dropping ice cubes into your houseplant pots instead of using a watering can. But this quirky method has been around for over 50 years, and for some people, it’s a go-to … [Read more...]

How to Force Branches to Bloom Indoors Before Spring

Published on April 3, 2025 ♛ By Melissa J. Will

Spring flowering shrub branch

This guide shows how to take budding branches from flowering trees and shrubs and coax them into blooming indoors—weeks ahead of schedule. You'll learn when to cut, how to care for the branches, and … [Read more...]

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Melissa J. Will - Empress of DirtWelcome!
I’m Melissa J. Will a.k.a. the Empress of Dirt (Ontario, Canada).
Join me as I share creative + frugal home & garden ideas with a dash of humor.
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